# 2017–18 UMass Lowell River Hawks men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UMass Lowell River Hawks men's basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Lowell during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The River Hawks, led by fifth-year head coach Pat Duquette, played most of their home games at Costello Athletic Center, with six home games at the Tsongas Center. They were members of the America East Conference.
The season marked the River Hawks' first full season as a Division I school after a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I. Accordingly, they were eligible for postseason play including the America East tournament. They finished the season 12–18, 6–10 in America East play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the America East tournament to UMBC.

## Previous season

The River Hawks finished the 2016–17 season 11–20, 5–11 in American East play to finish in sixth place. UMass Lowell was in the fourth and final year of a transition to Division I and, thus, ineligible for the postseason, including the America East tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Isaac White | 11 | G | 6'0" | 178 | Sophomore | Ashland, OH | Transferred to Nova Southeastern |
| Jordan Shea | 21 | G | 6'4" | 195 | RS Sophomore | Madison, WI | Transferred to Assumption |
| Logan Primerano | 23 | G/F | 6'4" | 180 | Sophomore | Peru, IN | Transferred to Goshen College |
| Tyler Livingston | 24 | F | 6'6" | 215 | Senior | Hudson, NH | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Christian Lutete | 23 | F | 6'4" | 190 | Junior | Silver Spring, MD | Transferred from Radford. Under NCAA transfer rules, Lutete will have to sit out from the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Joey Naccarato SG | Coeur D'Alene, ID | Coeur D'Alene High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Oct 7, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017. ||||||

### 2018 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Alex Rivera #79 SG | Lowell, MA | Lowell High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 59 |||||||
| Bryce Daley #88 PG | Salisbury, CT | Salisbury School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 55 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 22, 2017. |||||||

## Preseason

In a poll by the conference’s nine head coaches (who were not allowed to pick their own team) at the America East media day, the River Hawks were picked to finish in a tied for sixth place in the America East. Senior Jahad Thomas, Sr. was named to the preseason All-America East team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Massachusetts | L 69–74 | 0–1 | Mullins Center (3,857) Amherst, MA |
| Nov 12, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UMass Boston | W 102–63 | 1–1 | Costello Athletic Center (387) Lowell, MA |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Marist | W 76–73 | 2–1 | Costello Athletic Center (718) Lowell, MA |
| Nov 19, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cornell | W 98–78 | 3–1 | Tsongas Center (1,689) Lowell, MA |
| Nov 22, 2017* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | LIU Brooklyn | W 74–66 | 4–1 | Costello Athletic Center (407) Lowell, MA |
| Nov 26, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Loyola (MD) | W 83–75 | 5–1 | Costello Athletic Center (463) Lowell, MA |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Sacred Heart | L 80–87 | 5–2 | Costello Athletic Center (994) Lowell, MA |
| Dec 3, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at NJIT | L 65–78 | 5–3 | Wellness and Events Center Newark, NJ |
| Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Wagner | L 72–90 | 5–4 | Spiro Sports Center (917) Staten Island, NY |
| Dec 9, 2017* 2:00 pm | | at Brown | L 75–89 | 5–5 | Pizzitola Sports Center (330) Providence, RI |
| Dec 13, 2017* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Boston University | W 87–82 | 6–5 | Costello Athletic Center (1,475) Lowell, MA |
| Dec 23, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Central Connecticut | L 73–76 | 6–6 | Tsongas Center (1,566) Lowell, MA |
| Dec 30, 2017* 3:00 pm, BTN | | at Wisconsin | L 53–82 | 6–7 | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| America East regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Vermont | L 77–88 | 6–8 (0–1) | Costello Athletic Center (289) Lowell, MA |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Hartford | L 73–84 | 6–9 (0–2) | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion (705) Hartford, CT |
| Jan 13, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UMBC | L 62–89 | 6–10 (0–3) | Tsongas Center (1,338) Lowell, MA |
| Jan 15, 2018 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | | New Hampshire | L 62–74 | 6–11 (0–4) | Tsongas Center (2,033) Lowell, MA |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Albany | L 62–70 | 6–12 (0–5) | SEFCU Arena (1,752) Albany, NY |
| Jan 21, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Binghamton | W 79–71 | 7–12 (1–5) | Binghamton University Events Center (2,076) Vestal, NY |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Stony Brook | W 82–79 $^{OT}$ | 8–12 (2–5) | Costello Athletic Center (602) Lowell, MA |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Hartford | L 70–77 | 8–13 (2–6) | Tsongas Center (2,867) Lowell, MA |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Maine | W 88–64 | 9–13 (3–6) | Cross Insurance Center (1,506) Bangor, ME |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stony Brook | L 68–81 | 9–14 (3–7) | Island Federal Credit Union Arena (2,388) Stony Brook, NY |
| Feb 11, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Vermont | L 69–81 | 9–15 (3–8) | Patrick Gym (2,910) Burlington, VT |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Albany | L 81–91 | 9–16 (3–9) | Costello Athletic Center (419) Lowell, MA |
| Feb 18, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Binghamton | W 74–69 | 10–16 (4–9) | Costello Athletic Center (562) Lowell, MA |
| Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Maine | W 88–76 | 11–16 (5–9) | Tsongas Center (2,214) Lowell, MA |
| Feb 24, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UMBC | L 75–83 | 11–17 (5–10) | UMBC Event Center (1,253) Catonsville, MD |
| Feb 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at New Hampshire | W 92–77 | 12–17 (6–10) | Lundholm Gym (651) Durham, NH |
| America East tournament ||||||
| Mar 3, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | (7) | at (2) UMBC Quarterfinals | L 77–89 | 12–18 | UMBC Event Center (1,518) Catonsville, MD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
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