HILADELPHIA - It finally caught up with them. The unforced errors, the
breakdowns in concentration, the lapses when they failed to outhustle and
outscrap the adversary - the kind of things the University of Massachusetts
Minutemen had overcome all season - proved too costly yesterday.
The slump lasted just 5:20, but when it ended, UMass had blown an 8-point second-half lead against George Washington and fallen behind by 7 with 9:40 to play. The Minutemen were never the same and went on to lose to the Colonials, 88-83, in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals.
Third-seeded GWU (23-7), which lost by 31 points to UMass in the regular season, will face Temple today. Shawnta Rogers had a game-high 28 points and added four assists for the Colonials, who shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half and won the battle for loose balls in a very physical game.
As for struggling UMass (21-10), this season has become frighteningly similar to last year. The 1996-97 Minutemen also slumped toward the end of the season, finished third in the A-10 West Division, beat a scrappy sixth-seeded team in the first round, and lost to George Washington in the second.
And like last season, the Minutemen head home to see if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Now, however, their chances appear much better than last season, when they were visibly nervous during the tournament selection show before being told they had received an 11th seed into the Big Dance. This year's team has three more wins and four fewer losses than last year's and a strong ratings percentage index.
''If I'm not mistaken, we've got the highest RPI in the league,'' said coach Bruiser Flint. ''We're in the top 20 in scheduling. So I feel very comfortable. The NCAA tournament is a crap shoot. You come to play and you can win some games.''
 Monty Mack had a great day, but he couldn't carry the entire team past GW. |
The Minutemen shot a blistering 62 percent in the first half as they led by as many as 8. They led by that margin with 15 minutes left in the game after Mack hit a jumper to make it 47-39. GWU, which struggled inside, looked done for.
Then came the UMass lapse. Ketner missed two free throws and had a shot rejected after UMass got the rebound on his second miss. Things went downhill from there: The Minutemen got just two free throws in their next 10 possessions and turned the ball over four times. It was the kind of slump that plagued them against Virginia Tech, but on that occasion, as during the season, UMass prevailed with aggressive defense.
Not so yesterday. GWU, sparked by a quicker lineup that included forward J.J. Brade (7 points) and center Francisco de Miranda (9), surged ahead. A tip-in basket by de Miranda with 9:40 left gave the Colonials a 56-49 edge. ''In the previous game [in the regular season], it felt like we got every loose ball,'' said UMass guard Charlton Clarke. ''[Yesterday] they beat us to every loose ball.''
''We were up 6 or 7,'' said UMass forward Mike Babul. ''Then there came a four-minute stretch, and the next thing I know, I looked up and we were down 6.''
The Minutemen cut the lead to 62-60 with 6:22 left, and after GWU center Alexander Koul missed two free throws with 5:54 to go, UMass had the ball with a chance to at least tie it. But Basit hit one free throw and Rogers countered with a 3-pointer. Then Ketner was hit with an offensive foul and Koul sank one of two free throws, giving GWU a 66-61 lead with 4:57 left. UMass never came closer than 3 after that.
''Our guys realized UMass was a little tired, and without Weeks, they're not as deep,'' said GWU coach Mike Jarvis. ''There was a five-minute stretch where I think we won the game because we were quicker to the ball.''
HILADELPHIA- The Massachusetts men's basketball team's
vacation in the City of Brotherly Love ended abruptly yesterday as the
West No. 2 seed George Washington Colonials battled back from an
eight-point second-half deficit to upend UMass, 88-83.
Massachusetts moves to 21-10, and expects to be selected into the NCAA tournament this Sunday. GW (23-7) will now take on East No. 1 seed Temple tonight in the tournament semifinals.
 GW's Shawnta Rogers showed no fear against Ajmal Basit (right), even with a 17" height disadvantage. |
"The kid was all over the floor," Massachusetts coach Bruiser Flint said. "That's what big time players do."
With just under eight minutes to play, UMass got back into the game with a 7-2 run. Lari Ketner scored two baskets, and Mack added a pair of free throws to pull to 62- 60. But Ajmal Basit could only convert on one of two free throws on the next possession - cutting the lead to a point - and the Minutemen were unable to complete the comeback effort.
