• Season: 2011-12
• Date: Saturday, March 3, 2012
• Opponent: Rhode Island
• Start Time: 4:00 PM ET
• Site: Mullins Center
• Special Event: Atlantic 10 Regular Season, UMass Senior Day
• Television: CBS Sports Network Regional (outlets: Comcast SportsNet New England, Comcast SportsNet Philly, Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast, Cox (Rhode Island))
• Radio: UMass Radio Network

• UMass Game notes

Carter, UMass looks to finish regular season on high note
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/3/2012

AMHERST - University of Massachusetts senior center Sean Carter will be honored prior to the Minutemen's regular season finale against Rhode Island at 4 p.m. Saturday.

With UMass trying to improve its position both in next week's Atlantic 10 tournament and the national postseason picture, Carter was approaching the game focused more on beating Rhode Island, than reflecting on his career.

But the North Carolina native, who played one year at Oregon State before transferring to UMass, was proud of his career. He's had career highs in points this season at 7.4 per game and leads the Minutemen in rebounding at 6.2 rpg.

“We all put a lot of time in, in the gym before and after practice. I'm glad to see it's finally paid off for me,” said Carter, who knows the Minutemen (19-10, 8-7 Atlantic 10) are almost certainly headed to one of the four national postseason tournaments for the first time in his career. “I'm definitely excited. I'm excited not to be packing it up after the conference tournament. I've got something to play for.”

Off the court, the 6-foot-9, 245-pounder has made his presence felt as well. He's a member of the UMass Student Athlete Advisory Council and has been a part of the team's community service activities. He earned a 4.0 grade point average in the fall semester.

“When I came here, it was a fresh start. I just tried to be the best person I can in this community while I've been here. I have special feelings for this place,” he said. “I wanted to help make this program better, get it back to its winning ways. I want to look back in a couple years and see the program going the right way.”

UMass coach Derek Kellogg said Carter will not be easy to replace.

“He's improved a lot, as much mentally and physically. He's playing like a senior. He's put in a nice career here,” Kellogg said. “He's helped get the program from where it was, to where it is, to where it's going to be. He's been great off campus and academically. He was always someone who would represent the University in the right way.”

Carter will be one of three seniors honored. Matt Hill will be honored for the second straight year. He originally planned to skip his final year of eligibility after last year, but elected to return. Kellogg planned on playing the reserve big man, who has appeared in the last two games, but wasn't expecting to start him.

“He's going to play, but he had his senior day festivities last year and I want to keep it as normal as possible,” Kellogg said.

Fellow fifth-year senior Trey Lang, who hasn't played this season after suffering a knee injury, will be honored. Lang won't dress for the game.

Rhode Island (7-23, 4-11) beat UMass 81-78 in overtime on Feb. 1. The Rams, who have already been eliminated from A-10 tournament consideration, will see their season end Saturday. Having nothing to lose seems to have sparked URI, which has won two straight. The Rams stunned Saint Louis on Saturday and then crushed Fordham, 78-58 Wednesday.

“Rhode Island is playing well. This is going to be a good game for us to play,” Kellogg said. “Playing well tomorrow is imperative for the team and the program for us to feel like we can make some noise in the tournament.”

SEED POTENTIAL - The Minutemen head into the game capable of finishing in five different places. Here's how:

Fourth - UMass beats URI; Xavier loses to Charlotte; La Salle loses to St. Bonaventure; Dayton loses to George Washington.

Sixth - UMass wins; Xavier loses; Either La Salle or Dayton lose OR UMass wins, Xavier wins, La Salle and Dayton both lose.

Seventh - UMass wins, Xavier wins and either Dayton or La Salle loses.

Eighth - UMass, Xavier, La Salle and Dayton all win OR UMass loses, Duquesne loses.

Ninth - UMass loses, Duquesne beats Saint Louis.

The top four seeds earn byes in the first round of next week's Atlantic 10 tournament.

All of the games that affect UMass will be done or close to it when the Minutemen tip-off Saturday. Kellogg said he won't be scoreboard watching.

“I just want to play well,” he said. “I'm looking forward to having a great crowd.

Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected]. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.

On the last day, UMass basketball will learn where it stands (3/2/2012)

Big playoff implications on the line as Minutemen face Rhode Island (3/2/2012)

See the UMassHoops.com Message Board thread for pre-game and post-game discussion.

