UMass Lowell Falls to Central Connecticut State, 57-54

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This may have been brewing for about a month now. The UMass Lowell River Hawks (7-4) were finding ways to win games without playing well. As coach Pat Duquette said after the game “Maybe we had success too soon.” Whatever the case, the River Hawks came out flat on Saturday night at Tsongas Center. Their opponent Central Connecticut State (4-6), though not playing great themselves, just looked like they wanted the game more. The end result was a Blue Devils win on a right corner three-point shot by senior guard Jordan Jones (15 points) with three seconds left in the game to give his team their biggest win of the season so far. A 57-54 road win over the River Hawks before a crowd of 1,379.

If you were to look at the stats page of this game, you would find enough there to understand why the River Hawks came up short. For the second straight game, UMass Lowell had trouble shooting the ball from the field (20-of-58). They were even worse from 3-point land at 21.1% (4-of-19). They lost the turnover battle committing 15 of them which led to 17 Blue Devils points. For the first time in a long while, they were outscored in the paint 36-32. The warning signs may have been there for a letdown performance and on Saturday night that is exactly what happened.

In the first half, there were three lead changes and one tie. Each team had runs in the half, however, CCSU’s run was way better. The River Hawks’s best stretch of basketball came in the middle of the half. A 13-3 run would give UMass Lowell their biggest lead of the half at 18-11 with 8:28 left in the half. Cam Morris III recorded his first double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds scoring four of those inside. Ayinde Hikim (10 points, 4 assists, 2 steals) had five points in the run, a three-pointer and a second-chance layup. The Blue Devils came right back with a 16-0 run. Eleven of those points came from senior Tre Breland who did all of his scoring in the first half. He knocked down three 3-point shots, the only 3-point made in the half by CCSU. It would give them a 2-point lead at 21-19 with 4:36 left in the first half. Not to be outdone, the defense did their job by coming up with four straight steals because the River Hawks were making costly mistakes with the ball. The half would come to an end with CCSU leading 31-25.

There were two telling stats for UMass Lowell. First, they had only two assists on nine made baskets. They were 1-of-9 (11.1%) from three. It was their worst first half of the season at home. The River Hawks look a little more engaged in the second half. Max Brooks, with four quick points, trimmed the lead to four at 33-29 with 17:28 left. They would take the lead back on back-to-back three-point baskets from Yuri Covington (11 points) and Brayden O’Connor who had a rough night shooting the ball (1-of-8 from the field, 1-of-4 from deep). With 11:17 left, UMass Lowell had the lead back at 39-37. CCSU responded with an eight-point run to take the lead back. Jones had four of those points. Allan Jeanne-Rose (10 points) had a bucket in the paint and Kellen Amos (11 points) had a fast-break dunk off a River Hawks turnover. The lead was back to eight at 50-42 for the Blue Devils with six minutes left.

A 6-0 run by UMass Lowell got them back to within one at 50-49. Quinton Mincy started it with a three-point basket and he had 12 points for the game. They were the only bench points the River Hawks would get for the game. Covington and Morris III added baskets in the paint. With 4:15 left, it was a one-point game at 50-49. The game was all set up for a great finish. Jeanne-Rose fouled Morris III with 48 seconds left. It would end the night for Jeanne-Rose. Morris III made both free throws to tie the game at 52-52. Jones then hit a layup with 33 seconds left to give his team the lead back at 54-52. Mincy, off a second chance, re-tied the game at 54-54 with eight seconds left. CCSU called time with six seconds left to draw up a play. Off the inbounds pass Jones got free in the right corner and nailed the three-point shot with three seconds left. Hikim took the ball and raced down the court and took what would have been a game-tying three but the shot did not go and Central Connecticut State got the win 57-54. The loss snapped a 20-game home winning streak for the River Hawks.

The win for the Blue Devils was their 4th non-conference win of the year. It’s the most since the 2018-19 season. It was the first win over the River Hawks on the road since December 23, 2017. Coach Duquette stated the obvious that his team did not play well on offense, nor did they handle the Blue Devils zone defense. He hopes that Saturday night’s performance is a wake-up call for his team.

We will have to wait until Friday afternoon when the River Hawks head to Case Gym to meet the Boston University Terriers. On another note, this was the sixth game that center Abdoul Karim Coulibaly missed and his on-court presence is starting to be missed by his teammates.