Davidson, fresh off Kansas upset, faces UMass men's basketball
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 12/22/2011
AMHERST - The radio advertisements encouraging University of Massachusetts fans to buy tickets for tonight's 7 p.m. game against Davidson in the Mullins Center reminded listeners that not that long ago, the Wildcats were the darlings of March Madness when they made a run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.
And why not, before Monday that was the first thing most fans associated with the little school from outside of Charlotte, N.C.
But when Davidson arrives in Amherst, it will be riding momentum not from 2008, but from Monday night when the Wildcats upset No. 11 Kansas 80-74 in the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
The win got the attention of the Minutemen, most of whom watched it on TV before analyzing the game tape with coaches in practice.
“It put us on our toes. It gave us an extra push,” sophomore point guard Chaz Williams said. “It's a pretty good opportunity. We're just trying to capitalize on every opportunity.”
UMass coach Derek Kellogg knew the Wildcats were good before the game, but still came away impressed.
“It made people around here realize just how good Davidson is. But our staff was well aware of how good they were,” Kellogg said. “I think that sends a message nationally of what they're capable of doing. They controlled that game for the full 40 minutes. It was a good game to watch. They were sharp and executed their game plan at both ends of the floor. They're a very good basketball team.”
Few people predicted an upset of that magnitude from this edition of the Wildcats (7-3). Coach Bob McKillop's team looked solid, but they'd lost back-to-back games heading into their meeting with the Jayhawks, including an 84-61 drubbing at Charlotte.
De'Mon Brooks, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, is Davidson's top scorer and rebounder averaging 15.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. He's one of four Wildcats with a double figure scoring average. J.P. Kuhlman, a 6-foot-4 junior guard, is next at 13.7 points per game followed by 6-foot-10 junior big man Jake Cohen (12.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and 6-foot-3 junior guard Nik Cochran (11.3 ppg), who had 21 points against Kansas.
Game on Dec. 22 and 23 are often scary ones for coaches. With final exams just completed and holiday travel coming up shortly after the games, there are annually some teams around the country that play unfocused in those contests. Neither Williams nor Kellogg were worried that the Minutemen (9-3) would be one of those teams.
“I think all of our guys have their minds pretty set on the game,” Williams said. “We have to take care of business first and worry about everything else after.”
Kellogg added, “I think we're going to come with high energy and be ready to play.”
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.
See the UMassHoops.com Message Board thread for pre-game and post-game discussion.
MBB Win Streak To Four, Defeat Davidson, 73-65
Jesse Morgan led the Minutemen with 14 points, Maxie Esho had a career-high in points (12) and steals (4).
From UMass Athletics, 12/22/2011
AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass men's basketball team was able to improve to 10-3, Thursday night, as the Minutemen defeated Davidson, 73-65. UMass remains undefeated in the friendly confines of the Mullins Center now at a record of 5-0; 6-0 overall in home games including the season-opener at the Cage. The Minutemen are riding a four-game win streak going into next Friday's match-up against Central Connecticut. Jesse Morgan led the Minutemen with 14 points, while Maxie Esho had a career-high 12 points.
All told, five players reached double-figures in the scoring column for UMass, while Sean Carter hauled in a season-high 10 rebounds. Along with Esho and Morgan, Raphiael Putney, Chaz Williams, and Javorn Farrell each scored 10 points.
Davidson (7-4) was led by De'Mon Brooks who scored a game-high 22 points and added eight rebounds. Tyler Kalinoski added 12 points off the bench for the Wildcats.
A Putney three-pointer with 15:45 left in the first half gave UMass an 11-9 lead early, but Davidson responded with a 12-2 run to take a 21-13 lead over the next four minutes. A lay-up by Putney for his 10th point of the game stemmed the run.
With Davidson up 26-17, the Minutemen responded with an 9-0 run of their own. A pair of Maxie Esho free throws tied the game at 26-26 with 4:37 left before halftime.
Momentum once again shifted the way of the Wildcats to close out the half as Davidson used a 9-3 run to go into the break up 35-29.
The game of runs continued in the first six minutes of the second half with UMass putting together a 17-4 run sparked by five points from Morgan and a four-point play from Maxie Esho. Esho added a put-back with 12:53 left giving UMass a seven-point lead 46-39 - its largest of the game.
Tom Droney hit a three from the left wing with 12:24 to go to pull Davidson back within four and sparking an 8-0 run which gave the Wildcats a 47-46 lead.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Freddie Riley put UMass back up 52-47 with 9:17 left in the second half.
The teams traded baskets for nearly the next six minutes until a pair of free throws by Davidson's Jake Cohen cut UMass' lead to one, 58-57, with 3:30 left to go.
