• Season: 1970-71
• Date: Tuesday, December 29, 1970
• Opponent: St. Michael's
• Start Time: 9:00 PM ET
• Site: Memorial Field House, Springfield College, Springfield MA
• Special Event: Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Festival Tournament, Semi-Final

• Result: UMass 94, St. Michael's 59
• Attendance: 2,600 (sellout)

Julius Erving goes up for the jump shot.

Redmen Are Best In Hall Of Fame, Upping Mark To 10-0
UMass Nabs Holiday Tourney
By John Sullivan, The Massachusetts Daily Collegian Sports Editor, 1/27/1971 (first publication after winter break)

DEC. 29 – UMASS vs. ST. MICHAEL'S (Semi-final Game): UMass defeated St. Mike's, 94-59, to advance into the championship round, as Erving collected 30 rebounds, surpassing his own Redman record of 28 in one contest, and scored 33 points.

Just as the score indicates, the Redmen had little trouble with the Purple Knights from Vermont. The lead at halftime was 47-32; Erving's 17 points and 18 rebounds paced UMass in this period.

Throughout the game Erving looked like his old self, and it was readily apparent by his performance that the flu bug had stopped bugging No. 32.

On the whole it was not a strong Redman performance. Nineteen turnovers tell part of the story, another part is told by the competition; St. Mike's is a team that lost to Holy Cross earlier in the year by something like 70 points.
(UMassHoops.com fact check: True statement by The Collegian. St. Michael's played at Holy Cross on 12/3/1970 and lost 138-68.)¹⁾

Because it turned into a lopsided affair UMass coach Jack Leaman was able to play all 14 of his squad members. Mathias was second leading Redman scorer with 12 points. It was a poor Redman shooting night, only 40% from the floor. Erving's previous rebounding high of 28 came a year ago in games against Providence College and Maine. UMass' season mark was now 9-0. A big factor in the onesided outcome: the winners outrebounded their foes, 81-45. In the other semi-final tilt, Colgate advanced to the championship game by outpointing LIU, 97-86. In the two consolation semi-final matchups, Valparaiso defeated AIC, 78-61, and Springfield sent home a fine Fairfield team, 89-83.