THE OPENING TIP
The Hartford men's basketball team opens conference play with a Wednesday night affair at UMass Lowell at 7 p.m. The Hawks went 2-2 in their last four non-conference games and posted a 2-4 mark on the road overall.

QUICK HITS
• The two brands of Hawks meet for the fifth time in series history since the Hawks moved to Division I, with Hartford holding a 3-1 advantage. All four games have come in America East conference play in the last two seasons.

• This year marks Hartford's 21st season in America East, with the Hawks holding an 11-9 mark all-time in conference openers. The Hawks have not had as much success in the first conference road game of the year, holding a 6-14 mark. 

• Pancake Thomas has been on fire for the Hawks as of late. He had one of the finest games in program history with 35 points and 17 rebounds at Rider, and followed that up with 24 points and five boards against Yale. He is 15-for-34 (.441) from the floor, 8-for-15 (.533) from downtown and 21-for-24 (.875) at the line in the last two.

• Hartford went to double overtime for the second time this year last Wednesday, marking the third time in school history the Hawks have played 50 minutes twice in a season.

• Justin Graham has hit a recent rough patch, going 1-for-14 with five points in the last two. He averaged a team-best 14.0 points and went 20-for-41 from the field in the previous four. He averaged 13.5 points against UMass Lowell last year and 9.7 in conference action overall.

• The Hawks went 14-for-30 from beyond the three-point arc against Widener, marking three times in the last five with at least 14 makes. Hartford has averaged 10.9 makes and 31.6 attempts from downtown in the last seven. 

• The Hawks have been proficient in takeaways lately, with at least seven steals in each of the last eight games. The 13 against Widener were the most since 2013.

• J.R. Lynch has started all 15 games at the point for the Hawks, averaging 24.3 minutes. He has averaged 7.5 points and been a strong on-ball defender.

• The Hawks are in their least busy stretch of the season, playing their fourth of five games in 32 days. To open the season, Hartford played 12 games in the first 32 days of action.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Hartford and UMass Lowell will do battle for the fifth time in program history, with all five matchups coming in America East Conference play over the last three seasons. The Hawks won the first three matchups before the River Hawks won a 69-63 contest in Lowell last year.

Mark Nwakamma was outstanding in last year's affairs, averaging 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds, but Justin Graham was close at hand with 13.5 points and 2.5 assists per contest. Graham finished in double figures in both games. Taylor Dyson also averaged 7.5 points, netting nine in the 68-62, overtime victory on Jan. 17.

Dyson also averaged 7.0 points in the two games he played against UML in the 2013-14 season, hitting a pair of threes in each contest. Evan Cooper also played against the River Hawks once, playing 26 minutes and netting 13 points, five assists and two steals in a 75-68 win.

FOR STARTERS
Hartford tips off its 21st season in the America East on Wednesday, and the Hawks are looking to improve on an 11-9 all-time mark in season openers. This marks the 12th time that the Hawks have played their first league game of the season on the road, holding a 3-8 mark in such games. Overall, Hartford holds a 6-14 all-time mark in their first America East road game of the season. The Hawks play their first two conference games this year on the road, the only America East team to do that.

HOT CAKES
Entering the season, there was a significant amount of buzz about Cleveland "Pancake" Thomas after being one of the top players on the team in practice last year. Thomas, one of three transfers in the program who was forced to sit out last season due to NCAA rules, played 67 games in two seasons at New Mexico, making 12 starts.

He battled injuries and illness earlly in the season, but has been truly healthy in the last couple games and the results have been astounding. At Rider, he had one of the finest games in the history of Hartford Basketball, netting 35 points to go with 17 rebounds and five assists. (See page three for more detailed notes about the performance.)

But he showed it was no fluke, as he carried the load in a tough offensive game against Yale. Thomas netted 24 points on 7-for-17 shooting and again led the team in boards, snaring five caroms in the contest.

