February 27 at Maine (7 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell men's basketball team, who is 14-15 overall and 6-8 in America East play, will visit Maine for its first of two remaining regular-season road trips on Wednesday.
A WIN WOULD
A win would split the season series between the River Hawks and Black bears. A victory would also mark the team's most America East wins (7) since 2015-16, as well as its as well its most wins at home (9) since 2011-12.
LAST TIME OUT
After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, UMass Lowell evened the scoreboard with eight minutes to go in the contest, although Hartford would hold on down the stretch to take the 75-73 decision on Senior Night at the Tsongas Center. Senior
Shawn Jones paced the River Hawks with 16 points and a career-high eight rebounds, while sophomore
Obadiah Noel and freshman
Alex Rivera added 14 and 11 points apiece, respectively. In addition to
Shawn Jones, fellow seniors
Ryan Jones and
Connor Bennett were also honored in a special pre-game ceremony.
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LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 29 games in 2018-19,
Christian Lutete is leading the team with 18.5 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Obadiah Noel, who follows with 14.6 points per game, paces the team with a 73.1 clip from the line and 36 steals.
Josh Gantz boasts a team-best 25 blocks and has also dished out a team-high 87 assists.
SCOUTING MAINE
The Black Bears own a 5-23 overall record and a 3-10 mark in conference action. The team is in the midst of a five-game skid, falling, 63-54, against UAlbany on Feb. 17 and 81-53 at Stony Brook, on Feb. 23. Isaiah White is pacing the squad with 14.0 points per game, while Andrew Fleming is first with 7.0 rebounds and 88 assists. Both White and Fleming boast 21 blocks. Sergio El Darwich totals 38 steals, as well. As a team, Maine is shooting 43.6 percent from the field, including 31.1 percent on threes, and 64.6 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
HENDERSON HEATS UP
Darius Henderson logged season highs for points (13), three-point field goals (3) and minutes (26) at UMBC on Feb. 16. Henderson is averaging 8.8 points in the last four games, compared to 4.9 through the first 23 games.
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 44th in the nation with 10 double-doubles in 2018-19, and second on the school's DI career record list. He is also put together a 20-game, double-digit scoring streak this season, matching the longest DI streak for the program.
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 10 times this season and is first in the league with a 47.5 overall field goal percentage. Four of the five starting River Hawks are shooting over 50 percent, led by
Christian Lutete, who is ranked first in the America East with a 53.3 percent clip so far this year.
BENCH PRESS-URE
In 29 games this year, the River Hawks have averaged 21.1 points off the bench. This is up from last season, when the squad averaged just 15.3 bench points per game.
FREE IS FOR ME
Including an 85 percent clip against Hartford on Feb. 23, the team is shooting an impressive 76 percent from the foul line during America East play.
Obadiah Noel, who is pacing the team at the line, logged a season-high 10 free throws at UNH on Jan. 9, marking the second time in his career with double-digits from the line.
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, 1184-1105, in the second. Additionally, the River Hawks are shooting 48 percent in the second, compared to their opponents, who are shooting just 44 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 21st in the nation with 459 total assists and is first in the America East with 15.96 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.
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