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When UMass Lowell coach Pat Duquette announced the River Hawks’ 2024-25 schedule, he highlighted a mid-November trip to the state of Washington that “will bring great exposure and experience for our program.”

As his team prepared for Sunday’s game against Washington in Seattle, Duquette still couldn’t quite get over what he witnessed Friday night in a 113-54 loss at No. 4 Gonzaga in Spokane.

“I think that is, if not the best team in the country, one of the best teams in the country,” Duquette said of Gonzaga. “I coached at the high major level for 13 years in the ACC and the Big East, and I haven’t seen many teams that big with that much depth and that many weapons. On their home court, I believe they’re one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the country.”

Guard Quinton Mincey was the lone River Hawk to reach double digits in the game, scoring 10 points against the Bulldogs. Max Brooks added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds, with Cam Morris III and Martin Somerville also scoring nine apiece.

The River Hawks (2-1) hope to keep it a lot closer against the Huskies (2-1), who are in their first season under coach Danny Sprinkle.

Washington rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat visiting Seattle Pacific, a Division II school, 77-62 on Wednesday night.

“I thought our energy was off in the first half for whatever reason. We didn’t have any juice,” Sprinkle said. “I just kind of challenged the team at halftime. I asked them, ‘What defense do you want to play? You need to take ownership of this. This is you guys.’

“They said after every make, we’re picking up full and we’re pressuring, which is what we should have been doing in the first half. But to give our guys credit, the energy changed and the defensive intensity changed.”

DJ Davis and Great Osobor each scored 18 points for the Huskies, with Osobor grabbing eight rebounds and making seven steals. Tyler Harris added 13 points, five rebounds, four blocks and four steals off the bench.

“The (halftime) message was play like us,” said Davis, a senior guard who returned to the lineup after missing last Saturday’s 63-53 loss at Nevada to attend the birth of his child. “We came out a little soft and slow, and I think we underestimated our opponent in the first half and it showed.”

–Field Level Media