February 21 vs. Binghamton (7 p.m.)
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LOWELL, Mass. - The UMass Lowell men's basketball team, who is an even 14-14 overall and 6-7 in America East play, will take on Hartford in its regular-season home finale on Saturday, February 23.
***ROAD CLOSURE AND DETOUR INFO***
Part of Arcand Dr. will be closed for Winterfest in Lowell on Saturday, which may affect some fans' commute to the Tsongas Center. Please use the link at the top of the page or click
here for the best alternative route and other information.
SENIOR NIGHT
The River Hawks will honor three graduating student-athletes in a special pre-game ceremony on Saturday evening.
Connor Bennett,
Ryan Jones and
Shawn Jones will all be celebrated for their contributions to the program on Senior Night.
A WIN WOULD
A win would give the River Hawks a sweep of the season series against Hartford. A victory would also mark the team's most America East wins (7) since 2015-16, as well as its most wins at home (9) since 2011-12.
LAST TIME OUT
Redshirt-junior
Christian Lutete recorded 22 points and six rebounds, as UMass Lowell dropped an 81-66 decision against Binghamton on Feb. 21. Sophomore
Obadiah Noel added to the offense with 13 points, while redshirt-senior
Josh Gantz totaled nine points and tied a career high with eight assists.
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LEADING THE FLOCK
Through 28 games in 2018-19,
Christian Lutete is leading the team with 18.9 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Obadiah Noel, who follows with 14.6 points per game, paces the team with a 72.9 clip from the line and 34 steals.
Josh Gantz boasts a team-best 25 blocks and has also dished out a team-high 87 assists.
SCOUTING HARTFORD
The Hawks own a 14-13 overall record and a 7-5 mark in conference action. The team earned a decisive, 70-50 victory at New Hampshire earlier this week on Feb. 21. J.R. Lynch is one of four double-digit scorers for the Hawks with 16.1 points per game. He is also currently first on the team with 105 assists and 57 steals. George Blagojevic leads the squad with 7.7 rebounds and 19 blocks. As a team, Hartford is shooting 44.2 percent from the field, including 38.3 percent on threes, and 74.5 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
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
With a 5-0 start at home this year, the River Hawks extended their unbeaten streak in friendly territory to eight games dating back to Feb. 15, 2018. At 8-4 so far, the River Hawks have accumulated their most home wins since 2011-12, in addition to a 130-75 mark in front of River Hawk Nation since 2003-04.
PLAYING AT TSONGAS
With the victory against UMBC on Jan. 12, the team has set a new record for the program's most wins in a single season at the Tsongas Center (4). Earlier this season, the UMFK decision on Dec. 7 marked the River Hawks' largest margin of victory in the arena. The team is now 8-18 all time at the Tsongas Center.
HENDERSON HEATS UP
Darius Henderson logged season highs for points (13), three-point field goals (3) and minutes (26) at UMBC on Feb. 16. With double digit points in the team's most recent two outings, Henderson is averaging 8.6 points in the last five 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 34th in the nation with 10 double-doubles in 2018-19, and second on the school's DI career record list. He is also in the midst of a 20-game, double-digit scoring streak, 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 nine times this season and is first in the league with a 47.3 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 53.4 percent clip so far this year.
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 23rd in the nation with 447 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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