UMBC senior Darryl Proctor made a promise as he sat outside the locker room following a recent loss to Stony Brook.
“We got punked and they played hard in the beginning and we didn’t,” he said, “but I guarantee it isn’t going to happen anymore.”
UMBC (6-7, 0-1 America East) fell behind, 20-6 and missed 21 of its first 30 shots. The Retrievers rallied to tie the score at 54 with about five minutes left behind a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds from Proctor.
It wasn’t enough, however, as the Seawolves (8-5, 1-0) scored the next eight points to secure a 69-61 victory.
But slow starts and close losses are nothing new to the Retrievers, who have found life rather difficult as the defending America East champion.
UMBC has just two wins in its past seven games and has trailed by at least 11 in the first half of each loss. In the wins, it never trailed by more than two in the opening 20 minutes. A big reason for the team falling into large holes is its inability to make shots from long range. The Retrievers have made just 34 percent (45-of-132) of their three-point attempts and have made just one since late in the first half of a 66-64 win at Nebraska, a span of 105 minutes and 29 seconds.
Last season, the UMBC made 38.9 percent of its shots from beyond the arc en route to the America East title and berth in the NCAA Tournament. But the team has struggled to replace the long-range accuracy of Ray Barbosa (86 three pointers) and Brian Hodges (63).
“I think we are more effective with that 17-, 18-foot shot, that mid-range jumper,” UMBC coach Randy Monroe said. “This team is a little different and we are learning you can’t wait for teams to punch you in the mouth to be ready to play.”
The Retrievers have a chance to put themselves back among the conference leaders when they host Maine (5-9, 0-1) at RAC Arena on Saturday night at 7 and Hartford (5-9, 1-0) on Jan. 17. Sandwiched between the games in Catonsville is a trip to New Hampshire (4-7, 0-0) on Jan. 14.
“It’s not defending a title, it’s a new team so it’s not us defending it — that was won by last year’s team,” Proctor said. “We have to make our own mark. Team’s are going to come after us because they are thinking that way but we aren’t. We have a chip on our shoulder.”
