January 9 at New Hampshire (7 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell men's basketball team, who is 8-8 overall and 0-1 in America East play so far this year, will make the short trip to Durham for its first conference road game of the season at New Hampshire on Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m. Â
A WIN WOULD
A win would mark the River Hawks' second straight year with a road win at UNH. It would also give the team its first America East win this year. A victory would improve the River Hawks' record in their first AE road game of the year to 4-2 since joing the league. Â
LAST TIME OUT
The second half proved to be the difference in a hard-fought, 75-63 setback for UMass Lowell against Stony Brook on Jan. 5. Three different River Hawks tallied 13 points in the outing, including senior
Ryan Jones, redshirt- junior
Christian Lutete and sophomore
Obadiah Noel. Lutete also paced the team on the boards with eight rebounds. Redshirt-senior
Josh Gantz rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, while chipping in with four assists. The first half featured 12 lead changes and four tied scores, and although the River Hawks took a 33-31 advantage into halftime, the Seawolves outscored their hosts, 44-30, in the second for the victory.
LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 16 games in 2018-19,
Christian Lutete is leading the team with 17.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Obadiah Noel, who follows closely with 15.9 points per game, leads the team with a 70.8 clip from the line and 25 steals. Freshman
Alex Rivera is first with 33 three-pointers.
Josh Gantz boasts a team-best 14 blocks, while
Ryan Jones has dished out a team-high 66 assists.
SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Wildcats enter Wednesday's matchup in the midst of an 11-game skid. The team's last victory came on Nov. 12 against Mount Saint Vincent, 100-61. Most recently, UNH opened conference play with a 69-58 setback at Binghamton on Jan. 5. Josh Hopkins is currently first on the team with 11.4 points per game. He is joined in double figures by Jordan Reed, who adds 10.9 points per game. Jayden Martinez leads the squad with 5.4 rebounds per game, as well. Elijah Jordan boasts a team-high 42 assists and nine blocks. As a team, UNH is shooting 39.9 percent from the field, including 35.2 percent on threes, and 63.1 percent from the line.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
The River Hawks are averaging 82.8 points per game, good for 32nd in the nation through 16 games this season. In comparison, at the time last year, the team was averaging 71.5 points per game.
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 6-1 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, 693-644, in the second. Additionally, the River Hawks are shooting 50 percent in the second, compared to their opponents, who are shooting just 45 percent.
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).
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 eighth in the nation with 276 total assists and is first in the America East with 17.3 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 48.4 overall field goal percentage. The squad is led by
Christian Lutete, who is ranked first in the America East with a 55.2 percent clip so far this year.
SETTING A STANDARD
Christian Lutete turned in an impressive performance in the win against Loyola, setting new career highs for points (34), field goals (12) and free throws (7). This two-time America East Player of the Week has averaged 22.4 points in the last seven games.
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 13 of their 16 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.
ROAD WARRIORS
The River Hawks play 18 games away from friendly confines in 2018-19, which matches a Division I high for the program. UMass Lowell, who did not get a road win last season until Jan. 21, picked up its first win on an opponent's home court this year at Sacred Heart on Dec. 29. The program has accumulated a 96-137 road record since 2003-04. Â
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