January 5 vs. Stony Brook (1 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell men's basketball team, who is currently 8-7 following the completion of its non-conference schedule, will open America East play at home against Stony Brook on Saturday, January 5. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.
A WIN WOULD
A win would give the River Hawks their second DI victory against the Seawolves. It would also give the squad a 4-2 record in America East openers. Additionally, a win would improve the team's record at home this season to 6-0 and extend its unbeaten streak at home to nine games dating back to Feb. 15, 2018. Â
LAST TIME OUT
Despite trailing by 10 with less than four minutes remaining in regulation, UMass Lowell battled back to earn an exciting, 100-91 overtime victory at Sacred Heart (4-9) to close out its 2018-19 non-conference campaign on Dec. 29. Down 81-71, senior
Ryan Jones and redshirt-junior
Christian Lutete drained big threes on back-to-back possessions to ignite a 10-2 run that was capped off by another triple from redshirt-senior
Josh Gantz in the last minute to knot the score at 82-82 and force overtime. The River Hawks kept the momentum, scoring the first nine points of the extra period, including five from sophomore
Obadiah Noel to pull away en route to the come-from-behind decision. Lutete paced UMass Lowell on both sides of the ball with 29 points and nine rebounds. Three other River Hawks scored in double figures in the outing, including Noel with 22 points, Jones with 18 and Gantz with 10.
LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 15 games in 2018-19,
Christian Lutete is leading the team with 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Obadiah Noel, who follows closely with 16.1 points per game, leads the team with a 71.6 clip from the line and 24 steals. Freshman
Alex Rivera is first with 32 three-pointers.
Josh Gantz boasts a team-best 13 blocks, while
Ryan Jones has dished out a team-high 64 assists.
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
The Seawolves, who enter conference play with a 12-3 record, won their most recent two outings. The squad first picked up a 76-73 victory at Quinnipiac on Dec. 22 before defeating Northern Iowa, 73-63, on Dec. 29. Akwasi Yeboah is currently first on the team with 18.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Three other Seawolves are scoring in double figures, including Miles Latimer with 12.1 points per game. Jaron Cornish boasts a team-high 56 assists and Jules Moor totals 18 steals. Jeff Otchere ranks first with 30 blocks, as well. As a team, Stony Brook is shooting 42.9 percent from the field, including 35.8 percent on threes, and 73.4 percent from the line.
PUT IT IN THE BOOKS
With a DI record eight non-conference wins already in the books, the River Hawks will enter America East Conference play above .500 for the first time.
PERFECT UNDER PRESSURE
With the win at Sacred Heart, the River Hawks are now 2-0 this season in overtime games. That decision also marks the second time this season that the River Hawks have battled back for the win after trailing by double-digits in the second half. The River Hawks are now 7-3 in overtime at the DI level.
EARLY BIRD
The River Hawks are now 6-0 in 2018-19 when getting to work early and taking a lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF IS WHERE IT'S AT
The River Hawks have found 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, 663-600, in the second. Additionally, the River Hawks are shooting 51 percent in the second, compared to their opponents, who are shooting just 45 percent.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
With the win against Loyola (Md.) on Dec. 21, the River Hawks extended their unbeaten streak at home to eight games dating back to Feb. 15, 2018. Including the 5-0 start this season, the River Hawks have accumulated a 127-71 mark in front of River Hawk Nation since 2003-04.
HIGH SCORING AFFAIRS
Including the Loyola and Sacred Heart decisions (Dec. 21-29), the River Hawks have now logged five, 90+ point performances so far in 2018-19, marking the most since 2015-16 (6).
SATURDAYS ARE FOR THE BOYS
The Wagner win marked UMass Lowell's first Saturday victory in over a year, since February 4, 2017, snapping an eight-game skid. Including the wins against Army, NJIT and Sacred Heart, the team is now 4-0 on Saturdays this season.
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 fifth in the nation with 263 total assists and is first in the America East with 17.5 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 second in the league for assists per game (4.3), as well.
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. The accuracy continued, as the the team then shot 60.3 percent against Loyola on Dec. 21. As a team, UMass Lowell has shot better than 50 percent on field goals six times this season and is first in the league with a 49.2 overall field goal percentage. The squad is led by
Christian Lutete, who is ranked first in the America East with a 56.1 percent clip so far this year.
BENCH PRESS-URE
In 15 games this year, the River Hawks have averaged 23.1 points off the bench. This is up from last season, when the squad averaged just 15.3 bench points per game.
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 11 of their 14 games this season, including a season-high five, 10+ point scorers in four of those games, most recently against Loyola. The team boasts five different players averaging double-digit points, tying Vermont for first in the league in that category. Additionally, against UMFK, 10 different River Hawks scored at least a point for the first time in a year.
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