Redshirt sophomore Jahad Thomas looks to lead the River Hawks to another successful season. (Photo courtesy of UMass Lowell Athletics.)
UMass Lowell Athletics
LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell Men’s Basketball Head Coach Pat Duquette released the complete schedule for his squad’s upcoming 2015-16 campaign on Friday. The River Hawks will open the new season on the road at Big Ten Conference member Northwestern on Friday, November 13 at 7 p.m.
The 2015-16 schedule, which features 29 contests, includes road matchups against five nationally-recognized opponents, as UMass Lowell is set to visit Notre Dame (Nov. 21), Boston College (Dec. 6), Connecticut (Dec. 20) and Rutgers (Dec. 28) in addition to Northwestern.
“Our team is extremely excited about this year’s schedule,” said Duquette. “Playing five schools from power conferences will give our program continued national exposure, as well as provide excellent opportunities to challenge and prepare ourselves.”
The River Hawks have scheduled four additional non-conference games on the road for a total of nine this season. The team’s longest road swing of the year, which includes the trips to UConn and Rutgers, begins with a contest at Central Connecticut State on December 18 and ends with one at Wagner on Dec. 30.
“Last year we did a great job of winning tough road games and we hope to continue to establish ourselves as a very good road team,” added Duquette.
UMass Lowell will play 12 games in friendly confines in 2015-16, starting with the home opener on Wednesday, Nov. 18 against Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. The squad’s home schedule is highlighted by a record five games at the university’s state-of-the-art Tsongas Center. Besides SHU, the River Hawks will also welcome in-state foe Boston University to Tsongas for a non-conference tilt on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. UMass Lowell’s three additional games in the 7,000-seat arena will be against America East Conference opponents, as the team takes on New Hampshire and Binghamton in back-to-back games on January 21 and 24, respectively, before squaring off against Albany there for the season finale on February 24.
“Our players love playing in the Tsongas Center and they were thrilled to hear that we are playing five home games there this season,” explained Duquette. “As we get closer to the end of our transition period, we look forward to making Tsongas the full-time home for the men’s basketball program.”
Similarly to last year, UMass Lowell will play a home-and-home series against each of its eight America East opponents, for a 16-game conference slate. The River Hawks open league play on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at home against Hartford beginning at 7 p.m. Maine then comes to Lowell for an 11 a.m. school day game on Wednesday, Jan. 13. The remaining home conference dates include Feb. 6 against Albany, Feb. 8 against Vermont and Feb. 14 against UMBC.
“The most important thing at this point in this huge and challenging transition that we are going through is that we continue to build and prepare our team to be competitive within the America East Conference,” concluded Duquette. “This year’s team, while extremely young, has more talent and depth than we have had in the past.
“If we handle the challenging non-conference schedule well and play with the same intensity of our past teams, then we should be well prepared by the time we get to conference play.”
UMass Lowell’s roster for the upcoming year includes five veterans, who helped lead the squad to a 12-17 overall finish in 2014-15. Three redshirt-freshmen will look to earn minutes and make an impact this season, as well. Duquette has added five freshmen to round out his lineup.
View the full schedule here.