GW answered with a quick 11-2 run highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Rogers and Yegor Mescheriakov, and a long-range jumper by Rogers.
"Shawnta Rogers continues to amaze me," George Washington coach Mike Jarvis said. "He's our most valuable player with how mentally tough he is.
"I like to think that that was an entertaining game. Our kids don't quit, their kids don't quit," continued Jarvis. "That's why the GW-UMass game is always exciting."
Chris Kirkland, Charlton Clarke, and Mack each hit threes in a desperate final minute comeback, but it wasn't enough.
UMass led at halftime, 38-34, and opened the second half with a 4-0 run. The Minutemen led by as many as six in the first half.
Mack broke out of his funk by scoring 10 of his team-high 24 points in the first half.
With Tyrone Weeks out for most of the game with a sore left ankle and knee, UMass was out-rebounded by GW, 33- 28. But the most revealing statistic of the game came at the charity stripe. GW went to the line 48 times, the third highest in tournament history, and converted on 32, the eighth highest. The Colonials hit 21-of-32 in the second half.
During GW's stretch run, Ketner - who was the most dominating figure in the first half with 10 point -- was not a factor. GW coach Mike Jarvis attributed this to play of big man Patrick Ngongba.
"Do you see the pipes on him," Jarvis said, referring to Ngongba's physique. "Patrick just put a little pipe on him."
Video clip: Lari Ketner shows Shawnta Rogers he has no business coming down the lane. 276k AVICourtesey: ESPN |
UMass' NCAA destiny will be revealed this Sunday at 6 p.m. Flint was confident that the team's 21 wins would be more than enough to earn them a berth.
"We've got the highest RPI in the league. I feel very comfortable," Flint said.
HILADELPHIA - The No. 23 Massachusetts men's basketball team
is fast fulfilling the prophecy critics laid out for it in October: It is
perilously close to becoming an Atlantic 10 also-ran.
For the second straight season UMass' A-10 title hopes were dashed in the quarterfinals, with yet another loss to George Washington. Symptomatic of the team's late season slide, yesterday's 88-83 loss stings, even with an NCAA tournament bid already locked up.
Massachusetts has now lost four of six heading into the NCAA tournament next weekend, and after starting 9-0 in conference, UMass finished up a very sluggish 4-5. UMass coach Bruiser Flint had said all season the main goal of the 1997-98 season was to win back the A-10 title, hopes that fell by the wayside over the last few weeks.
The slide started against Temple at the William D. Mullins Center, where the Owls blew the Minutemen out, 61-47, back on Feb. 3. They then lost double overtime games to Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure, and blew the A-10 regular season title last Sunday across town at the Apollo of Temple.
What was once a dream season is turning sour pretty quickly and the A-10's annual party will once again go on without them.
This one was a shootout, a game UMass hates to play. But the Minutemen were in control - thanks to another monster game from Lari Ketner. UMass was up 47-39 early in the second half, and was playing some of its best ball in weeks. But for teams in a slump things never seem to work out the way they planned.
GW made its push, like a good team will, and before UMass pushed back it was too late. The Colonials cut the lead to three, then finally took the lead at 50-49. UMass couldn't buy a basket during the five-minute stretch midway through the second half. When all was said and done, UMass was down 56-49, and GW was on its way to the semifinals. The loose balls, the turnovers - everything really - seemed to go against Massachusetts in those five minutes. GW coach Mike Jarvis claimed that's what won the Colonials the game.
"We got quicker in the second half," Jarvis said. "We were getting to balls that UMass usually gets to."
Jarvis thought UMass was tired, and that it hurt the Minutemen in the second half.
But Flint didn't agree. He thought GW just beat them to every loose ball in crunch time and that, along with strong contributions from the Colonial bench, was the difference.
Flint insists there really isn't much to this losing skid. Shots aren't falling, guys aren't getting to loose balls, etc. Yes, not winning the Atlantic 10, UMass' main goal all season, is a disappointment he said.
