ROVIDENCE -- Dig a hole. A really deep one. Then, with everyone trying to push you down
further, summon every piece of your will and climb on out.
ROVIDENCE -- Dig a hole. A really deep one. Then, with everyone trying to push you down
further, summon every piece of your will and climb on out.
 Carmelo Travieso picks Tyson Wheeler's pocket. |
"We can't be playing games like this," said UMass' 31-year-old head coach Bruiser Flint. "I'll get old quick."
With the win, UMass vaults into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic 10 East Division with an 8-3 league record. (St. Joe's retains the top spot with a 9-2 record after knocking off Xavier, 79-65.) More importantly, UMass moves one step closer to the NCAA tournament -- something that seemed highly improbable four weeks ago when the Minutemen had an overall mark of 6-9. Still, there is plenty of work to be done, but at 14-10 the possibility is very real indeed.
"Our destiny's in our own hands," said Flint. "We win, we go. We lose, we leave it up to someone else."
UMass had to come back both early and late in this one. Ultimately the game would come down to one possession, where Rhody's Cuttino Mobley had a probable game-winning shot go in and out. Tyrone Weeks hauled down the rebound and hit two free throws with 1.4 seconds left to clinch the win.
"Our big thing," said Weeks, "is not to panic when we get down."
The Minutemen certainly had the chance to panic. Rhode Island stormed out of the gates with a 10-0 lead. UMass looked stunned by Rhody's intensity. But after Flint called a timeout, the Minutemen gathered themselves and started clawing back. At the half they had pulled even at 31, thanks to a ferocious dunk-and-one by Lari Ketner.
In the second half, UMass put together some of its best play of the year, building a 56-48 lead with 7:01 remaining. From there, though, it looked as if the Minutemen had spent themselves making the charge. Rhody ran off an 11-0 run to claim a 59-56 lead with 3:14 left.
Their resiliency tested again, the Minutemen once more responded with the best of themselves. Three free throws by Tyrone Weeks and one by Carmelo Travieso gave UMass a 60-59 lead.
Mobley then made a strong driving move to put the Rams back on top, 61-60. They wouldn't score again.
Charlton Clarke, who had suffered through perhaps his worst game of the year (including a double-technical scrap with Chad Thomas), passed up a 3-pointer and instead pulled up for a high-arcing baseline floater that sailed right on in. That was his only field goal of the game.
Mobley made another strong drive, but Ketner sloughed off his man and swatted the shot away with 1:08 left.
Edgar Padilla had a chance to ice the game with an open 3-pointer from the left corner, but his shot caromed off. Rhody grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 21 seconds left.
The Rams worked a play for Mobley, getting him free on a 12-foot turnaround on the ride side. His shot caromed in and out, and Weeks soared high for the rebound. Fouled with 1.4 seconds left, he nailed both shots to seal the game.
For Rhody (13-8, 7-4), the pills don't get much more bitter. This was the Rams' ninth straight loss to UMass and 17th in the last 18 meetings. The last four games have been decided by six, five, four and three points, respectively.
The Rams did something few teams have been able to do against UMass in recent years, dominating the backboards. They outrebounded UMass, 44-30, only the seventh time the Minutemen haven't won the battle on the glass this year, and by far the most decisive of the seven. Rhody could not make the big plays when it had to, however.
Coach Al Skinner was uncharacteristically bitter about the officiating, angry at a few no-calls down the stretch after what he termed "touch fouls" by his own team. "The head coach is very frustrated," he said. "Pissed off I call it -- I don't call it frustration."
Ketner led all scorers with 17 points. Weeks had his ninth double-double of the year with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Carmelo Travieso had 14 points and did a superb job of containing Rhody's electric point guard Tyson Wheeler.
UMass also got fine play from point guard Edgar Padilla: seven points, five assists and most important -- a fine job of directing the offense. Winston Smith provided a major spark off the bench with six points on 3-3 shooting.
Wheeler led Rhody with 14 points, but seemed flustered by Travieso's defense. He never was allowed to direct the tempo, managing just two assists and three turnovers. Mobley and Preston Murphy added 12 points apiece.
UMass remains undefeated on the road in the A-10 with a 6-0 mark. The home hardwood has been tougher, where the Minutemen are just 2-3 in the league. They play next at home at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against St. Bonaventure.
ROVIDENCE - This is what Achilles must have
experienced during the morning jog. Yesterday, the
University of Rhode Island tried to shield its
vulnerabilities long enough to register its first victory over
the University of Massachusetts in nine tries. Yet once
again, with the game on the line, URI exposed its
damaged heels - and displayed a recurring inability to put
the Minutemen away.
This 64-61 Atlantic 10 loss to the Minutemen was perhaps the most frustrating, in part because it was frighteningly similar to the 64-60 defeat at the Mullins Center Jan. 21. In both contests, URI guard Cuttino Mobley missed a 12-foot jump shot in the closing seconds.