Four points from Javorn Farrell, a three-pointer from Terrell Vinson and a pair of key rebounds by Sean Carter extended UMass' lead to 10, 69-59, with a minute to go.
Davidson hit a pair of three pointers in the final 43 seconds, but UMass countered with 4-of-6 free throws to preserve the lead and the win.
Former UMass All-American Lou Roe watches Minutemen defeat Davidson
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 12/23/2011
AMHERST - Once one of the most popular players ever to play at the Mullins Center, former University of Massachusetts All-American Lou Roe had never seen a game there from the stands.
But home from Argentina, where he's in his 17th season as a professional player, Roe was in the crowd with his four children Thursday to watch the Minutemen beat Davidson, 73-65.
“It's really weird” to be in the stands, Roe said. “But it's special to be here with my children.”
Roe, who played with UMass coach Derek Kellogg for four seasons, had plans to meet the team after the game at Kellogg's house. He said it's strange to see his former teammate as the coach.
“It's weird,” he said. “I'm very happy for him. What better guy could you have as the head coach. He knows what it takes to win. I'm sure he's going to be successful.”
Roe, who played in Spain, Italy, Korea and Mexico before his current South American spot, said this is his last season.
“It's tough when you have children back home, you don't get to see them as much,” Roe said. “It's been pretty tough the past few years.”
Roe said he hoped to get into college coaching and has discussed that with Kellogg. “I've talked to Derek. I've talked to everyone about it,” Roe said.
Roe is one of a long line of ex-Minutemen to attend a home game this season as Gary Forbes, Tony Barbee, Harper Williams and Chris Kirkland have all been in the crowd.
CZERAPOWICZ CONTINGENT - Much of the sizable collection of fans behind the Wildcat bench were there to root for Chris Czerapowicz. The 6-foot-7 wing grew up in Sweden, but his father Dan Czerapowicz was a star player at Northampton High School and still has family and friends in the area, many of whom turned out for the game.
Battling a hip injury that he aggravated against Kansas, Czerapowicz had no points and one rebound in 13 minutes. Wildcat coach Bob McKillop praised his potential after the game.
“Chris Czerapowicz has a chance to become a very special player for us,” McKillop said. “He struggled tonight.”
FOUR-POINT PLAY - With 15:37 left in the second half, Maxie Esho completed the first four-point play for UMass since Anthony Gurley had one on Jan. 24, 2009 against La Salle. It was not only the first four-point play of the redshirt freshman's career, but the first 3-pointer he's ever made. He'd missed his previous four tries. The play kicked off a 12-0 Minuteman run.
NEXT UP - UMass hosts Central Connecticut at 7 p.m. Dec. 30. The Blue Devils fell to 5-6 after losing to La Salle 85-59 at home Thursday.
MISCELLANEOUS - With 7:16 left in the first half, Davidson's Clint Mann went up for a defensive rebound when his apparently too loose shorts didn't follow him and fell around his knees. Fortunately he was wearing compression shorts.
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.
Jesse Morgan steps in to score 14 in leading UMass basketball over Davidson
By Matt Vautour, Daily Hampshire Gazette, 12/23/2011
AMHERST - With only one true point guard on the roster, one of the big questions heading into the season was how would the University of Massachusetts fare if Chaz Williams ever got injured or in foul trouble.
It took 13 games to find out, but with Williams sitting with four fouls, Jesse Morgan turned in the best game of his UMass career as the Minutemen defeated Davidson 73-65 Thursday at the Mullins Center.
Morgan led UMass with 14 points, three assists and one turnover. Williams picked up his first foul 19 seconds into the game and was called for his fourth with just under 10 minutes left. But the Minutemen didn't miss a beat with Morgan.
“We looked better offensively for awhile with Jesse in the game,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “I was happy for Jesse. He's a guy who's had to learn two positions and hasn't gotten great at either of them quite yet because of that. He seems to be getting a little better.”
Javorn Farrell, who was pressed into point guard duty himself in previous years, praised Morgan's play.
“It gives us a lot of confidence to know that, we have to rely on Chaz, but even when he's in foul trouble, we know we won't have any letdowns coming in off the bench when Jesse goes in to play the point guard,” Farrell said.
UMass trailed 39-34 early the second half, when Maxie Esho, who had only attempted four previous 3-pointers in his career and had yet to make one, launched one from just left of the top of the key as Will Reigel fouled him. The shot dropped through the net as Esho hit the ground and Kellogg pumped his first. After a timeout, Esho completed the rare four-point play. The sequence started a 12-0 UMass run that Esho finished with a putback off a Freddie Riley missed free throw, giving UMass a 46-39 lead with 12:53 left in the second.
Esho finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four steals in the game and drew praise from Davidson coach Bob McKillop.