Now the focus is on the NCAA tournament. UMass was in weeks ago, so yesterday's loss won't affect that. There isn't much concern in the UMass camp. The Minutemen will take their week off, rest up, and if they can't write a happy ending to their conference season here in Philadelphia, they'll try and write a happy ending to their season in the NCAA tournament.
But unless they get back on track, and fast, there won't be a happy ending. It won't matter what their RPI ranking was, what their AP ranking was, where they were seeded or who they played.
If UMass can't get back to what got them into the NCAA tournament - that (Refuse to Lose) attitude UMass basketball is famous for - none of that will matter. Because they'll be in the position they were in last night: Heading back to Amherst, heads hung low, wondering what could have been. Knowing the party is going on without them.
HILADELPHIA - On paper, it was George Washington's
third straight victory, an 88-83 triumph today over Massachusetts in an
Atlantic 10 Conference tournament quarterfinal at the CoreStates
Spectrum.
On the court, it was much more than that. The Colonials played with an intensity and cohesion they had lacked for weeks. Starting guards Shawnta Rogers and Mike King found the scoring touch that deserted them during a four-game losing streak in mid-February. And as first postseason games go, it was an emphatic statement by a team that avenged a 31-point loss to U-Mass. in January and appears to have finally emerged from its slump.
"I just came out and looked for my shot a lot," said King, who was hot early and finished with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
 A victorious Shawnta Rogers celebrates as Lari Ketner can only toss the ball in frustration. |
And GW (23-7) is back in the tournament semifinals for the second year in a row. The West Division No. 2 seed Colonials also defeated U-Mass. here last season, and they advanced to a meeting Friday night with East Division No. 1 seed and 24th-ranked Temple, which defeated St. Joseph's, 76-52, today. Temple defeated GW, 56-49, in the teams' only meeting of the season, Feb. 22 at Smith Center.
The Colonials suffered their worst loss of the season against the Minutemen-a 79-48 rout Jan. 10 in Amherst, Mass., but Colonials Coach Mike Jarvis insisted today's game was not about revenge.
"That game was used for motivation a long time ago," Jarvis said, referring to the seven-game winning streak that followed that loss. "The film we saw last night of the first half [of that game] was a reminder of how good they could be, and how bad we could be.
"[Today] we beat a very good U-Mass. team. They never quit, and our kids never quit."
Though GW led by 10 points with 50 seconds to play, three three-pointers by the Minutemen (21-10) made the Colonials work to finish the game. And they did, hitting 5 of 6 free throws and breaking Massachusetts' press with an emphatic dunk by freshman Patrick Ngongba off an assist by Rogers. The Colonials made 12 of 13 free throws during the final two minutes.
"Patrick Ngongba came up with every big rebound and loose ball," U-Mass. Coach Bruiser Flint said. "That's what killed us today."
Ngongba, who has been a major contributor at power forward in the four games Antxon Iturbe has missed with a stress fracture in his left foot, finished with 10 points, six rebounds and no turnovers.
U-Mass. was missing a forward of its own. Tyrone Weeks, who twisted a knee in practice Monday, sat out the Minutemen's first-round victory over Virginia Tech and played sparingly today. He finished with four points in 13 minutes.
"Without Weeks they weren't as deep," Jarvis said. "U-Mass. was a little tired. The kids sensed that. We got a little quicker, quicker to the ball. The game came down to a five-minute sprint when we won the game."
That five-minute dash was a 17-2 run by the Colonials early in the second half. With 15 minutes 16 seconds to play, a three-guard lineup of King, Rogers and J.J. Brade began a smooth transition game that turned a 47-39 U-Mass. lead into a 56-49 Colonials edge.
"I had a chance to run my team the way I wanted to run it," Rogers said.
"Our little floor general is doing the job out there," King said of the 5-foot-4 Rogers. "I love him for that."
Though U-Mass. recovered to cut GW's lead to 62-61, the Colonials went on another run - this one 11-2 - to put the game away. Rogers made a three-pointer and a jumper, and forward Yegor Mescheriakov made his only field goal of the game count in the form of a three-pointer.
Flint dismissed fatigue as a factor. "We missed layups, and they didn't," he said.