In the Jan. 21 game, Mobley missed from the left wing with the Rams down 2. UMass rebounded and forward Tyrone Weeks sank two free throws for the final margin. Yesterday, Mobley missed from the right baseline with URI trailing, 62-61. UMass got the rebound and (you guessed it) Weeks added two free throws. In both victories, the Minutemen overcame double-digit deficits (10 yesterday, 12 Jan. 21).
``We can rally against any team,'' said Weeks, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds. ``When we get down, our thing is to not panic and just go out and score some baskets.''
That they did, and the largest Atlantic 10 home crowd this season (12,931) watched the Rams suffer their 17th loss to UMass in 18 meetings this decade. Nine of those victories were by 6 points or fewer. Four of those 6-point-or-fewer wins have been in the last four meetings. Yesterday, the Rams lost despite outrebounding UMass, 44-30 - the most lopsided rebounding deficit for the Minutemen all season.
In the early going, the Rams appeared primed to rid themselves of the futility, as they scored the first 10 points. After UMass cut the lead to 4, URI regrouped and again went ahead by 10 - 29-19 with 3:40 left in the first half.
But UMass tied it, scoring 12 of the last 14 points of the half, for a 31-31 tie at intermission. The surge was capped off by an in-your-face dunk by center Lari Ketner (a game-high 17 points) over URI pivot Michael Andersen - and a subsequent free throw by Ketner on the foul.
``That was a big lift,'' said Weeks. ``In the locker room, I told the team, `We have the momentum now. We just have go out and carry it over in the second half.'''
UMass took charge midway through the second half by scoring on 10 of 11 shots, the last on a dunk by Ketner with 7:01 to go to put the Minutemen ahead, 56-48. But Rhode Island rallied with a 13-0 run to go ahead, 59-56, with 3:14 to go.
The Minutemen retook the lead at 60-59 on one free throw by guard Carmelo Travieso and three by Weeks. A baseline layup by Mobley with 1:55 left gave the Rams a 61-60 lead, but with 1:39 left, UMass guard Charlton Clarke scored on a floating baseline scoop shot, putting the Minutemen ahead, 62-61.
Both teams botched possessions after that, and URI got the ball and called time with 21.4 seconds left. Mobley (12 points) drove the right baseline, and with Clarke guarding him tightly, fired a turnaround jumper that rattled in and out.
``I have been in that situation six times,'' said Mobley, who said he converted on three occasions. Asked if he thought the shot was good when the ball left his hands, he said, softly, ``Yes.''
URI coach Al Skinner defended Mobley's shot. In fact, the UMass alum was more upset with the officiating, angered that his team was hit with contact fouls late but UMass was not.
``I didn't see us going to the free-throw line near the end of the game on some touch fouls. Why does that happen? I think that was the difference in the ballgame,'' Skinner said.
Asked if UMass didn't get whistled late because of its national reputation, Skinner said, ``I think a lot of it has to do with reputation. There's a lot of reaching going on, a lot of smacking going on. No calls are being made. There is nobody in this conference that can check [URI point guard] Tyson Wheeler without pushing him, shoving him, putting a hand on him.
``And it happens for 40 minutes.''
ROVIDENCE -- The shot bounced off the rim not once, not twice,
but three times.
Cuttino Mobley had taken the ball on the right wing and made a couple of moves. He rose with about four seconds left in the game and lofted a soft 12-foot jumper.
It hit the front of the rim, from his angle, then the back. It popped in the air slightly, then hit the front rim again. Then popped out.
With it went the hopes of the University of Rhode Island basketball team. Instead of going ahead, the Rams remained one point behind and eventually lost to the University of Massachusetts, 64-61, yesterday at the Civic Center.
A packed house of 12,931, the largest crowd for an Atlantic 10 game this season, got to see a thriller. It was a rousing back-and-forth show filled with runs by both teams, drama and even controversy after the game in the form of criticism of the officials by Rhody coach Al Skinner.
In the end, though, it was the same. It was the ninth straight time the Minutemen have beaten the Rams, the 17th in the past 18 meetings. The last four, in order, have been by six, five, four and now three-point margins.
The first meeting this season, last month in Amherst, was almost exactly the same. That one ended at 64-60. The final seconds ran down with Mobley taking a jump shot that could have tied the score at 62. But the ball, and URI's hopes, bounced off the rim.
URI ran the same set in the deciding seconds in each game.
"It was the same play, from the same lane as the first time we played," UMass coach James "Bruiser" Flint noted.
Both times, the Rams called a timeout to set up.
"It's a play with a number of different options," Skinner said. "We had three players on the floor I felt very comfortable could do a good job. Preston (Murphy), Tyson (Wheeler) and Cuttino. . . . The shot Cuttino got is one he could make. I have no problem with the shot. It just didn't go in."
