Men’s Basketball To Face UConn and Notre Dame In Non-Conference Play

Courtesy UMBC Athletics

The men’s basketball has recently announced the 2009-2010 non-conference schedule, which includes five home games and 8 road games. The schedule is highlighted by games against University of Connecticut and Notre Dame.

Sunday, November 14- V.M.I. (10-19)- 3:00 p.m.
Top Returning Scorers:
Austin Kenon- 18.4 p.p.g.
Keith Gabriel- 17.6 p.p.g.

While it should be a great team to start the season against, V.M.I. is a team who’s talent is not shown by their record. The team returns their top five scorers, all of whom averaged more than 10 p.p.g.

Wednesday, November 17- @ Loyola (13-17)- TBD
Top Returning Scorers:
Jamal Barney- 12.6 p.p.g.
Shane Walker- 8.7 p.p.g.

When the two teams were scheduled last year I figured right away that it would be a televised game since Loyola had no interest in playing UMBC before then. I’m assuming this will be another televised game, or will at least attempt to be, hence the TBD time. But this should be a good local game again. Loyola barely edged out UMBC last season, it’s questionable whether UMBC got better, but Loyola did, but it still should be a good game.

Saturday, November 20- Central Connecticut State (12-18)- 7:00 p.m.
Top Returning Scorers:
Shemik Thompson- 13.0 p.p.g.
Robby Ptacek- 12.1 p.p.g.

The rivalry will continue. It’s no secret that these two teams love to play each other. Since UMBC left the Northeast Conference these two teams have played each other just about every year in non-conference games because the teams are very similar, but are also, for both teams, a good measure of where the teams will end up in their own conferences.

Tuesday, November 23- @ Coppin State (8-22)- TBD
Top Returning Scorers:
Kareem Brown- 10.0 p.p.g.
Michael Harper- 9.9 p.p.g.

Coppin State was a team that was trying to find itself after losing Tywain McKee, who was arguably the best player from their school the past decade, but towards the end of their season the young team found themselves and should be better this year. Another great local rivalry to continue.

Saturday, November 27- @ Duquesne (16-16)- 7:00 p.m.
Top Returning Scorers:
Damian Saunders- 15.0 p.p.g.
Bill Clark- 14.1 p.p.g.

Duquesne may have finished in 8th place in the Atlantic-10, but they had five guys score more than 10 p.p.g., and they return every single player from a year ago.

Tuesday, November 30- @ Pennsylvania (6-22)- TBD
Top Returning Scorers:
Zack Rosen- 17.7 p.p.g.
Jack Eggleston- 13.0 p.p.g.

UPenn may have had a terrible year last season, but remember, they did get their first win of the season against UMBC in the RAC. This just completes the second half of the contract but it should be a nice game to see where UMBC really stands and if they got any better.

Friday, December 3- @ Connecticut (18-16)- TBD
Top Returning Scorers:
Kemba Walker- 14.6 p.p.g.
Alex Oriakhi- 5.0 p.p.g.

It doesn’t matter if they lost most of their top scorers from last season, their roster is still full of some of the best players in the nation. UMBC probably doesn’t have a shot to win this game, unless they play a perfect game and they commit every mistake possible like how UMBC stunned Nebraska two years ago, this should be a loss for UMBC, but a fun one to watch.

Wednesday, December 8- @ Rider (17-16)- TBD
Top Returning Scorers:
Justin Robinson- 13.3 p.p.g.
Novar Gadson- 11.2 p.p.g.

This is another great non-conference game it’s nice to see be renewed by the teams, because once again, it shows both teams where they stand in their conference. Rider is a tough physical team who put UMBC in a lot of situations they haven’t seem yet.

Saturday, December 11- Towson (10-21)- 7:00 p.m.
Top Returning Scorers:
Robert Nwankwo- 9.9 p.p.g.
RaShawn Polk- 9.2 p.p.g.

Towson is going to welcome Maryland transfer Braxton Dupree, who UMBC heavily went after, and will be much improved. No matter what the talent level is for either team, Towson gives UMBC a tough game, and last year they were actually tough against everybody, just more unfortunate than anything.

Tuesday, December 14- American (11-20)- 7:00 p.m.
Top Returning Scorers:
Vlad Moldoveanu- 18.1 p.p.g.
Stephen Lumpkins- 13.0 p.p.g.

After American lost to UMBC last year, giving UMBC their first win, Vlad Moldoveanu got into a groove and really turned the team around. After starting out 0-7 without Moldeveanu, and going 2-3 in his first five games back, they turned around and went 8-8 when he got in a groove, and should be better this year.

Saturday, December 18- @ Morgan State (27-10)- TBD
Top Returning Scorers
Kevin Thompson- 12.7 p.p.g.
Dewayne Jackson- 10.1 p.p.g.

Morgan State bounced back from a gigantic halftime deficit to beat UMBC in the season opener last year, and made it to their second straight N.C.A.A. tournament. They lost their best player from that team, but he wasn’t the only reason they ran away with the MEAC title. Should be another great local rivalry game for UMBC to play in.

Wednesday, December 22- @ Notre Dame (23-12)- TBD
Top Returning Scorers:
Tim Abromaitis- 16.1 p.p.g.
Tyrone Nash- 7.8 p.p.g.

Notre Dame is another team that may have lost a lot of good scorers, but they have established themselves as one of the best teams in the nation, and an at-large bid to the N.C.A.A. tournament shows that. Even though they lost in the first round, they probably still have way too much to have a close call against UMBC, but again, it should be fun to watch and give the players great experience.

Thursday, December 30- Niagara (18-15)- 7:00 p.m.
Top Returning Scorers:
Anthony Nelson- 9.9 p.p.g.
Keshief Edwardsp 7.8 p.p.g.

Niagara lost four of their top six scorers from last year, but this should be not only a great game for the Retrievers to close out their non-conference season, but it should be a great game for fans to watch. Niagara always plays an exciting brand of ball and it should be another great game for the team to play.

UMBC really set themselves up with a good non-conference schedule. It’s always expected that the 13 game non-conference schedule will consist of five home games and eight away games, but to consistently get teams who are local, and close to their talent level is good because it excites the fans , but gives them a good idea of where they are in the America East Conference. Of course, the AEC rules make a team play three games against major conference teams, which also includes the Atlantic-10 and Gonzaga, though no AEC team would ever schedule Gonzaga, Notre Dame and Connecticut should be very fun game, but also great learning experienced for the players.