Even with missed layups, the Minutemen shot 55 percent, and 50 percent from three-point range. Junior center Lari Ketner was virtually unstoppable in the lane, scoring 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
"It's interesting to talk about winning a game when your opponent hits [55] percent from the floor," Jarvis said.
ith 22 regular-season victories to its credit, George Washington probably was a safe bet for a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Probably.
But a stirring quarterfinal win over Massachusetts yesterday in the Atlantic Ten men's tournament at the CoreStates Spectrum may well have been the clincher.
Dynamic guard Shawnta Rogers, all of 5 feet, 4 inches, scored 28 points and impressive freshman Mike King added 18 as the Colonials (23-7) earned a semifinal date with Temple with an 88-83 triumph. GW and Temple tangle at 7 tonight.
"GW was in the NCAA tournament weeks ago," said Colonials coach Mike Jarvis. "But don't tell anybody that, especially the NCAA selection committee. I told my kids last week . . . not to talk about the NCAA tournament. Our focus was trying to win the Atlantic Ten West Division.
"Last week, before we went to Virginia Tech, I told my kids: 'Look, this is a man's game. And men need to know the reality. We have to win these two games.'
"We had to beat Virginia Tech and we had to beat St. Bonaventure. And we did. But as far as the NCAAs were concerned, we weren't even thinking about it."
 Bruiser Flint wasn't getting any help from the officials. |
Trailing 47-39, with 14 minutes, 49 seconds to play, GW embarked on a devastating 17-2 run over the next 5:11, taking a 56-49 lead on a tip-in basket by sophomore forward Francisco de Miranda with 9:38 to go.
Rogers helped key the burst with a pair of clutch jump shots, including a three-pointer.
UMass (21-10), meanwhile, missed shots in close, missed free throws, and in general, missed the continuity that helped carry it to a 38-34 halftime lead.
"They were quicker to the ball. They got all the loose balls during that stretch," said UMass coach Bruiser Flint, a St. Joseph's graduate.
The Minutemen, with outside help from guard Monty Mack (team-high 24 points) and inside scoring from center Lari Ketner (22) pulled to within 62-61 with 5:33 to go on a free throw by Ajmal Basit.
But a 10-2 run broke the game open for good. Rogers sealed the win with seven free throws over the final 1:26.
K, so it wasn't Wilt vs. Russell, but the matchup of Lari Ketner and Alexander Koul brought together the two biggest bodies in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament and recalled an era when more basketball games than not were decided by really large guys in the low post.
But in this era of corporate and on-court downsizing, bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. Primary responsibility for George Washington's 88-83 quarterfinal victory over Massachusetts yesterday at the CoreStates Spectrum could be laid at the feet of guard Shawnta Rogers, which isn't a whole lot lower than the top of his head.
Rogers -- generously listed at 5-4, 155 pounds -- scored 20 of his game-high 28 points after intermission and, along with freshman Mike King (18 points), enabled GW (23-7) to win the all-important battle of the backcourt.
"I had a chance to run my team the way I wanted to run it," said Rogers, who might be closer to 5-1. "We wanted to set the tempo of the game, and that's what we did."
GW coach Mike Jarvis, who is somewhat on the short side himself, always figures things are going well when the outcome of games is routed through Mr. Rogers's ground-level neighborhood.
"Shawnta Rogers continues to amaze me," Jarvis said of his junior munchkin from Baltimore. "He's our most valuable player. At one time, I was touting him for the most valuable player in the league [ an honor that went to Rhode Island guard Cuttino Mobley ] , but we went into a little bit of a slide and sort of threw that away.
"The last two nights in college basketball, you had a chance to see the best two little guys in Shawnta and [ Earl ] Boykins, from Eastern Michigan. I'm not asking for a GW-Eastern Michigan game [ in the NCAA Tournament ] , but that would be unbelievable if it ever happened."
Boykins, 5-5, is quick, tiny and terrific. Yeah, it certainly would be unbelievable if an NCAA Tournament game ever came down to a duel between jump-shooting versions of Billy Barty and Papa Smurf.
