ALBANY, N.Y. - The UMass Lowell men's basketball team (11-4) hits the road for the first time in nearly a month to kick off America East action when it visits the UAlbany Great Danes (8-7) on Saturday, January 4 at 4 p.m.
A WIN WOULD
A win would move the River Hawks to 12-4 on the season and give them their fourth straight win against the Great Danes. It would also give the team a win in its conference opener for the third straight season.
LAST TIME OUT
Fifth years
Yuri Covington (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and
Anthony Blunt (Glen Dale, Md.) each tallied 15 points, as UMass Lowell wrapped up non-conference action with a 101-39 victory against Emerson on Dec. 30. Fifth year
Mekhi Gray (Montrose, N.Y.) totaled a season-high 13 points, while classmate
Quinton Mincey (Upper Marlboro, Md.), senior
Xzavier Lino (Phoenix, Ariz.) and freshman
Martin Somerville (Bowie, Md.) all chipped in with 12 points apiece. Somerville also led the way with a career-best eight assists. Fifth Year
Max Brooks (Waldorf, Md.), who tallied a game-high 10 rebounds, and senior
Cam Morris III (Alexander City, Ala.) rounded out the scoring leaders with 10 points each. As a team, UMass Lowell shot 57% from the field and totaled 22 assists, as well.
LEADING THE FLOCK
Four River Hawks are averaging double-digits, as
Quinton Mincey leads the charge with 15.6 points per game. Behind him,
Max Brooks averages 15.3 points alongside a team-high 7.9 rebounds and 39 blocks, while freshman
Martin Somerville adds 13.5 points in his first season, including a team-high 35 three-pointers and 21 steals.
Yuri Covington rounds things out with 11.7 points per game. Serving as the primary playmaker,
Quincy Clark totals a team-best 45 assists so far this season.
FIRST-HALF FACTS
The River Hawks finished non-conference action alone at the top of the America East standings, as the only team to reach double-digit wins (11). The 11 wins goes down as the second-most, non-conference wins for the team at the DI level, after having amassed 13 during the 2022-23 season.
HOME SWEET HOME
Costello Athletic Center has been very kind to the home team during the last three seasons, as the River Hawks are currently 37-1 in the building since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, including 10-0 in 2024-25. The team's current 15-game win streak at home is also tied for ninth longest in the country.
NATIONAL NEWS
UMass Lowell is currently ranked in the top 25 in the nation in seven team categories, including free throws made (12th) and defensive rebounds per game (15th).
SHARP SHOOTERS
UMass Lowell is first in the league and second in the country for field goal percentage, shooting 51.7% from the floor. For the second year in a row,
Max Brooks is leading the way in efficiency for the squad and is ranked second in the country with a 73.4% clip on field goals. He is also 12th nationally among active NCAA career leaders (63.5%). The big man went a perfect, 12-for-12 on field goals against Dartmouth, matching the NCAA record this season and marking the best performance by any player nationwide since the 2021-22 season.
BLOCK PARTY
After a season-high eight blocks against LIU,
Max Brooks now owns the all-time program record with 257 career blocks, surpassing Leo Parent's 246, which stood as the record for 35 years. He is also third among active career leaders in the NCAA in that category. This season, Brooks is averaging 2.60 blocks per game, over half a block higher than his career average of 1.90. He is currently ranked third in the country with 39 total blocks this year and his eight blocks against LIU matches the most in a single game by anyone in the nation so far.
ROOKIE YEAR
Martin Somerville has already logged three, 20-point games this year with a season-high 22 points at Massachusetts and against Boston University, and leads all America East freshmen (12th overall) with 13.5 points per game. With a 47% clip from beyond the arc, he is third in the conference and boasts 2.3 three-pointers per game. He has won the league's Rookie of the Week award in seven out of the first eight weeks of the season, as well.
GOING UP AND STAYING UP
The team plays well when they get out in front, owning a 6-0 record when leading at halftime so far this year.
COMEBACK KIDS
The River Hawks have shown their composure and toughness this season, trailing or being tied in the second half before pulling out the victory in six games so far this year, most recently against Boston University.
HELPING HANDS
The River Hawks' passing and connectedness has been on full display early this year, as the team has logged six games with over 20 assists so far. The team is currently first in the America East with 16.6 assists per game.
SCORING POWER
With an average of 85.1 points per game through 15 games, the River Hawks currently sit first in the America East in scoring offense and 22nd in the nation. Last season, UMass Lowell finished ranked 36th in the nation, averaging 80.0 points per game, the highest scoring average for any America East team since 2016-17 when UMBC averaged 81.1 ppg. The team set a new DI record and scored its most points in a single games since 1995 with 121 in the contest against Fisher.
Â
