• Season: 2012-13
• Date: Wednesday, January 2, 2013
• Opponent: Miami (OH)
• Start Time: 7:00 PM ET
• Site: at Miami (Millett Hall)
• Special Event: none
• Television: none
• Streaming video: Miami
• Radio / Streaming audio: UMass Radio Network

• Result: UMass 70, Miami 69
• Attendance: 898 (capacity: 9,200, 9.8% full)

UMass Game Notes

Bench delivering for UMass men's basketball team

UMass basketball will face up-tempo pressure defense against undersized Miami (Ohio) Wednesday

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

Putney Scores 20 As Men's Hoops Downs Miami (OH) 70-69
Minutemen hold on as Red Hawks miss lay-up with one second to go
From UMass Athletics, 1/2/2013

OXFORD, Ohio - While it was the Minutemen hitting last second game-winning shots earlier this season, a missed lay-up by Miami (OH) gave the UMass basketball team a 70-69 win on Wednesday night at Millett Hall. Raphiael Putney scored a season-high 20 points, just two shy of his career high, to pace the Minutemen who saw an eight-point halftime lead turn into a nip-and-tuck second half.

UMass (9-3) will return to action on Saturday afternoon as Eastern Michigan visits the Mullins Center to close out the non-conference slate. Wednesday's win marked the sixth straight win for the Minutemen.

Along with his 20 points, Putney added nine rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Jesse Morgan and Chaz Williams each scored in double figures for UMass hitting for 12 and 10 points, respectively. Defensively, Maxie Esho finished the game with nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

Miami (5-7) was led by Allen Roberts who scored a game-high 21 points. Will Felder and Drew McGhee added 10 points to lead the Red Hawks who lost at home for the first time this season.

After UMass took a 37-29 lead into halftime, Miami used a 13-to-5 run to start the second half which tied the game 42-42 just two minutes, 30 seconds into the stanza.

From there, the rest of the second half saw four more ties and six lead changes. The final lead change came on a Williams jumper with 1:12 to go putting the Minutemen up 70-69.

A foul on the ensuing Red Hawk possession put Quinten Rollins on the free throw line with 44.0 seconds left. Rollins missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity with Terrell Vinson hauling in the defensive rebound.

UMass ran down the clock, but a Sampson Carter three-point attempt with 10 seconds to go was off the mark. Miami collected the rebound but Will Sullivan's lay-up attempt with one second to go was no good and Putney claimed the rebound for the win.

The Red Hawks started the half hitting five of their first six field goals to tie the game at 42.

A pair of Geovonie McKnight free throws mid-way through the second half kept Miami's lead extended to four, 61-57, but a three-pointer from Putney (one of four in the game) pulled the Minutemen back within one.

A three-pointer from Trey Davis gave UMass the lead again, 65-63, with 5:05 to go but Miami retook the advantage nearly a minute later. Putney's fourth trey of the game proved big as it gave the Minutemen a 68-67 lead with 3:46 remaining.

After Miami hit two free throws to take the lead once again 20 seconds later, neither team could score again from the field or the free throw line until Williams' game-winning lay-up. The Red Hawks missed their final four field goals along with Rollins' lone free throw attempt down the stretch.

Despite the close score, UMass dominated the boards with a 48-to-32 advantage including a 17-to-6 edge on the offensive glass.

NOTES

• UMass won its first-ever meeting with Miami tonight. The Minutemen are also 3-0 against MAC schools this season. The Atlantic 10 is now 10-2 against MAC schools this season.
• UMass is on a six-game win streak, its longest since a similar time last season prior to the start of conference play.
• The Minutemen are 4-0 on the road this season and have won seven-consecutive road games dating back to last season's postseason NIT run. The last time a UMass squad won as many on the road contests came during the 1997-98 campaign.
• UMass made 27 field goals, its second-most this season. The Minutemen also drained a season-high 11 3-pointers.
• UMass tied its season-low in both categories for free throws following its 5-for-8 night - identical to the win at Siena on Nov. 28.
• The Minutemen grabbed a season-high 48 rebounds as they outrebounded Miami 48-32. UMass also had a season-high 17 offensive rebounds that it converted into a season-high 14 second-chance points.
• UMass had a season-high 19 assists on its 27 made baskets. Guards Chaz Williams and Jesse Morgan combined for 14.
• UMass led 37-29 at the half and an improved to 7-0 when this season leading at the break.
• Junior F Raphiael Putney finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting, including four 3-pointers. It was a season high in points and his game-high tying nine rebounds tied his season high. It was his third 20-plus point game of his career and first since netting 20 against Duquesne at home in the A-10 Tournament First Round last season. He became the fourth player to have a game with four 3-pointers. He also tied his season-high of three steals.
• Sophomore F Maxie Esho finished with nine rebounds and four blocks. It marked the fourth time in the last eight games he has pulled down at least nine boards. The four blocks are a career-high and tie the UMass high this season (4 by Cady Lalanne against Harvard).
• Freshman G Trey Davis had a career-high seven points while grabbing a rebound and a steal in eight minutes.

UMass basketball escapes again with 70-69 win at Miami (Ohio)
Raphiael Putney snaps out of slump at perfect time for UMass basketball

Raphiael Putney leads UMass men's basketball to win at Miami (Ohio)

Miami lets one get away vs. UMass
Miami notes: McGhee emerging from ‘coma’ for RedHawks

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