Rogers, in fact, was provided his best opportunity to control the pace after Koul, the 7-1, 280-pound giant from Belarus with the Herman Munster gait, went to the bench with his fourth foul with 14:51 remaining in the game and UMass (21-10) ahead, 47-41.
With Koul -- who was being eaten alive down on the blocks by the 6-10, 282-pound Ketner, the Roman Catholic product who finished with 22 points on 10-for-15 shooting -- on the bench, the Colonials went on a 13-2 run over the next 4:30 to seize a 54-49 lead. UMass spent the remainder of the contest unsuccessfully playing catch-up.
"Alexander came back at the end of the game and made his presence known," Jarvis said in defense of Koul, who finished with eight points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. "He got some big rebounds, he got some big baskets."
But Jarvis had to acknowledge that the critical part of the game came when Koul's place on the floor was taken by Patrick Ngongba, a quicker, more athletic 6-8 freshman who did a better job of defending Ketner.
"We got a little quicker and started to get to balls UMass teams usually get to," Jarvis said. "I think we were quicker to the ball."
Charlton Clarke, the Minutemen's sweet-shooting guard, admitted as much.
"It seemed like they beat us to every loose ball in crunch time," Clarke said.
But if Rogers came up big, so to speak, the gradual diminishment of Koul as GW's main man is a curious development. Two years ago, when he averaged 14.9 points and 7.8 rebounds, Koul would have been an NBA lottery pick had he opted to declare for the draft. Heading into the A-10 Tournament, his averages had shrunk to 12.8 points and 6.6 rebounds and he might have played himself out of the first round altogether.
The Ketner-Koul duel was of particular interest in light of what happened on Jan. 10, when the Colonials were crushed, 79-48, in Amherst, Mass. Ketner had 21 points and nine rebounds to only six points and one board for Alexander the Not-So Great.
Yesterday, Ketner abused Koul whenever he got the ball down low, scoring as he pleased on turnaround shots and jump-hooks. But he was Shaqlike at the foul line, sinking only two of nine free throws. Several of those misses came down the stretch and precluded UMass from generating much momentum in the face of Rogers's charity work. The little guy was 12-for-13 at the line, and GW was 32-for-48 as a team.
It also didn't help UMass that its other Philadelphian, 6-7 senior forward Tyrone Weeks (Franklin Learning Center), failed to start a game for the first time all season because he injured a knee in practice. Weeks, who came in averaging 10.8 points and 8.8 rebounds, played only 13 minutes and scored four points.
Next up for GW is tonight's 7 o'clock semifinal game against Temple, which defeated the Colonials, 56-49, on Feb. 22 in Washington.
"I'm very glad we have an opportunity to play Temple in Philadelphia, in their home city," Jarvis said. "It will tell us even more about our basketball team and what we're capable of doing in the NCAA Tournament."
HILADELPHIA -
George Washington University has
spent thousands of dollars recruiting all
over the world, in hopes that
international players would bring
success to the nation's capital. But
Thursday it was GW's American
players who carried the Colonials to an
88-83 victory over the University of
Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10
Tournament quarterfinals at
CoreStates Spectrum.
The Colonials advance to face Temple in one semifinal game at 7 tonight, while Xavier faces Rhode Island in the other semifinal which is scheduled to tip off 20 minutes after the first game.
The Minutemen haven't lost in the last 86 games in which they've led by 10 or more and they came within a basket of reaching the double-digit lead when a Monty Mack layup put UMass ahead, 47-39, five minutes into the second half.
That next magical basket didn't occur, however. A 3-pointer by Shawnta Rogers sandwiched between layups by J.J. Brade and Francisco de Miranda brought the Colonials within one, 47-46 with 12:57 remaining in the half.
Charlton Clarke hit two free throws to pull UMass ahead by three, but GW went on an 8-0 run and never looked back.
 GW's Yegor Mescheriakov and Monty Mack scrap for a loose ball. |
During that stretch, foul trouble for Alexander Koul caused GW to switch to a smaller, quicker lineup.
"We got a little quicker," George Washington coach Mike Jarvis said.
