MHERST -- Reports of the demise of UMass basketball have been greatly exaggerated.
MHERST -- Reports of the demise of UMass basketball have been greatly exaggerated.
The latest bolt from the grave came Tuesday night with a tense 64-60 victory over first-place Rhode Island. The Minutemen have now won three straight games to improve to 9-9 (3-2). They are back in business.
"This is what I always thought we could play like," said senior Carmelo Travieso.
"We're not there yet," cautioned coach Bruiser Flint. "Let's not fool ourselves."
UMass won with some superb execution down the stretch. Tyrone Weeks sealed the game in clutch fashion by hitting both ends of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 5.9 seconds remaining. That turned a two-point gut-churner into an almost audible sigh of relief from the 8,849 on hand at the Mullins Center.
"I wanted to be at the line at the end of the game," said Weeks. "That's what seniors are for."
 Charlton Clarke goes straight into trouble. |
"Their rotation has solidified," said URI coach Al Skinner. "Their seniors are stepping up. They're playing better basketball."
Rhode Island, 11-5 (5-1), was paced by Tyson Wheeler, who scored a game-high 16 points. Antonio Reynolds-Dean and Michael Andersen each added 13.
UMass struggled early, falling behind 20-8. Led by a spirited half from Ketner and some emotional play off the bench from Ajmal Basit, the Minutemen stormed back to tie the game at the half, 28-28.
The second half was a tense battle that saw the Minutemen lead most of the way, yet never pull away to a comfortable distance. In the final few minutes, each team scored tough baskets on almost every possession.
UMass went up 54-49 on a great hustle play, where Clarke flew past Cuttino Mobley to save a ball to Weeks, who flipped it downcourt to a soaring and jamming Edgar Padilla. Rhody came back instantly with Wheeler nailing a 3-pointer to cut the gap to 54-52 with 4:06 left.
Weeks scored on a strong post move, but Chad Thomas matched the points with a pair of free throws. Then Travieso hit a tough off-balance leaner, only to be equalized by a pair of foul shots by Reynolds-Dean, giving UMass a 58-56 lead with 2:39 remaining.
Ketner hit a big hoop, but Rhody corraled an offensive rebound and then pitched the ball out to Mobley for an 18-footer.
Travieso then hit a terrific baseline leaner from behind the backboard for a 62-58 lead. Ketner swatted a Wheeler shot out of bounds, but Reynolds-Dean twisted free for a short jumper, and it was a two-point game once again with 58.9 seconds left.
Then UMass blinked. The Minutemen got the ball into the post to Ketner, but he was called for a travel trying to spin past some solid defense by Andersen.
Down 62-60, Rhody called a timeout with 24.2 seconds left. The game was theirs to tie or win. The Rams got an open look, but Mobley's jumper came up short, and Clarke snared the key rebound. Moments later, Weeks was fouled and put in a pressure situation. He coolly delivered the goods, and the Minutemen came away with a critical victory.
The road remains problematic. UMass heads to Temple on Saturday, then faces a tough road test at George Washington, before coming home Feb. 1 to take on Xavier.
MHERST - How quickly seasons change. A week
ago, the University of Massachusetts men's basketball
campaign looked as unsalvagable as The Titanic. Last
year's NCAA Tournament Final Four participant was, to
put it plainly, pathetic. The Minutemen were three games
below .500. Disjointed. Disconsolate. Clearly one of the
biggest disappointments in college basketball.
Not now.
After last night's 64-60 upset of Atlantic 10 East Division front-runner Rhode Island, UMass' third consecutive win and second in a row over a highly regarded team, the Minutemen showed the season is far from over and they still have time to reach preseason expectations.
 Clarke shares the PG role with Edgar Padilla in the new 3-guard lineup. |
UMass showed Saturday's win over then 19th-ranked Boston College was no fluke by overcoming 31 percent shooting from the floor in the first half against URI's 2-1-2 zone to shoot 59 percent in the second half.
Padilla had 10 points and 7 assists. Travieso shook off 1-for-8 shooting from the floor in the first half to finish with 10 points - including the winning basket with 1:24 left. Clarke had 11 points, 4 assists and 2 steals. Bolstered by a defense led by center Lari Ketner (5 blocks to go with a team-high 13 points), the Minutemen held URI - previously unbeaten in Atlantic 10 play - to season lows in points and field-goal percentage (33 percent).
