season_1970-71
Table of Contents
1970-71 Season
The 1970-71 UMass Redmen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts. The Head Coach was Jack Leaman. The team played its home games primarily in the Curry Hicks Cage in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was a member of the Yankee Conference.
The season represented the 62nd season of basketball in the school's history.
This team featured Julius Erving in his Junior year, which would prove to be his final college season, as he opted to turn pro after the season.
- Final Record: 23-4
- Conference Record: 10-0 (First place)
- Postseason: NIT bid, lost in the First Round (to eventual-champion North Carolina)
Scoreboard
| Game | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Result | Overall | Yankee | Notes |
| 12/1 | St. Anselm | W 98-63 | 1-0 | – | Erving 32 pts & 23 rebs, Ellerbrook 22 pts, Pagliara 16 pts. Tied at 27 late in the first, Redmen wake up and build up an 86-47 lead, and coast to the final. |
| 12/5 | at Vermont | W 79-68 (OT) | 2-0 | 1-0 | Erving 27 pts & 14 rebs. Favored Redmen trail by nine with five minutes left in regulation, but get it together, force OT, and pull away in the extra frame. |
| 12/10 | at Rhode Island | W 80-76 (OT) | 3-0 | 2-0 | Erving 29 pts & 24 rebs, Betancourt 19 pts. UM led at many points, but 27 turnovers almost cost them the win. |
| 12/12 | New Hampshire | W 89-53 | 4-0 | 3-0 | Erving 28 pts & 18 rebs. UNH 18 rebounds total. Betancourt 14 points for UM, Coffin 10. |
| 12/15 | at Connecticut | W 74-68 | 5-0 | 4-0 | Erving 27 pts & 20 rebs. Mathias 15 & 11, Pagliara 14 pts. |
| 12/18 | American Int'l | W 93-40 | 6-0 | – | Erving 31 pts & 18 rebs. Betancourt 12 pts, Pagliara 10 pts. UM 32 assists (new school record). |
| 12/22 | Hofstra | W 87-60 | 7-0 | – | Erving 27 pts & 17 rebs. Betancourt 20 pts, Pagliara 16 pts, Mathias 7 pts & 12 rebs. Hofstra team includes Quinis Brower (father of Etienne), and Bob McKillop. |
| 12/28 | Fairfield | W 95-82 | 8-0 | – | Hall of Fame Tourney, at Springfield College. Erving 28 pts, 26 rebs. |
| 12/29 | St. Michael's | W 94-59 | 9-0 | – | Hall of Fame Tourney, at Springfield College. Erving 33 pts, 30 rebs (new personal best and new school record). UM 81 rebs (new school record). |
| 12/30 | Colgate | W 79-67 | 10-0 | – | Hall of Fame Tourney, at Springfield College. Erving 31 pts, 20 rebs. |
| 1/21 | at Boston University | W 77-63 | 11-0 | – | Pagliara (8-9 FG, 8-10 FT) tallied a career (to date) high 24 points. Mathias led UM on the glass with 17 boards. Erving, typically the leader in both departments, finished with 22 & 16. |
| 1/23 | at Providence | L 73-72 | 11-1 | – | Trailing by 4 with 42 seconds left, UM trims it to just 1, and has a chance to win, but missed three shots in the final sequence. Erving tallies 19 & 17, both below his average. |
| 1/27 | Fordham | L 87-79 | 11-2 | – | UM trims 17 point deficits to just 1, but Rams pull away again. Erving 30 pts. (Erving's rebounding numbers unknown.) (Fordham, coached by Digger Phelps, ended up having a great year, finishing 26-3 and reaching the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.) |
| 1/30 | Northeastern | W 61-47 | 12-2 | – | UM still prevails, despite usual starters Mathias and Pagliara being out with flu. Erving 28 pts, 26 rebs. Tom McLaughlin debuts for UM. |
| 2/2 | at Holy Cross | W 60-58 | 13-2 | – | UMass escapes after Cross misses chances to tie. Erving 32 pts (25 in second half), 18 rebs. McLaughlin 12 pts. |
| 2/4 | Iona | W 92-51 | 14-2 | – | UM rolls, scoring 54 in the second half, and out-shoots the Gaels 53% to 30% for the game. Erving 29 pts, 17 rebs. |
