• Season: 2011-12
• Date: Tuesday, March 6, 2012
• Opponent: Duquesne
• Start Time: 7:00 PM ET
• Site: Mullins Center
• Special Event: Atlantic 10 Tournament First Round. Seeds: UMass 8, Duquesne 9.
• Television: none
• Streaming video: Atlantic 10
• Radio: UMass Radio Network

• UMass Game notes

UMass men's basketball seeks redemption in tourney game against Duquesne
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/6/2012

AMHERST - University of Massachusetts sophomore point guard Chaz Williams said he was honored to be named to the Atlantic 10's All-Conference first team, but he was more focused on making amends for his tough game against Duquesne.

“The last game we got away from playing UMass basketball and doing the things we usually do. I had a horrible game. I guess my team wasn't able to get in sync,” said Williams, who had seven turnovers before fouling out of UMass' 80-69 loss in Pittsburgh on Jan. 18. He said it was his responsibility to make UMass better this time.

“I can score two points and do well for my team as long as I'm taking care of the ball and finding them open shots. I'll take that pressure,” said Williams, who was the only Minuteman honored when the conference's postseason awards were released Monday (See below). “That's part of my role. Point guards take the glory when they win so why not take the mishaps when we they lose.”

Williams wasn't the only Minuteman to have a rough day against the Dukes. Whether UMass just had a bad game or if the Dukes were a bad matchup for the Minutemen will be determined tonight when the teams meet again with much more on the line.

In the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament, the No. 8-seeded Minutemen (20-10) will host the No. 9 Dukes (16-14) at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center. The winner earns a noon game against top-seeded Temple, Friday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

The Minutemen hung with the Dukes for most of the game before succumbing to foul and turnover troubles. Most of the team was in foul trouble throughout as Williams and Maxie Esho both fouled out and Raphiael Putney, Terrell Vinson and Jesse Morgan all had their minutes limited by whistles.

On top of that, UMass turned the ball over 29 times with its two most reliable ballhandlers - Williams and Morgan (eight turnovers) - committing the most giveaways.

Duquesne was a rare opponent willing to run with the Minutemen, a fact that may have contributed to both the turnovers and fouls.

“Against them, the margin for error is short, especially as far as turning the ball over because they're a good transition team,” Vinson said. “We have to focus on not turning the ball over and stay out of foul trouble. They run as much as we run. Execution is key and getting stops is key too.”

Working in UMass' favor is that the Minutemen didn't have many bad days at home, where they're 14-1 this season.

“They played well and we didn't take care of business,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “If we can play a little bit better and take care of the basketball, I'm anticipating a much closer game and one, like a lot of our games, will be nip and tuck down to the wire. That's what I'm looking forward to.”

Duquesne struggled away from the Palumbo Center, going 4-8 in true road games. Since beating UMass, the Dukes went 4-7 and have lost four of their last five games. The Minutemen and Duquesne are not only trying to make a run in the Atlantic 10 tournament, but are trying to improve their national postseason position.

“Last year we went into (the Atlantic 10 tournament) with a loss and didn't have momentum,” Vinson said. “Last week we had a good week of basketball against Temple and Rhode Island. I feel like we're ready.”

Williams said the Minutemen were excited to get started.

“We're all enthusiastic about this time of year. We're ready to get after it. I keep telling the guys, it's one loss and we're out,” Williams said. “We have to keep that in the back of our minds cause we're playing for something more special.”

Kellogg agreed.

“It feels good to be at this time of year. It's time,” Kellogg said. “The good thing is that our team seems to be in the right frame of mind and has enough energy to continue playing. I think they feel like they can win.”

ATLANTIC 10 AWARDS - St. Bonaventure senior big man Andrew Nicholson was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. Temple coach Fran Dunphy, whose Owls won the league's regular season title, was the coach of the year.

Other awards went to Richmond guard Kendall Anthony (rookie of the year), La Salle's Earl Pettis (most improved player) and Saint Joseph's Ronald Roberts (sixth man of the year).

Nicholson, Saint Louis' Brian Conklin, Temple's Ramone Moore and Xavier's Tu Holloway joined Williams on the first team.

EIGHTH SEED HISTORY - Since the league expanded to 14 teams in 2007, teams seeded eighth have not fared well in the tournament. No. 8s are 3-2 against No. 9 seeds and 0-3 against No. 1 seeds in the quarterfinals.

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.

UMass hosts Duquesne in A-10 tournament 1st round (3/6/2012)

Dukes look for new life tonight (3/6/2012)

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

UMass Downs Duquesne, 92-83, Advances to A-10 Quarterfinals
Minutemen will face No. 1 seed Temple Friday at Noon in Atlantic City
From UMass Athletics, 3/6/2012

AMHERST, Mass. - Chaz Williams, Javorn Farrell and Raphiael Putney combined for 61 points in leading No. 8 seed Massachusetts past No. 9 seed Duquesne 92-83 in the First Round of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship at the Mullins Center Tuesday night.

With the win, UMass advances to Friday's quarterfinals where it will face No. 1 seed Temple. Tip-off at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City is set for Noon Eastern time.

Williams finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Farrell had his most complete game in three seasons at UMass with 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, nine assists and seven rebounds. Putney matched Farrell's three 3-pointers en route to 20 points and six boards.

UMass (21-10) improved to 31-30 all time in A-10 Tourney play and advanced to the quarterfinals for the second time in the last three seasons and 26th time overall.

The Minutemen shot 51 percent from the floor, 47 pct. from outside and made 24-of-31 free throws. UMass also held a 40-34 edge on the glass.