Koul finished with just eight points in the game, but the Baltimore backcourt of Shawnta Rogers and Mike King killed the Minutemen down the stretch as Rogers led all scorers with 28 points and King added 18.
"Shawnta Rogers was all over the floor," Flint said. "He came up with big plays today. That's what big-time players do."
Once the Colonials were ahead, the diminutive Rogers, 5-feet-3-inches, made sure they stayed that way. Of his 28 points, 20 came in the second half. He hit 12 of 13 free throws, which hindered UMass' late comeback attempts.
"Shawnta Rogers continues to amaze me," Jarvis said. "He's our most valuable player. He continues to amaze me for how tough he is and how much confidence he has in himself. He comes up big when he had to."
The Minutemen went down fighting. GW led 81-71 with 50 seconds left, but UMass hit four 3-pointers in the last 42 seconds and cut the lead to 86-83 with 1.6 seconds left. But Rogers, who was 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:26, hit two free throws to ice the victory.
"We beat a very good Massachusetts team," Jarvis said. "They never quit. Just like our kids never quit. That's what makes UMass/GW games so good."
The loss clouded a brilliant individual effort by Mack. The sophomore guard had career highs in points (24) and rebounds (eight) to go along with six assists. Lari Ketner scored 22 points, but struggled from the free-throw line, going 2-for-9. Ketner was distraught after the game and declined to be interviewed.
Tyrone Weeks, who sat out Wednesday's win over Virginia Tech with an ankle sprain, returned to action early for UMass, but he played only 13 minutes as the pain put him back on the bench for most of the second half.
"He wasn't able to go," Flint said. "He gave us all he could. I asked him if he thought he could play and he didn't think he could."
Both teams were impressive in the first half, as neither team led by more than six. A three-point play by Mack and a 15-footer by Weeks gave UMass a 38-34 lead at intermission.
HILADELPHIA - It won't be official until the end of the
weekend, but the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team is
confident that when the NCAA Tournament brackets are announced
Sunday night at 6:30 that it will be part of the 64-team field.
"If I'm not mistaken, we have the highest RPI (ratings percentage index) in the league," UMass coach Bruiser Flint said. "We've won three more games than we had at this point last year, because last year we had a Division 2 win (Chaminade) that doesn't count. We're in the top 20 in strength of schedule, so I'm very confortable. I'll tell you this, I feel better than I did last year."
Junior guard Charlton Clarke expressed blind faith in Flint's prediction.
"If that's what coach Flint said, then that's what I go by," Clarke said.
The Minutemen's credentials are indeed solid. UMass entered the game with the Atlantic 10's highest RPI ranking at No. 17. The loss will drop the Minutemen, but likely not far enough to miss getting in the tournament. UMass received a bid last year with an RPI of 45.
George Washington coach Mike Jarvis had no doubts that his own team was tourney bound.
"GW was in the NCAA Tournament weeks ago, but don't tell anybody that," Jarvis said. "If 22 (regular season) wins doesn't get you in the NCAA, nothing does."
* * *
THE END of this season bears considerable resemblance to the end of last season. In 1997 the Minutemen lost two late-season road games, won the first A-10 Tourney game and then lost in the second round to GW.
Senior Tyrone Weeks said he hopes that this season's NCAA trip will be better than last year's.
"It's the same thing, but hopefully the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be a little different."
HILADELPHIA - As
the Minutemen walked out of
CoreStates Spectrum after Thursday's
loss, heads were hanging.
Little noise came from the huddle of maroon and white warmup suits as the Minutemen concluded their Atlantic 10 season with a loss to a team they particularly hate losing to.
Dejection is both understandable and expected, but losing Thursday and therefore not having to play Friday and possibly Saturday could be a huge blessing in disguise for the Minutemen.
This loss was not of the same breed as UMass' previous four losses. The Minutemen Thursday were plagued by shooting lapses and matchup problems, not a lack of intensity. UMass fought until the final buzzer sounded.
Assuming the Minutemen do get an NCAA Tournament bid, the earliest UMass could play is March 12 If their fire is indeed back, the Minutemen could benefit greatly from a week off.