Morgan's Hot Shooting Powers UMass Past Rhode Island, 89-83
Minutemen will host Duquesne on Tuesday in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
From UMass Athletics, 3/3/2012

AMHERST, Mass. – Sophomore Jesse Morgan was perfect from the floor and connected on all six 3-pointers for a career-high 25 points to lead Massachusetts to a 89-83 win over Rhode Island at the Mullins Center on Saturday.

UMass (20-10, 9-7 Atlantic 10) closed out the regular-season tied for fifth and will enter next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament as the No. 8 seed. The Minutemen will play host to No. 9 seed Duquesne in Tuesday's first round. Tipoff at the Mullins Center is set for 7 p.m.

While Morgan was doing his thing from the outside, senior center Sean Carter concluded senior day with his third career double-double as he finished with a career-high 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds and three blocks. Sophomore Chaz Williams added 19 points, nine assists, six boards and five steals.

The Minutemen shot 43 percent from the floor and connected on 14 3-pointers, their second-highest total this season.

Rhode Island (7-24, 4-12) shot 44 percent and was led by Orion Outerbridge's 24 points. Jonathan Holton pitched in with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The game featured six ties and 10 lead changes but none over the final 6:30. With URI having taken a 72-71 lead on a pair of Outerbridge free throws, UMass went on a 14-0 run that ended with seven second-chance points.

Despite being outrebounded in the contest 47-37, UMass dominated the glass during the final six minutes to the tune of a 14-5 margin.

UMass led by as many as nine early in the first half before taking a 44-43 lead into the intermission.

The Minutemen extended their lead to 11 twice in the second half but the Rams hung tough and trimmed the margin to one, at 66-65, with 10:50 to play. The UMass lead remained in the low-to-mid single digits until its big run five minutes later.

UMass won 20 games for the 15th time in school history and the first in four seasons under Derek Kellogg. Additionally, the Minutemen improved to 14-1 at home this season. The 7,501 in attendance marked the fourth crowd in the last five games of at least 6,200 at the Mullins Center (capacity 9,493).

UMass men's basketball beats Rhode Island; to host Duquesne in A-10 tourney
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/5/2012

AMHERST - As good as Sean Carter's final regular-season game was for the University of Massachusetts basketball team, his 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots against Rhode Island fell a little bit short of what he dreamed about earlier in the day.

“Almost. Not enough points, but it was pretty much what I thought of,” joked Carter, who then suggested with a mischievous grin how many points he really wanted to score. “Probably 40, but you know it's all right.”

Carter, who entered the game as a 49.4 percent free throw shooter, even went eight-for-11 at the line in the Minutemen's 89-83 win.

UMass coach Derek Kellogg wasn't thinking about 40 points and was plenty ecstatic with Carter's game.

“Sean was unreal. That was the best game he's played since he's been here,” Kellogg said. “And especially what I liked was that last block as they had a layup that he kind of sealed the victory with. I'm happy for him on senior day.”

The Minutemen (20-10, 9-7 Atlantic 10) finished the season in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference, but will be the No. 8 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament after coming out on the wrong side of the tie-breaking procedure. They will host No. 9 Duquesne (16-14, 7-9 A-10) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mullins Center.

The Rams finished at 7-24 and their 4-12 Atlantic 10 record left them in 13th place, out of the conference tournament.

“The good thing is we won. The negative is we can't rest on it too long,” Kellogg said. “We've got a pretty tough game (with) a team that beat us pretty good at their place not too, too long ago. So it will be back to the drawing board and see how we play.”

It was hard to tell Saturday that Jesse Morgan had been in a shooting slump. The sophomore guard had a career-high 25 points and did not miss a shot from the field. He was nine-for-nine including six-for-six from 3-point range.

“I was just feeling good tonight,” Morgan said. “My teammates did a good job. Chaz (Williams), others did a good job finding me.

”… It's a good feeling to play like that or to shoot like that,” Morgan added. “It's always a good feeling. Try to put your team in the best position to win.”

Kellogg said the breakout was not an accident.

“What he is, is a gym rat,” Kellogg said. “You could come in here at all hours of the day. I look out my window and Jesse Morgan's out there shooting. So it's nice to see.