"It was a very intense ball game," Skinner said. "Each team had its run. I thought it made for a very interesting contest."
"This has become of the best rivalries in the conference," Flint said. "It's great to see players play the way they did today."
With the pressure of trying to get into the NCAA Tournament added to the natural rivalry, the nationally televised contest was, indeed, a terrific show filled with wild swings.
URI (13-8, 7-4) jumped on top, 10-0. The Rams were still ahead by 10, 29-19, with 3:38 left in the first half. But Massachusetts (14-10, 8-3) went on a 12-2 streak to end the half, capped by a dunk by Lari Ketner that turned into a 3-point play with nine seconds left. It was 31-31 at the break.
Rhody went back up, 36-32, early in the second half before the Minutemen ran off 12 straight. Now it was 44-36, UMass, and the five-time defending champions seemed in full control. After relying on the outside shooting of Carmelo Travieso in the first half (11 of his 14 points came before halftime), the Minutemen simply pounded the ball inside after the break.
"That was our game plan, to get the ball down low," Travieso said. "We thought we had the advantage down low. . . . They did a good job."
In addition to 17 points from the 6-foot-10 Ketner, 6-foot-7, 250-pound Tyrone Weeks added 15 points, all but two in the second half. The Minutemen did not make a single 3-pointer in the second half. Eight of their first nine hoops were within 10 feet.
Weeks and Ketner were a combined 11-for-20 from the field. URI's big men, Michael Andersen and Antonio Reynolds-Dean, were a combined 3-for-21. Andersen was 2-for-12. Reynolds-Dean was 1-for-9. He struggled so much trying to battle Weeks, who is about 50 pounds heavier, that he did not play in the final 10 minutes.
Even with all that, URI found a way to come back. The Rhody guards combined for 38 points, 14 by Wheeler and 12 each by Mobley and Murphy. The Rams hung in, although they were down, 56-48, after a bucket by Ketner with 6:58 left.
URI ran off 11 straight points for a 59-56 lead. A three-pointer by Murphy put the Rams up at 57-56 with 3:48 left, then Mobley hit a 10-footer at the 3:12 mark, forcing UMass to call a timeout to settle matters down.
Weeks hit one free throw, Travieso one, then Weeks two more to put the Minutemen back on top, 60-59. Mobley scored off the drive with 1:52 left to make it 61-60, URI. Charlton Clarke hit a base-line jumper with 1:37 left to make it 62-61, UMass.
That's where it was when Mobley took his shot that bounced, and bounced, and bounced, and finally fell off.
| Massachusetts Minutemen | 64 |
| Rhode Island Rams | 61 |
| at the Providence Civic Center | |
MASSACHUSETTS (64)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Clarke 31 1-5 1-2 0-1 3 3 3
Weeks 28 5-10 5-7 3-11 2 2 15
Ketner 34 6-10 5-7 4-9 0 4 17
Padilla 37 2-6 2-3 0-4 5 3 7
Travieso 39 4-12 3-5 0-0 1 2 14
Smith 13 3-3 0-0 1-1 0 2 6
Basit 14 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 2
Norville 3 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Babul 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-48 16-24 8-27 11 18 64
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.458, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
4-12, .333 (Clarke 0-2, Padilla 1-3, Travieso
3-7). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 6 (Ketner
4, Weeks, Padilla). Turnovers: 12 (Clarke 6,
Ketner 2, Padilla 2, Weeks 2). Steals: 7 (Padilla
2, Travieso 2, Weeks 2, Clarke).
RHODE ISLAND (61)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Bakari 14 0-0 0-0 2-5 2 3 0
Reynolds 22 1-9 0-0 2-6 1 2 2
Andersen 31 2-12 3-3 4-8 2 3 7
Mobley 24 5-10 2-2 4-7 0 3 12
Wheeler 36 4-9 3-4 0-1 2 1 14
Thomas 18 1-4 0-0 3-3 0 2 2
Arigbabu 18 2-4 2-3 4-4 1 2 6
King 9 2-3 0-1 1-3 0 0 6
Murphy 28 3-9 4-6 0-1 1 1 12
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 20-60 14-19 20-38 9 17 61
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.333, FT-.737. 3-Point Goals:
7-12, .583 (Mobley 0-1, Wheeler 3-5, King 2-2,
Murphy 2-4). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 2
(Reynolds, King). Turnovers: 13 (Wheeler 3,
Arigbabu 2, King 2, Mobley 2, Reynolds 2, Bakari,
Thomas). Steals: 8 (Mobley 2, Thomas 2, Arigbabu,
King, Reynolds, Wheeler).
__________________________________
Massachusetts 31 33 - 64
Rhode Island 31 30 - 61
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Massachusetts 1 (Clarke). Rhode
Island 1 (Thomas). A: 12,931. Officials: Larry
Lembo, Mark Distaola, David Day.