UMass coach Bruiser Flint admitted that the loss could have positive results.
"We get some time to rest a little bit, which I think we need," Flint said. "We'll try to get Tyrone (Weeks) healthy and go from there. I think we need the week off, to be honest. We need some rest. We're a little dead."
An ankle injury in practice this week kept Weeks out of the Virginia Tech game and for most of Thursday's loss to George Washington.
"I'm going to rest and get better and get ready for the NCAA Tournament," Weeks said.
UMass' recent travel schedule alone has been arduous. On Feb. 23 the team flew from Hartford to Buffalo and drove an hour and a half from Buffalo to Olean, where the Minutemen faced St. Bonaventure Feb. 25. After a double-overtime loss, UMass found itself stuck in the airport when its first flight was canceled.
The Minutemen hopped back on a plane Feb. 28 for a March 1 game with Temple in Philadelphia. They returned home immediately after the loss before going back to Philly March 3 for the opening round of the A-10 tournament on March 4. That travel schedule could make someone tired even if no basketball were involved.
While they hesitate to admit it, they are playing like a tired basketball team, which is natural considering both the point in the season and the travel. UMass' fatigue played a major factor in Virginia Tech's late-game run in the opening round.
Being eliminated from the tournament Thursday puts the Minutemen in their own beds for a couple of days. They can wear their own clothes instead of the road standard warm-up suits. They can rest, and get re-energized for the NCAAs.
Sophomore Mike Babul was sure the week off would help.
"It's been a long season," he said. "This will help us get our legs back. We have a few days to rest, get refocused and get ready for the NCAAs."
Weeks compared the scenario to one UMass faced earlier in the season.
"It's the same thing that happened after we lost to Cincinnati. We then had a week to prepare for the next game," Weeks said. That game was St. Joseph's, and marked the beginning of an extended winning streak.
| Massachusetts Minutemen (E3) | 83 |
| George Washington Colonials (W3) | 88 |
| Atlantic-10 Tournament Quarter-finals at the CoreStates Spectrum, Philadelphia PA | |
MASSACHUSETTS (83)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Babul 30 1-1 0-1 0-0 2 5 2
Basit 35 4-8 4-5 5-7 1 5 12
Ketner 29 10-15 2-9 0-4 0 4 22
Clarke 34 5-10 3-3 0-2 7 4 16
Mack 36 7-14 7-7 4-8 6 3 24
Depina 9 0-1 0-0 0-1 3 2 0
Burns 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Cruz 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Kirkland 12 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 4 3
Weeks 13 1-3 2-2 0-2 0 1 4
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 29-53 18-27 9-25 19 29 83
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.547, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
7-14, .500 (Clarke 3-7, Mack 3-6, Kirkland 1-1).
Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 3 (Ketner 2,
Basit). Turnovers: 14 (Clarke 4, Mack 3, Basit 2,
Depina 2, Ketner 2, Babul). Steals: 3 (Babul,
Kirkland, Mack).
GEO WASHINGTON (88)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Ngongba 37 4-8 2-4 4-6 2 2 10
Mescheriakov 26 1-5 5-6 0-2 3 3 8
Koul 25 2-6 4-10 3-10 0 5 8
King 38 7-10 3-4 4-7 4 3 18
Rogers 38 7-14 12-13 2-5 4 3 28
Eyal 2 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Krivonos 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
De Miranda 16 3-5 3-5 1-2 1 4 9
Brade 16 2-2 3-6 0-0 0 2 7
Hazzard 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-50 32-48 14-33 14 23 88
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.520, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
4-8, .500 (Ngongba 0-1, Mescheriakov 1-1, King
1-1, Rogers 2-5). Team rebounds: None. Blocked
shots: 1 (De Miranda). Turnovers: 10 (Koul 3,
Mescheriakov 3, Brade 2, Eyal, Rogers). Steals: 4
(Brade 2, Koul, Rogers).
__________________________________
Massachusetts 38 45 - 83
Geo Washington 34 54 - 88
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Massachusetts 1 (Basit). A:
7,545. Officials: Rich Sanfillipo, Mark Distrola,
Joe Demayo.
