December 11 at St. Francis Brooklyn (7 p.m.)
Live Stats | Watch Live
LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell men's basketball team, who is an even 6-6 on the season, will visit St. Francis Brooklyn on Tuesday evening for their final game before a 10-day break for finals. Â
A WIN WOULD
A win would give the River Hawks a 2-0 record against first-time opponents in 2018-19. A win would also imrpove the team's DI record against Northeast Conference opponents to 9-9. Additionally, a win would be the first for the River Hawks on an opponent's home court this season. Â
LAST TIME OUT
Redshirt-junior
Christian Lutete paced five double-digit scorers for UMass Lowell men's basketball team (6-6) with 20 points in a 110-63 victory against Maine Fort Kent (2-9) on Friday evening at the Tsongas Center. With the victory, the River Hawks improved to 4-0 at home this season. A total of 10 different River Hawks scored in the outing for the first time since December 9, 2017. Senior
Ryan Jones totaled 19 points and eight assists, while freshman
Alex Rivera logged his first career double-double with 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore
Obadiah Noel and redshirt-senior
Josh Gantz rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 12 games in 2018-19,
Obadiah Noel is leading the team with 15.5 points per game, a 75.0 percent clip on free throws and 18 steals.
Christian Lutete, who follows closely with 15.4 points per game, also leads the team from the field (53.4%) and on the boards (7.8).
Alex Rivera is first with 29 three-pointers.
Josh Gantz boasts a team-best 10 blocks, while
Ryan Jones has dished out a team-high 57 assists.
SCOUTING ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN
The Terriers, who are 5-4 so far in 2018-19, snapped a three-game win streak with an 82-60 loss at NJIT on Dec. 8. Jalen Jordan is currently first on the team with 15.4 points per game. Chauncey Hawkins is the only other double-digit scorer on the squad with 13.3 points. Christian Rohlehr paces the team with an average of 6.0 rebounds, in addition to 17 blocks. Glenn Sanabria totals a team-best 25 assists, while Rosel Hurley chips in with 11 steals. As a team, St. Francis is shooting 42.6 percent from the field, including 34.9 percent from three-point territory, and 64.6 percent from the line.
SECOND HALF IS WHERE IT'S AT
The River Hawks have found their strength in the second, as evidenced by
Christian Lutete's DI program-best, 25-point second half on Dec. 1. So far, the team is outscoring their opponents, 528-477, in the second. Additionally, the River Hawks are shooting 56 percent in the second, compared to their opponents, who are shooting just 45 percent.
HELPING HANDS
The River Hawks set a new Division I program record with 29 assists against Maine Fort Kent on Dec. 7. The squad is currently leading the nation with 216 total assists and is first in the America East with 18.0 assists per game.
Ryan Jones became just second player in the program's Division I history to register 10 assists in a game in the NJIT contest on Dec. 1. He is ranked first in the league for assists per game (4.8), as well.
FULL THROTTLE
The River Hawks went full force on offense against Maine Fort Kent, setting multiple new program scoring records. The squad's 110-point offensive outburst marked the most points in a single game since 2009 (110, vs. Mercy, 11/15/09), while the team's 42 made field goals becomes a new Division I best, improving on a 2015 performance against Wheelock (41, 11/24/15).
HIGH SCORING AFFAIRS
The River Hawks' wins against Army and Sacred Heart marked the team's first back-to-back, 90+ point wins since 2015-16, when the squad put together three-straight victories with more than 90 points from Feb. 8-14, 2016. With the addition of the NJIT and UMFK decisions, the River Hawks have already surpassed its total 90-point outcomes from 2017-18 (3). The team is currently leading the America East with 82.9 points per game.
SHARP SHOOTERS
In the win against Army on Nov. 17, the River Hawks shot over 60 percent (61.2%) from the floor for the first time since Jan. 5, 2017. As a team, UMass Lowell has shot better than 50 percent on field goals four times this season and is first in the league with a 49.0 overall field goal percentage. The squad is led by
Christian Lutete, who is ranked second in the America East with a 53.4 percent clip so far this year.
BENCH PRESS-URE
In 12 games this year, the River Hawks have averaged 25.9 points off the bench. This is up over 10 points from last season, when the squad averaged just 15.3 bench points per game.
SEEING 20/20
Christian Lutete continues to shine on offense this year, including 20-point performances in the team's three most recent outings. He joins
Jahad Thomas as the only other player during the school's Division I era to do so.
SOPHOMORE STANDOUT
After an impressive 2017-18 season that landed him on the America East All-Rookie Team,
Obadiah Noel has come back even stronger this year, improving from 6.5 points per game last season to a team-high 15.5 points per game in 2018-19.
ON THE GLASS
With more size in the lineup this year, the River Hawks have stepped up their rebounding, as evidenced by their season-high 56 boards against UMass Boston on Nov. 23. After a -4.1 rebounding margin last year, the team now owns a mark of +0.5 in 2018-19.
Christian Lutete is leading the league with 7.8 rebounds per game, as well.
SPREADING THE LOVE
Despite heading into 2018-19 having lost 60.6% of their scoring from a season ago, the River Hawks have boasted at least four different double-digit scorers in nine of their 12 games this season, including a season-high five, 10+ point scorers at UConn, and against NJIT and UMFK. Additionally, in that UMFK game, 10 different River Hawks scored a point for the first time in a year.
MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
Alex Rivera is already turning in an impressive rookie campaign. He is just the second newcomer in the program's DI era to reach 100 points in just seven games and has logged double-digit points in all but two games so far. He also sits second in the league for three-point field goal percentage (43.3).
Â
