February 16 at UMBC (1 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell men's basketball team, who is 14-12 overall and 6-5 in America East play, will wrap up a three-game road swing at UMBC on Saturday. Â
A WIN WOULD
A win would give the River Hawks their first sweep of a season series against the Retrievers since 2016. A win would also mark the team's most America East wins (7), as well as its most total road wins (5) since 2015-16. Â
LAST TIME OUT
Five different River Hawks scored in double digits, as UMass Lowell earned a decisive, 86-54 victory at UAlbany on Feb. 13. Redshirt-junior
Christian Lutete recorded his third consecutive double-double and his 10th of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds to pace UMass Lowell on offense. Redshirt-senior
Josh Gantz, who added 16 points, tied a career high with four three pointers. Freshmen
Darius Henderson and
Alex Rivera, and senior
Shawn Jones all contributed 10 points on the night. As a team, UMass Lowell shot 57.6 percent (34-59) from the floor.
LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 26 games in 2018-19,
Christian Lutete is leading the team with 18.9 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Sophomore
Obadiah Noel, who follows with 14.8 points per game, paces the team with a 74.2 clip from the line and 31 steals.
Josh Gantz boasts a team-best 25 blocks and has also dished out a team-high 75 assists.
SCOUTING UMBC
The Retrievers enter Saturday's matchup with a 16-10 overall record and an 8-3 mark in conference action. The team earned a pair of road wins in its most recent contests, first defeating Maine, 67-66, on Feb. 10 before downing Binghamton, 64-50, on Feb. 13. Joe Sherburne is currently first on the team with 14.6 points per game. Daniel Akin leads the squad with 8.0 rebounds per game, while K.J. Jackson totals a team-best 89 assists and 58 steals. Sam Schwietz boasts 13 blocks on the season. As a team, UMBC is shooting 43.2 percent from the field, including 33.7 percent on threes, and 66.9 percent from the line.
SETTING A NEW STANDARD
With the decision at UAlbany on Feb. 13, the River Hawks tallied their 14th win of the season, expanding on a new Division I program record. That decision also tied both the program's largest margin of victory and fewest points allowed against a Division I opponent. Â
DOUBLING UP
With 17 points and 11 rebounds,
Christian Lutete became the first River Hawk to tally a double-double in their debut at the Division I level. He has added nine more since to rank first in the league and 28th in the nation with 10 double-doubles in 2018-19, and second on the school's DI career record list.
EARLY BIRD
The River Hawks are 9-2 in 2018-19 when getting to work early and taking a lead into halftime.
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 nine times this season and is first in the league with a 47.6 overall field goal percentage. Four different River Hawks are shooting over 50 percent, led by
Christian Lutete, who is ranked first in the America East with a 54.3 percent clip so far this year.
BENCH PRESS-URE
The River Hawks have boasted 35 points off the bench in their last two consecutive games. In 24 games this year, the River Hawks have averaged 21.4 points off the bench. This is up from last season, when the squad averaged just 15.3 bench points per game.
ROAD WARRIORS
The River Hawks, who play a DI program-high 18 road games this season, have already tied their number of road wins from a season ago (6). The program has accumulated a 99-139 road record since 2003-04.Â
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 17th in the nation with 416 total assists and is first in the America East with 16.0 assists per game.
Ryan Jones became just the second player in the program's Division I history to register 10 assists in a game in the NJIT contest on Dec. 1.
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. With five wins since, most recently at Hartford on Jan. 19, the team is now 6-3 on Saturdays this season.
SPREADING THE LOVE
Despite heading into 2018-19 having lost 60.6% of their scoring from a season ago, at least four different River Hawks have reached double figures in 18 of their 26 games this season, including a season-high five, 10+ point scorers in six of those games.
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