“Esho really hurt us,” McKillop said. “He came of the bench and had four steals and he made a couple of big shots. He hurt us quite a bit.”
Kellogg agreed.
“Maxie was phenomenal,” Kellogg said. “He changed the complexion of the game with his athleticism.”
Davidson answered with eight straight points to briefly regain the lead 47-46. But Riley made a jab step to shed a defender and then stepped back and knocked down a 3-pointer to regain the lead and bring the crowd of 3,821 back into it.
Riley made another 3 to stretch the UMass edge to five as the Minutemen never trailed again. The Wildcats pulled within three with just over two minutes left, but Williams fed Terrell Vinson in the corner. The junior forward hadn't made a field goal in the game until that point, but he drained a 3-pointer that essentially clinched the win.
Raphaiel Putney, Farrell and Williams each added 10 points for the Minutemen, while Sean Carter had 10 rebounds and four blocked shots to go with his four points.
De'Mon Brooks led Davidson (7-4) with 22 points.
UMass (10-3) is off until Dec. 30 when it hosts Central Connecticut State at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
“My first two years here, we went into the break with a loss,” Farrell said. “I know that the next couple days when we got back to practice, it was definitely a lot harder than we would have liked it. I think that getting this win tonight and getting these couple days off to go home, when we get back, we'll be more at ease and we'll feel more ready to go in and beat Central Connecticut State.”
TOTAL | 3-PTS | REBOUNDS | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DAVIDSON | Min | FG | FGA | Pct | FG | FGA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | PF | FO | A | TO | Blk | Stl | Pts | |
Cohen, Jake | F | 16 | 1 | 7 | .143 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Brooks, De'Mon | F | 28 | 9 | 15 | .600 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
Kuhlman, JP | C | 26 | 3 | 8 | .375 | 1 | 3 | .333 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Cochran, Nik | G | 31 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
Droney, Tom | G | 28 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 1 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Kalinoski, Tyler | 23 | 3 | 9 | .333 | 3 | 8 | .375 | 3 | 4 | .750 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
Reigel, Will | 10 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Ben-Eze, Frank | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Czerapowicz, Chris | 13 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Mann, Clint | 22 | 3 | 6 | .500 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
TEAM REBOUNDS | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
TOTALS | 200 | 23 | 59 | .390 | 9 | 28 | .321 | 10 | 11 | .909 | 14 | 25 | 39 | 20 | 1 | 15 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 65 | |
First half | 12 | 28 | .429 | 5 | 12 | .417 | 6 | 6 | 1.000 | 35 | |||||||||||
Second half | 11 | 31 | .355 | 4 | 16 | .250 | 4 | 5 | .800 | 30 |
Fast break points | 0 |
Points off turnovers | 10 |
Second chance points | 16 |
Points in the paint | 24 |
TOTAL | 3-PTS | REBOUNDS | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MASSACHUSETTS | Min | FG | FGA | Pct | FG | FGA | Pct | FT | FTA | Pct | Off | Def | Tot | PF | FO | A | TO | Blk | Stl | Pts | |
Vinson, Terrell | F | 26 | 1 | 6 | .167 | 1 | 2 | .500 | 2 | 4 | .500 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Putney, Raphiael | F | 22 | 4 | 8 | .500 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Carter, Sean | C | 31 | 2 | 3 | .667 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 1 | .000 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
Williams, Chaz | G | 28 | 3 | 11 | .273 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 4 | 7 | .571 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
Morgan, Jesse | G | 26 | 6 | 13 | .462 | 2 | 4 | .500 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
Farrell, Javorn | 21 | 2 | 5 | .400 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 6 | 6 | 1.000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
Esho, Maxie | 19 | 4 | 4 | 1.000 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 3 | 3 | 1.000 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | |
Riley, Freddie | 18 | 2 | 7 | .286 | 2 | 4 | .500 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
Lalanne, Cady | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
TEAM REBOUNDS | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
TOTALS | 200 | 25 | 58 | .431 | 8 | 16 | .500 | 15 | 25 | .600 | 12 | 21 | 33 | 14 | 0 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 11 | 73 | |
First half | 11 | 31 | .355 | 3 | 9 | .333 | 4 | 8 | .500 | 29 | |||||||||||
Second half | 14 | 27 | .519 | 5 | 7 | .714 | 11 | 17 | .647 | 44 |
Fast break points | 5 |
Points off turnovers | 14 |
Second chance points | 16 |
Points in the paint | 32 |
Score by Periods | 1st | 2nd | OT1 | OT2 | OT3 | Final |
DAVIDSON | 35 | 30 | 65 | |||
MASSACHUSETTS | 29 | 44 | 73 |
Attendance | 3821 |
Officials | Dwayne Gladden, Matt Lee, Tony Dawkins |
Technical Fouls | none |