In the two-game span, he has played 77 of the team's 90 minutes, leading the team in that category by a wide margin. But more notably, he is 15-for-34 (.441), 8-for-15 (.533) from downtown and 21-for-24 (.875) at the line in the last two. He has scored 59 of the Hawks' 133 points (44.4 percent), and when considering his assists, he has scored or assisted on 21 of Hartford's 40 field goals in the last two.

Those two contests are far from the only accomplishments for the Baton Rouge, La., native, as he sits second in the America East with his 15.9 points per game. His 6.3 boards are best on the team and also place him in the league's top 10.

Thomas has scored in double figures eight times this season, with four games of 20 or more points. He has two double-doubles on the year and is in the league's top 10 in free-throw and three-point percentage.

YOU CAN ALWAYS GO...DOWNTOWN
The Hawks have certainly been busy from beyond the arc lately. They matched their season high with 12 makes at Dartmouth and set a new high for the year with 38 attempts from distance. It marked the most three-point attempts for the Hawks since they went 14-for-40 against UMass Lowell on Jan. 20, 2014. Hartford also made 12 threes against Niagara earlier this season.

Against Holy Cross, the Hawks drained 14 three-balls on 36 attempts, including a 9-for-18 performance in the second half. It marked the most made three-balls since the aforementioned UML contest. 

Then, in the Widener contest, the Hawks took it to a whole new level, going 15-for-43 from beyond the arc, marking a whopping 68.3 percent of their shots from the field in the game coming from downtown. At Rider, the efficiency was up, as Hartford went 14-for-30 from distance.

Over the last eight affairs, Hartford has gone 87-for-253 (.344) from beyond the arc, with Pancake Thomas leading the way at 22-for-47 (.468). That marks an average of 10.9 makes and 31.6 attempts in the last eight contests after averaging 7.6 makes and 21.4 attempts in the first seven affairs. 

The recent surge has lifted the Hawks into the national rankings in shooting from long range. Hartford's 140 makes place them 21st in the nation in that category, while the Hawks are ninth in the country with their 403  attempts from beyond the arc.

RESTING THEIR WINGS
The Hawks are in the midst of their lightest game workload of the season. Wednesday marks game four of five in a 32-day span from Dec. 15 to Jan. 16 after playing 12 games in the first 32 days of the season. The Hawks will have a full week of rest before traveling to Binghamton next Wednesday. 

Hartford was one of just nine teams in the nation to play 12 contests through Dec. 14. Hartford will close the season by playing its final 14 games in a span of 42 days in conference action. 

STEALERS WHEEL
Hartford has really stepped it up in the takeaway department as of late, culminating with a season-high 13 steals against Widener. That marked the highest total since Jan. 2, 2013, when the Hawks notched 13 against Binghamton – the second-straight contest with 13 steals – in a 71-68 victory.

Though the 13 steals were a season high, they fit the recent trend of the team. The Hawks have nine straight games with at least seven steals. During the last nine contests, Hartford is averaging 9.2 steals compared to the opposition's average of 6.7 in the same period. Four different players – Justin Graham (16), Jalen Ross (12), J.R. Lynch (12) and Pancake Thomas (11) – have posted double-digit steals in the last nine games. Additionally, George Blagojevic has nine swipes despite missing a pair of games and Jason Dunne has eight even though he averages just 12.3 minutes.

With the recent surge, the Hawks have moved to the top of the America East with 109 steals on the season, a total that places them 53rd in the country. By contrast, in the first six games of the season, the team averaged just 4.3 steals per affair, and ranked last in the conference in that category.

The steals have predictably resulted in an uptick in opponent turnovers, as the opposition has averaged 17.0 turns to give Hartford a plus-3.6 turnover margin in the last nine games. Overall on the season, the Hawks have forced 14.7 turnovers per game, an average that places second in the league and 77th nationally, while the team's plus-2.2 margin on the year is 62nd.