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Coming off a 10-point victory at Columbia, the Sacred Heart University men's basketball team takes a trip to UMass Lowell for a Sunday matinee. The Pioneers tip-off with the Riverhawks at 1 p.m. at the Tsongas Center. 

OPENING TIP

• Sunday's game caps a seven-game road stretch for the Pioneers. SHU's last home game was nearly a month ago against Fairfield (11/20). 
• Sacred Heart enters Sunday after a 79-69 victory at Columbia. The Pioneers came back from trailing in the first half as they outscored the Lions, 47-36, in the second half thanks to a 27-4 run.
• Three of UMass Lowell's wins this season came against non-D1 opponents. 
• The Riverhawks hold the all-time series record, 4-3, but the Pioneers own the Riverhawks, 2-1, in Lowell. SHU pulled out a narrow 89-86 victory at the Costello Athletics Center in 2019.  
• Junior Tyler Thomas leads the entire country with 88 made field goals. He also posts top scoring marks in points per game (16th, 20.3) and total points (8th, 233).

TYLER T, MVP?
Tyler Thomas has posted double-digit scoring performances in all but one game so far this season after being held to just nine at Stony Brook. Thomas is one of the best scorers in the country as he ranks first in FGs made at 88. The junior continues to defend his crown as the NEC leader in scoring and ranks 16th nationally with 20.3 a night. In total, Thomas boasts 223 points on the year which is the sixth most in the country. His high marks are thanked in part to a season-high 30 points at URI off 10-of-18 shooting from the field. It marked his second 30-point performance of his career as he netted a career-high 36 at Merrimack last season.   

DEFENSE IS KEY
Three of SHU's four victories occurred when holding opponents under 70 points. The Pioneers are 1-7 when allowing more than 70 . Sacred Heart forced 16 turnovers at Columbia, the most against a D1 opponent this season, which resulted in 20 points.

TURNING THE AC ON
Aaron Clarke plays a vital role in SHU's success. As the second-leading scorer on the team at 15.4 ppg, Clarke led the Pioneers in scoring in four of the seven games that he's been a part of thus far. Despite being held to just six points at Columbia, Clarke dished out a career-high eight assists in SHU's 10-point feat. The senior point guard posted double-figure scoing in five-straight games after returning from a three-game hiatus, including two 20-point performances. Clarke sits 74 points away from the 1,000 point mark which would make him the 44th to hurdle the milestone in SHU's history - 16th in Division I history.