Duquesne (16-15) had five players in double figures, led by Eric Evans and Jerry Jones, who finished with 16 apiece. Jones was 4-of-6 from behind the arc. The Dukes shot 44 pct.

The game had 14 lead changes and eight ties.

UMass pulled away from Duquesne early in the first half when a 14-3 Minuteman run extended their lead to 23-15 with 11:35 to play. Consecutive triples from Javorn Farrell and Raphiael Putney gave UMass its largest lead of the half, 29-18 with 10:22 on the clock.

Just over five minutes later, the Dukes tied it at 35. UMass broke a deadlock at 42 when it closed the half on a 9-6 run.

Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first period and combined for 13 3-pointers.

Duquesne led 78-73 with just over six minutes to play when UMass rattled off nine-consecutive points to stake a 82-78 lead. The Dukes answered the run with a three from Sean Johnson. That would be the final field goal for the Dukes over the final 6:02.

Williams made a running layup and a free throw to push the margin back to four. T.J. McConnell answered with two free throws to make it a 85-83 UMass lead. From there, the Minutemen connected on 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to close out the contest.

NOTES

• UMass is now 31-30 in Atlantic 10 Tournament play since it began in 1977. They have reached the quarter finals 26 times and have a 9-17 record in those games.
• UMass scored 51 points in the first half. That figure is the most by the Minutemen this season in any half. The previous high was 50 against Central Connecticut and La Salle.
• Javorn Farrell finished the game with a season high 20 points. It is his sixth game this season in double-figures. Farrell also set a career high with nine assists.
• Raphiael Putney scored 20 points, it is his second 20 point game this season. He was two points off his career high.
• Chaz Williams picked up his ninth 20 point game finishing with 21 points. He went 13-for-14 from the free throw line.
• Putney, Williams and Farrell were the first Minutemen trio to score 20+ in a game since 2008 when Etienne Brower (26), Gary Forbes (23) and Chris Lowe (21) did it against Rhode Island.
• This game marks the first time since 2007 that the Minutemen have had at least two 20 point scorers in back-to-back games. Last time out against Rhode Island Jesse Morgan scored 25, while Sean Carter scored 22.
• The win over Duquesne marks the fifth time this season that the Minutemen have had at least five players in double figures, with the last time coming against Fordham in January. The players in double figures were Williams (21), Putney (20), Farrell (20), Terrell Vinson (11) and Morgan (10).

Javorn Farrell responds with best game of season to help UMass beat Duquesne
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/7/2012

AMHERST - In eight days, junior Javorn Farrell went from being out of the University of Massachusetts rotation to playing a huge role in the Minutemen's 92-83 win in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Farrell had his best game of the season Tuesday with 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds at the Mullins Center.

“Of course. It's good. It gives me a little more confidence to know that I can still go out there and play that way. I'm basically just proud of everybody on the team. Everybody stepped up and made a big play at a certain time in the game,” Farrell said. “I'm just playing basketball the way I know how to play, the way I've tried to play all season. So that's what I'm doing. I'm just playing. … It's good to know that you can contribute and help your team get a big victory, so I definitely feel good about that.”

He scored 13 of his points in the first half, including all of his career-high three 3-pointers. UMass coach Derek Kellogg called it the best game of his UMass career and was impressed with how well Farrell responded.

“It shows he's grown up and is a man. To come back from not playing against Temple, didn't play the second half in one of the games, and he's kept a good attitude. Actually, his attitude has been great in practice, even after not playing in some of those games,” Kellogg said. “He's given me the response I was looking for. He's here playing for his teammates and the brotherhood and that's what we're all about is playing for each other. And Javorn's done a nice job of coming back after a few games where it didn't go his way.”

Farrell had six points and seven rebounds in a strong game against Rhode Island and built off of it. He was glad the effort helped UMass advance to play Temple Friday.

“It's definitely one of the biggest games of my career,” he said. “To know that we're moving on and playing Temple in the quarterfinals. It's definitely big. We get to live to see another day and that's what we talked about before the game. It's do or die from here on out.”

A-10 RESULTS - All four higher seeds in the Atlantic 10 tournament advanced as Dayton beat George Washington 67-50, La Salle held off Richmond 80-72, and Saint Joseph's defeated Charlotte 80-64.

TECHNICALS/FLAGRANTS - The game featured three technical fouls and one flagrant. UMass' Terrell Vinson and Duquesne's Jerry Jones collected technicals for jawing at each other in the first half, while B.J. Montiero earned one in frustration after fouling out.

UMass' Raphiael Putney was assessed with a flagrant one for elbowing Sean Johnson in the first half. The referees didn't see it, but were persuaded by Duquesne coach Ron Everhart to look at the monitor.

“I thought it was vicious enough he should have been ejected,” Everhart said.

WILLIAMS' MILESTONES - Point guard Chaz Williams' four assists gave him 197 this season. He's six shy of Tyson Wheeler's Atlantic 10 record for assists as a sophomore.

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.

UMass beats Duquesne to earn a date with top-seed Temple in the A-10 Tournament (3/6/2012)
Javorn Farrell's career day helps UMass beat Duquesne in the Atlantic 10 first round (3/6/2012)

Atlantic 10 Tournament: UMass stays alive (3/7/2012)

UMass defeats Duquesne, advances to Atlantic City (3/6/2012)
Javorn Farrell has career game in big UMass victory (3/6/2012)

Minutemen take advantage (3/7/2012)

Chaz festival at UMass (3/6/2012)

Duquesne dumped in first round (3/7/2012)

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