The Rams (11-5, 5-1) had their five-game winning streak snapped and continued their futility against UMass, which has now won the last eight meetings.
"Last week [after their 63-47 home loss to a rebuilding Virginia Tech team], I just talked with the players about what they wanted to do with the season, how they were going to finish, how they wanted to approach every practice," said UMass coach Bruiser Flint, whose five starters placed in double figures for the third time this season.
"I just talked about guys dedicating themselves the rest of the season and we will see how it goes from there. We might not be able to go undefeated, but at least we will go out and play every night, and get guys to accept their roles and accept what they can do for the team, and it's paying dividends."
With the Minutemen ahead, 60-58, Travieso took a cross-court pass from Padilla and sank a 12-foot, baseline pull-up with 1:24 left to put the Minutemen up by 4.
URI countered with a jumper at the key by Antonio Reynolds-Dean with 58.9 seconds left. Then with 28.3 seconds left, Ketner was called for traveling. URI called timeout with 24.2 seconds left, and when play resumed, Cuttino Mobley missed on a 12-foot jumper from the left wing and Clarke got the rebound. With 5.9 seconds to go, UMass forward Tyrone Weeks sank two free throws for insurance.
"We got passive out there [after gaining the 12-point lead]," said URI coach Al Skinner. "We were thinking too much and not reacting to the basketball. They [UMass] did a good job of executing. I think now they're all healthy and they're playing better basketball. Injuries will hurt any team."
Should the Minutemen continue their current run, they will continue their 1990s Atlantic 10 tournament run - a feat that a week ago looked as distant as Neptune.
"This is what I always thought we could play like," said Travieso. "I always knew if we kept working hard and kept practicing and playing together and play hard at all times, we could be a special team. If we kept playing like this, we might not win every game down the road but we will be competitive."
| Rhode Island Rams | 60 |
| Massachusetts Minutemen | 64 |
| at the Mullins Center | |
RHODE ISLAND (60)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
King 16 0-4 0-0 0-2 0 1 0
Dean 36 5-12 3-4 1-5 1 3 13
Andersen 37 4-14 5-5 3-12 2 1 13
Mobley 24 3-8 1-2 1-2 0 4 7
Wheeler 39 6-17 2-2 3-6 5 2 16
Thomas 13 1-1 2-2 0-3 1 0 4
Arigbabu 6 0-3 2-2 2-2 0 2 2
Murphy 28 2-5 0-0 0-0 2 2 5
Bakari 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 21-64 15-17 10-32 11 15 60
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.328, FT-.882. 3-Point Goals:
3-14, .214 (King 0-3, Mobley 0-2, Wheeler 2-6,
Murphy 1-3). Team rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 4
(Andersen 3, Murphy). Turnovers: 7 (Arigbabu 2,
Mobley 2, Wheeler 2, Andersen). Steals: 6 (Dean
2, Andersen, Mobley, Murphy, Wheeler).
MASSACHUSETTS (64)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Clarke 38 5-11 0-0 0-3 4 3 11
Weeks 38 4-11 2-2 3-13 4 3 10
Ketner 24 6-11 1-2 3-5 0 3 13
Padilla 35 4-11 0-0 2-4 7 2 10
Travieso 40 5-13 0-0 1-4 3 1 10
Smith 7 1-2 1-2 1-1 0 1 3
Basit 7 2-2 1-1 0-3 0 3 5
Norville 11 1-5 0-0 2-5 1 1 2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 28-66 5-7 12-38 19 17 64
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.424, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals:
3-12, .250 (Clarke 1-2, Padilla 2-6, Travieso
0-4). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 9 (Ketner
5, Norville 2, Travieso, Padilla). Turnovers: 10
(Clarke 3, Ketner 3, Padilla 2, Basit, Weeks).
Steals: 5 (Clarke 2, Weeks 2, Padilla).
__________________________________
Rhode Island 28 32 - 60
Massachusetts 28 36 - 64
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 9,493. Officials: John
Cahill, Jodi Silvester, Donnie Gray.
