Vermont basketball‘s bid for another NCAA Tournament bid came up short at UMBC in the America East Conference championship.
No. 2 Vermont fell to top-seeded UMBC 74-59 in the league title game at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Catonsville, Maryland on Saturday, March 14. The Retrievers earn the conference’s automatic bid to March Madness.
The Catamounts, who advanced to coach John Becker’s 11th league final in 15 seasons, drop to 22-12.
UMBC (24-8) will learn its opponent, seed and site for March Madness during Selection Sunday on March 15. The show will air on CBS starting at 6 p.m.
Behind DJ Armstrong, Jr.’s 3-point daggers late in regulation in a career-high 33-point performance, the Retrievers clinched their third NCAA Tournament bid and halted the Cats’ chance at playing in March Madness for the seventh time in Becker’s tenure. Ace Valentine added 13 points for host UMBC.
Armstrong went 7 of 9 from the 3-point line and 9 of 11 overall from the field in 36 minutes.
For Vermont, TJ Long had 17 points and TJ Hurley and Gus Yalden each scored 11.
The game was tied at 51 with six minutes to play before Armstrong stroked four 3-pointers to ignite UMBC’s championship-winning spurt.
DJ Armstrong, Jr.’s late heat check pushes UMBC to America East title
Noah Barnett’s two-handed stuff with 6:45 left gave Vermont a 51-48 lead, but UMBC’s Armstrong answered in transition with a three to level the score.
And the graduate student from Orlando, Florida, was just getting warmed up.
After Ace Valentine and Vermont’s TJ Hurley traded three-point plays, Armstrong buried three 3-pointers, the middle trey for a four-point play and 61-54 advantage with 2:24 on the clock.
The third triple, a step-back from near-NBA range, pushed out the UMBC margin to 64-56 with 1:51 to go. Armstrong and Josh Odunowo each made five foul shots down the stretch to seal the title.
Vermont basketball’s second-half run nearly sparks win
Armstrong’s clutch performance was needed for the Retrievers to avoid the upset.
The Catamounts trailed 44-37 with 11:13 to go before a Lucas Mari-inspired spurt got the Catamounts in front. The true freshman from Spain splashed a long 3-pointer, played tough, interior defense that led to a TJ Long triple on the break.
Mari then provided a putback for Vermont’s first lead, 47-46, since it was up 23-22 with 5:10 to play in the first half.
Barnett’s two-handed flush off a defensive breakdown gave Vermont a three-point cushion. But Armstrong arrived just in time to spark UMBC’s surge down the stretch.
Over the last 6:45 of regulation, UMBC outscored Vermont 26-7.
Three-point shooting dooms Vermont basketball in America East final
While Vermont did shot 42.4% from the floor, which was slightly better than UMBC, the Catamounts had one of their worst shooting performances from the 3-point line this season. They finished 5 of 27 from distance.
Hurley, the America East player of the year, went just 1 of 8 on his 3s, and Yalden, who had just one second-half point half, missed all four of his attempts from beyond the arc. Long finished 3 of 8 on 3-point attempts.
The poor accuracy from deep clashed with Vermont’s good performances in other areas. The Cats won the paint scoring battle (32-20) and had 25 bench points. Vermont also committed just eight turnovers. Its biggest lead came at 17-12 of the first half.
UMBC’s basketball bracketology: Where are the Retrievers headed?
After beating Vermont for the America East crown, the UMBC Retrievers picked up the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Now they wait to see where they’ll headed.
According to Joe Lunardi’s bracketology on ESPN, UMBC is projected to earn the No. 16 and a date with No. 1 Duke in an East region game held in Greensville, North Carolina.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont basketball vs UMBC America East championship game final score