UMass Lowell is a top-tier university, and their college basketball team is part of the NCAA Division 1 group. That’s the highest level for college athletics, but that doesn’t mean they are doing well this year.
UMass had a shot at March Madness victory, aiming for the No.2 seed, but lost it this Sunday during the second half of their Indiana game.
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To truly understand how UMass is doing, we need to pull apart the player’s profiles.
Best Scoring Player At UMass
This season so far, the player with the most points per game is Everette Hammond. Even though he is a Guard, Hammond has scored an average of 13.7 points per game.
In second place is Abdoul Karim Coulibaly with 11.8, and the third is Ayinde Hikim with 10.7. The team’s overall free throw percentage is pretty low. Their highest figure is 69.2% by Darlon Jordan-Thomas. In second is Cam Morris with 66.3%, and third is Max Brooks with 63.7%.
As a team, they average 48.6% in field goal percentage. In good news, their opponents only achieved 40.6%, making UMass a strong defender. Their points are also higher, with an impressive average of 78.7 compared to their opponents achieving 65.8.
The best scorer isn’t necessarily the best field goal-maker.
With no sweeping player to show off UMass talent, we have to pick the player with the most points per game.
Everett Hammond is the best-scoring player on UMass Lowell River Hawks.
Best Defensive Player At UMass
To study the defensive players on the team, we need to consider rebounds, steals, and blocks.
The players with the most rebounds this season are Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (235), Max Brooks (176), and Everette Hammond (149). The people stay the same when we look at rebound per game too (7.8, 5.5, 4.7). This shows us a steady and reliable rebound trio.
Turning the tables a bit, the players with the most steals this season are Ayinde Hikim (34), Max Brooks (27), and Everette Hammond (27). Swap to steals per game and the people change too. Hikim is still in the top spot (1.20), but forwards Coulibaly (0.90) and Connor Withers (0.90) enter into view too.
This suggests the players are not as consistent with their steals, and yet the team as a whole is doing well. Those numbers are nothing to shake your head at. This team simply has multiple strong defensive players.
Our last category is blocks, and the player with the most blocks this season is Max Brooks with a whopping 57. Second is Coulibaly with 29 and the third is Cam Morris with 24. Changing to blocks per game, as the people stay the same (1.8, 1, 0.9).
Because the top three players in blocks and rebounds are consistent we can confidently say that their successes aren’t accidental. They are skilled players who are the best in their category on this team.
The coaches are doing well to keep their playtime high.
In every defensive category, there is one player who is constantly performing well. Max Brooks is the second-best rebounder, second-best stealer, and best blocker. No other player touches the top 3 of each category.
We can easily say that Max Brooks is the best defensive player at UMass this season.
Best Assists Player At UMass
In college basketball, lots of fans ignore the importance of an assisting player, but without them, the game will not be as speedy or intense.
In UMass, the player with the most assists this season is Ayinde Hikim with an outstanding 110 to his name so far. Second is Everette Hammond with 76, and the third is Mikey Watkins with 58. Per game, the players are the same (3.8, 2.4, 2.3), showing strong stability in the team.
For turnovers, the main players change only slightly. Ayinde Hikim (80) and Everette Hammond (57) are still first and second, but third place goes to Coulibaly (54). Again, this performance rate is the same when we change the viewpoint to “per game” (2.8, 1.8, 1.8).
This makes the average assisting to turnover rate a little wild. Mikey Watkins has the best assist to turnover rate of 2.0. Second is Connor Withers with 1.7, and the third is Ayinde Hikim with 1.4.
In all three categories, we have one consistent player once again. This time, his name is Ayinde Hikim. Hikim completes the most assists, and the most turnovers, and creates the third-best assisting turnover rate.
This means Hikim has to be the best-assist player at UMass.
Final Thoughts
Everette Hammond is the best scoring player on the team, Max Brooks is the best defender and Ayinde Hikim is the best assisting player. But who is the best overall?
Answering that question is just too hard, as all three of them are fantastic in their own areas and others too. Hammond and Hikim stand out as the top two, but cannot pick just one top player.
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