Record number of home games highlight River Hawks' 2019-20 slate

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Record number of home games

Lowell, Mass. – UMass Lowell Men’s Basketball Head Coach Pat Duquette unveiled his squad’s complete, 31-game schedule for the upcoming 2019-20 season on Wednesday. The new season gets underway on Tuesday, November 5 at Atlantic 10 Conference member Massachusetts.

“This year’s non-conference schedule offers a nice balance of high profile games, local rivalries and very competitive teams that will prepare us well for conference play,” said Duquette, who enters his seventh year at the helm of the program.

Although the team opens the season with a three-game road swing that includes trips to LIU Brooklyn (Nov. 8) and Big Ten foe Ohio State (Nov. 10), the River Hawks’ schedule for 2019-20 features a Division I record, 17 home games. That home slate is highlighted by an eight-game, non-conference homestand, marking the longest in the program’s history. During the home stretch, which spans from November 12 to December 7, the River Hawks will host their first-ever regular-season tournament at the Division I level, welcoming Jacksonville, Merrimack and Dartmouth for the River Hawk Invitational on Nov. 15-17.

“We are looking forward to playing more home games, including hosting a four-team, six-game tournament early in November,” explained Duquette.

In addition to the record number of home games, UMass Lowell is also playing its most games ever at the Tsongas Center, the university’s state-of-the-art arena. Matchups against Central Connecticut State (Dec. 1) and Sacred Heart (Dec. 4) are the first of 11 total contests for the squad at the arena. Last season, the River Hawks swept a pair of high-scoring affairs against Sacred Heart, as the teams combined for 375 points in those outings.

The team heads back out on the road after almost a month of home games to visit NJIT on Dec. 11 before squaring off against Boston University on Dec. 21, looking to break the 3-3 tie in the all-time series. The River Hawks then wrap up non-league action at Loyola Md. (Dec. 27) and Big Ten member Michigan (Dec. 29).

“Our student-athletes enjoy playing games every year against schools in the Power Five conferences, and playing at Michigan and Ohio State will give our program national exposure,” added Duquette.

UMass Lowell will once again play a home-and-home series against every America East Conference opponent, beginning on January 4 at UMBC. For the first time since joining the league, all of the River Hawks’ home America East games will be played at the Tsongas Center.

Hartford (Jan. 8) and Binghamton (Jan. 11) mark the first home league games of the season for UMass Lowell, leading up to three games on the road. UAlbany (Feb. 26) and Vermont (Feb. 29) make the trek to Lowell late in February to wrap up the team’s regular-season home slate.

“The most important goals for our team this year involve our conference schedule,” concluded Duquette. “We have consistently finished in the middle of the league, and now we are ready and excited to get to the top of the standings to position ourselves well for the tournament.”

The 2019-20 America East Championship is set to include the league’s top eight teams with matchups taking place at the higher seed’s arena in all of the rounds. Quarterfinals and semifinals will take place on Saturday, March 7 and Tuesday, March 10, respectively, while the title game will be decided on Saturday, March 14.

All America East games will be streamed live on an ESPN network.

*Times, dates and locations of contests may be subject to change. Visit goriverhawks.com for all schedule updates.*