| 2/6 | Vermont | W 86-51 | 15-2 | 5-0 | UM cruises again, holding opponent to 51 for the second straight game. Erving 26 & 20, McLaughlin 14 & 6, Pagliara 10 & 8 assists. |
| 2/9 | Boston College | W 85-77 | 16-2 | – | BC shoots 51% from the floor, to UM's 41%, but game decided from the line. UM FTs 35-39 (.897), while BC hits 15-26 (.577). Erving 24 & 16, Betancourt 20 pts, Mathias 16 pts. BC's Jim O’Brien 28 pts. |
| 2/13 | Connecticut | W 89-67 | 17-2 | 6-0 | UM uses a 9-1 run in the second half to turn a three-point advantage into double digits, and UConn deflates. Mathias 24 pts, 14 rebs, 7 assists. Erving 23 pts, 22 rebs, 4 blocks. |
| 2/16 | at Springfield | L 63-62 | 17-3 | – | Pretty big upset as SC not only wins, but overcomes an 11-point deficit with 8:19 left to play, including a clutch game winner with two seconds left. UM just 2-9 from the line hurts. Erving 18 pts, 23 rebs. |
| 2/19 | Rhode Island | W 83-71 | 18-3 | 7-0 | Erving 30 pts, 22 rebs. Mathias 15 & 13. |
| 2/20 | Maine | W 85-57 | 19-3 | 8-0 | UM's short rest no issue as Maine doesn't put up much of a fight. |
| 2/22 | Syracuse | W 86-71 | 20-3 | – | Senior Night. Erving 36 pts, 32 rebs (new school record). Mathias 13 pts and forces Syracuse's best player into a sub-par game. |
| 2/27 | George Washington | W 70-65 | 21-3 | – | At Madison Square Garden. UM auditions for the NIT selection committee, and Erving for pro scouts. Erving tallies 35 & 17. Walt Szczerbiak 32 & 23 for GW. |
| 3/1 | at New Hampshire | W 63-60 | 22-3 | 9-0 | UMass clinches their fourth straight Yankee title. Erving 19 pts, 23 rebs. |
| 3/4 | at Maine | W 84-71 | 23-3 | 10-0 | UM goes perfect in the Yankee for the first time. Erving 25 pts, 14 rebs. |
| 3/20 | North Carolina (13) | L 90-49 | 23-4 | – | NIT, at Madison Square Garden, NYC. Erving hit with four fouls in the first 13:20 of the game, and fouls out early in second half, finishes with just 13 pts, 9 rebs. Rest of UM no match for Dean Smith's Tar Heels. |
Statistics
Select stats per UMass media guide.
| Leader | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | FT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Erving | 26.9 | 19.5 | 3.7 | .470 | .752 |
| John Betancourt | 12.6 | 1.3 | 4.2 | .474 | .800 |
| Mike Pagliara | 10.6 | 1.7 | 4.3 | .446 | .742 |
| Ken Mathias | 10.2 | 9.3 | 2.7 | .554 | .710 |
| Chris Coffin | 5.3 | 5.1 | 2.2 | .447 | .755 |
Roster
| No. | Name | Yr. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/High School/Last College |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Austin, Tom | So. | 6-9 | 188 | Swansea, Mass./Case |
| 10 | Betancourt, John | Jr. | 5-10 | 174 | Westwood, N.J./Westwood |
| 24 | Coffin, Chris | Jr. | 6-4 | 190 | Westford, Mass./Westford Academy |
| 22 | Dempsey, Bob | Sr. | 6-0 | 180 | Fall River, Mass./Durfee |
| 32 | Erving, Julius | Jr. | 6-6 | 190 | Roosevelt, N.Y./Roosevelt |
| 20 | Greeley, Bill | Sr. | 5-8 | 170 | Melrose, Mass./Melrose |
| 50 | Kesgen, Bill | Jr. | 6-5 | 210 | East Rutherford, N.J./E. Rutherford |
| 42 | Mathias, Ken | Sr. | 6-7 | 205 | Lodi, N.J./Lodi |
| 40 | McLaughlin, Tom | So. | 6-4 | 185 | Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep |
| 12 | Nichols, Chris | Jr. | 5-10 | 173 | Madison, Conn./Deerfield Academy |
| 14 | Pagliara, Mike | Jr. | 5-10 | 170 | Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo |
| 54 | Peters, Charles | So. | 6-7 | 210 | Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet Reg. |
| 34 | Provo, Sam | Jr. | 6-0 | 190 | Agawam, Mass./Agawam |
| 52 | Olsen, Charles | So. | 6-4 | 194 | Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey |
| 44 | Vogeley, Rich | Jr. | 6-4 | 200 | New Hyde Park, N.Y./Sewanhaka |
season_1970-71.txt · Last modified: 2021/05/19 12:02 by mikeuma
