BALTIMORE — DJ Armstrong Jr. buried seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, leading top-seeded UMBC to a 74-59 victory over No. 2 seed Vermont in the championship game of the America East playoffs Saturday.
The Retrievers (24-8) will play in the NCAA tournament for the third time and earned their first bid since 2018, when they famously became the first men’s 16-seed to beat a No. 1 seed, upsetting Virginia 74-54.
UMBC could get another crack at a 1-seed, as ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Retrievers as a No. 16 seed in his latest bracket projection.
Three 3-pointers by Armstrong, with the second one resulting in a four-point play, gave UMBC a 64-56 lead with less than two minutes remaining. Armstrong and Josh Odunowo then combined to go 10-for-10 from the free throw line to finish off the win.
Armstrong made 9 of 11 shots overall and connected on 8 of 9 free throws. Ace Valentine scored 13 points and was 7-for-7 at the line. UMBC made 22 of 26 free throws.
TJ Long scored 17 points and TJ Hurley and Gus Yalden each scored 11 for Vermont (22-12). The Catamounts made only 4 of 10 free throws.
A 3-pointer by Long gave Vermont a 17-12 lead with 9½ minutes left in the first half, and the Catamounts led 23-22 with five minutes remaining. A three-point play by Armstrong put UMBC out front and opened a run in which he scored all eight of his team’s points over the final three minutes of the half. The Retrievers led 30-28 at the break.
Vermont’s last lead was 51-48 with seven minutes left in the second half.
The Retrievers finished 15-2 at home this season and went undefeated at home against America East opponents.
