In preparation for a run at perennial powerhouse Vermont and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, UMass Lowell spent most of November on the road.
When UMass Lowell originally jumped to the Division I ranks in 2013-14, the River Hawks immediately posted a fifth-place finish in the America East under head coach Pat Duquette. It was a solid debut headlined by eight conference wins, but UML failed to match those heights over the next eight seasons. The program ended up mired in mediocrity over its first nine D1 seasons, finishing between fifth and eighth in the AEC each year.
Last season, UMass Lowell flipped the script. The River Hawks won 26 games — 11 more than their previous D1 high — and finished second in the America East behind conference powerhouse Vermont. Though they lost in the AEC Tournament final, it was a breakthrough season for Duquette’s club. With many of the pieces from that team returning for 2023-24, expectations are as high as they have ever been in Lowell.
“First of all, we wanted to build off last season’s momentum. We have a winning culture, and we expect to win. We embrace that,” Duquette told Heat Check CBB. However, that culture comes with a caveat.
“Certainly, the buzz around campus is palpable, and I want our guys to feel that and appreciate it because it is well-earned,” the coach continued. “But this is a new team and a new season. We need to understand the differences between last year and this year, roll up our sleeves, and get back to work.”
UMass Lowell’s downfall last season was struggles away from home. While the River Hawks were 17-0 on their home floor, they were just 9-8 in road games — and a paltry 3-6 in conference play.
Duquette looked to change that this season.
The necessity
The America East is a one-bid league, and Vermont has represented the league in four of the last six years. A key reason for the Catamounts’ dominance is the layout of the conference tournament: The America East awards home-court advantage to the higher-seeded team in every round. As Vermont has won seven straight regular-season titles in the America East, it has consistently had the luxury of hosting the championship game.
Therein lies the reason why improving on the road is at the crux of UMass Lowell’s NCAA Tournament hopes this season. The River Hawks are elite at home, as noted above, but the only way to host the league tournament title game is to win the regular season. And the only way to win the regular season is by winning some road games.
“There is such a premium on hosting [in the AEC Tournament],” Duquette said. “Your chances of winning go up significantly, making every league game that much more important. We have to treat our road games like a championship game. The margin is thin to be the No. 1 seed. We took care of business at home last year, but we must win more on the road.”
To that end, the River Hawks scheduled their first seven games against D1 competition on the road, with a couple non-D1 home games sprinkled in for good measure. A few of those were so-called buy games, which are always played in enemy territory, but Duquette didn’t stop the road trips there. UMass Lowell lined up an early schedule ripe with opportunities to grow and prepare for the road battles of conference play.
The journey
The season started with a home game on Nov. 6 against Division III Rivier College. UMass Lowell won that game by 45 points, but the itinerary ramped up in a hurry from there: The River Hawks did not play another home game for nearly a month. They played six straight true road games before finally returning home on Dec. 5 to face NAIA foe Fisher College.
The road trip started close to home with an 81-48 blowout win over Dartmouth, putting mid-major fans on notice. Four days later, UMass Lowell was down in the Peach State, where the River Hawks beat Georgia Tech 74-71. Duquette points to that upset as the highlight of the season so far.
“In the locker room after the Georgia Tech game, to see the amount of joy that we had was spectacular,” he said. “Everyone was screaming. That stood out to me as pretty special.”
There wasn’t much time to celebrate, though. Just one day separated the win over Georgia Tech and a road battle 1,800 miles away against Arizona State. Regardless, UMass Lowell led most of that game in Tempe before eventually falling two points short. The River Hawks got the weekend to catch their collective breath, but then it was right back to the East Coast. UML won road games at Saint Peter’s on Nov. 20 and Stonehill on Nov. 29, and then lost a close one to Merrimack on Dec. 2 to move to 5-2 overall.
All in all, UMass Lowell played six road games in 23 days, traversing over 5,000 miles along the way before finally returning home.
The chemistry
UMass Lowell’s roster is made up mostly of returning players. Their shared experiences from last season have built significant chemistry on the floor. Just as importantly, this group has also developed a strong bond off the floor.
In one particularly poignant example, Duquette recalls how the team picked him up when his mother passed away in the first week of November.
“The amount of love and support that I received from my team, I don’t know how to explain it,” Duquette said. “They all came to the service, and it’s not just that. Days later, they’d come into my office just to ask how I was doing. It was pretty special, and I’m extremely fortunate.”
As November wore on and the River Hawks spent most of the month on the road, the group’s connectivity continued to grow even deeper.
“I think when you experience the huge ups and downs that we did, that brings you together,” Duquette said. “Going up to Dartmouth and winning by that much was huge for us. Winning at Georgia Tech is a memory that lasts forever. To share those moments brings guys closer. I would say the same about losing at Arizona State; we experienced that sense of loss together.”
“All those things are points of growth and help out teams if you handle them correctly.”
By the time the America East season starts on Jan. 6, UMass Lowell will be as tested in true road environments as just about anyone in the country.
The goal
UMass Lowell’s road-heavy nonconference schedule was built to give the team experience and confidence to win road games in the America East. The end goal, of course, is winning the regular-season crown and earning the right to host throughout the conference tournament.
While playing at home means a lot to every program, it means more to UMass Lowell than most.
“I don’t think we really knew how impactful [our home court] could be until last year,” Duquette said. “That’s when we saw the people come and the noise they made. Now we understand. We want to make sure we sustain it and keep it.”
Despite sky-high expectations in 2023-24, the Lowell faithful have mostly had to watch this season from afar. As of now, the River Hawks still have not played a D1 home game. However, that will change on Dec. 12 when LIU comes to visit, and Duquette knows it could be rocking in Costello Athletic Center.
“I’m excited and looking forward to it. Building off last season’s momentum, you can tell that there is still buzz on campus. We sold out several of our final games last year and it created a great home atmosphere,” he said.
“I hope we can carry that through into this year,” Duquette continued. “It made a huge impact last year, and our guys really appreciated it. I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to get great support both from the campus and the community.”
With that support, as well as the lessons learned on its long road trip, UMass Lowell now chases the challenging — but attainable — goal of hosting all of its America East tournament games and booking its first-ever trip to the Big Dance. It was a bit of a gamble to schedule the way they did after last year’s struggles away from home, but the River Hawks are starting to become road warriors.
Now, they hope all those roads will lead them to the NCAA Tournament.