“I tell the guys, if you're a worker, it pays dividends,” he added. “A lot of times you'll see guys that are in the gym working make shots. I think that rang true for him today with 25 points and he got into a little bit of a zone where he was just raining 3s on them.”

Rhode Island, which beat UMass 71-68 in overtime on Feb. 1, had the Minutemen on the ropes when Orion Outerbridge's two free throws gave the Rams a 72-71 lead with 6 minutes, 48 seconds remaining. But Williams drove to the basket and hit a layup to put UMass ahead for good.

After Rhode Island missed twice at the other end, Morgan hit a jumper for a three-point lead and the Minutemen were off to a 14-0 run that made the lead safe.

UMass missed five free throws in the last 90 seconds to make the score close, but the Rams never really threatened.

Williams had 19 points, nine assists (one turnover), six rebounds and five steals.

Outerbridge led Rhode Island with 24 points, and freshman big man Jonathan Holton added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Kellogg, who earned his first 20-win season as a head coach, said he is excited about the postseason.

“Right now, this is fun. We got 20 wins,” he said. “We have a chance in the conference tournament, and hopefully some sort of postseason play, which would be great for this program.”

UMass to host Duquesne in Atlantic 10 tourney
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/5/2012

AMHERST - Saturday's 89-83 win over Rhode Island may have improved the national postseason prospects for the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team, but it was meaningless in the Atlantic 10 standings.

The Minutemen's No. 8 seed and first-round game against No. 9 Duquesne at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mullins Center were set before halftime.

The 75-60 win by Saint Louis over Duquesne in a noon game, ensured that UMass would play at home Tuesday in the first round of the conference tournament, Then Xavier's 72-63 win over Charlotte eliminated any chance that the Minutemen could finish fourth and get a bye.

La Salle's 71-61 win over Saint Bonaventure, which was completed a few minutes after UMass started its game, completed the seeds.

If the Minutemen (20-10, 9-7 A-10) beat Duquesne (16-14, 7-9 A-10), they would face top-seeded Temple (24-6, 13-3 A-10) at noon Friday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The Dukes beat UMass 80-69 on Jan. 18 in Pittsburgh, in a game that saw the Minutemen struggle with turnovers and foul trouble.

FARRELL RETURNS - After not playing in Wednesday's overtime loss at Temple, junior Javorn Farrell returned to the lineup Saturday and had six points, seven rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes.

UMass coach Derek Kellogg went out of his way to praise his play. “To have him respond was nice because we need him as we need everybody on our team if we're going to make a run in this conference tournament the way we're trying to play,” Kellogg said.

“His attitude was just very good the last couple days, coming off a tough Temple run for him,” Kellogg added. “So I was happy to see that. And that was the way I envisioned him playing. ….It's good to see that he's in the fold and I like that we have a good complement of guys that we can go to battle with.”

ATTENDANCE RISING - After not having a single home crowd above 4,000 in the first eight home games of the season, the Minutemen have finished the year with six straight over 4,000 including four games over 6,000. Saturday's crowd of 7,501 was the second largest of the season at home.

HILL STARTS - Matt Hill replaced Terrell Vinson in the starting lineup alongside fellow senior Sean Carter as part of senior day. The senior big man played two minutes and committed a foul and missed a shot before coming out.

Trey Lang, who has been a part of the program for five years, was honored despite not dressing all season with an injury. Senior managers Eric Wheeler, Steve Crist and J.J. Boylan were also honored.

Matt Vautour can be reached at [email protected]. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.

Senior leader Sean Carter shines as UMass basketball wins its 20th (3/4/2012)
A festive Senior Night gives signs that UMass basketball has a promising future (3/4/2012)

Carter, Morgan power UMass past URI on Senior Day (3/5/2012)
Carter shines on Senior Day (3/5/2012)

Sean Carter boosts UMass (3/4/2012)

Carter powers Minutemen (3/4/2012)

Little extra lift for Minutemen (3/4/2012)

Sean Carter boosts UMass (3/4/2012)

UMass fights off Rams, 89-83 (3/3/2012)
Baron hears the whispers, but pledges to keep working (3/3/2012)

• Photo gallery: UMass Athletics
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