Does anyone have a 'home-town' scouting report on UMASS? Oregon looked pretty damn good the other night in Portland kicking the crap outta Louisville.
OREGON/UMASS
- Thread starter USC Gamecock
- Start date
The Game: It is the Atlantic 10 versus the Pacific-10, as Massachusetts squares off against the high-octane Oregon Ducks at the Springfield Civic Center. The Minutemen, who ran their record to 2-0 with Saturday's 66-59 homecourt victory over Marist, are aiming for their 26th 3-0 start in school history, but just their sixth such start since the 1975-76 season. UMass is off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign when it ran off 26-straight victories to open the year (en route to a 35-2 record and the school's first-ever Final Four appearance), and just the fourth time over the last 13 seasons (1991-92, 5-0 start, 1993-94, 3-0, 1995-96, 26-0 and 2001-02), which arguably rank as the school's most-successful run ever on the hardwood with an average of 22.4 wins per year and 10 postseason appearances in that stretch. A win tonight would allow Steve Lappas to become the first rookie UMass coach since Johnny Orr in 1963-64 to begin his Minuteman career 3-0, and just the eighth in school history. The best start to a first-year UMass mentor's career was turned in by Melvin Taube, who recorded a 12-0 mark (the school's only undefeated season ever in the sport) in 1933-34. Coach Ernie Kent's Ducks, meanwhile, are 4-0 after Saturday's 90-63 pounding of Louisville at the Rose Garden in Portland, and have scored at least 90 points in every game this season. Oregon, averaging 92.5 points per game and beating its opponent by an average of 35.0 points, opened its season with homecourt wins over Alabama State (92-52), Western Michigan (91-48) and Long Beach State (91-67) to capture the America's Youth Classic title, before beating the Cardinals last Saturday. The Ducks, who return three starters from last year's 14-14 team that was 6-8 outside of Eugene, are bidding for their fourth 5-0 start since the 1974-75 campaign (the Ducks opened 10-0 in both 1974-75 and 1996-97, and started 6-0 a year ago). Coincidentally, the fifth Oregon victim last year was Massachusetts, a team it beat in Portland, 91-76.
The Coaches: A new chapter in UMass basketball history began on March 26, 2001, when athletic director Bob Marcum introduced Steve Lappas (CCNY, 1977) as the school's 19th head coach. In his 14th season as a head coach, Lappas owns a 232-172 (.574) record, including a 2-0 (1.000) mark in his first year on the Minuteman bench. He is coaching against Oregon for the first time. Lappas joined the UMass staff after spending nine highly-successful years at Villanova University (1993-2001), where he guided the Wildcats to a 174-110 (.613) record, seven postseason appearances (four NCAA, three NIT), six, 20-win campaigns, a Big East regular-season (1996-97) and Tournament crown (1994-95), and the school's first-ever National Invitation Tournament championship (1993-94). He ranked as the sixth-winningest coach in Big East history (and the third-winningest among active league coaches) at the time he left the Main Line with 97 Big East victories. At Manhattan (1988-92), Lappas improved the Jasper win total every year, going from seven in 1988-89, to 11 the following year, 13 in his third season and 25 in his fourth and final campaign (1991-92) en route to a 56-62 (.475) four-year mark. His last Manhattan team won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title, and advanced to the third round of the NIT. Prior to moving to Manhattan, Lappas spent four seasons as an assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova, and was a coach on the Wildcats' national championship team in 1985. Equally impressive as Lappas' on-court record is the classroom performance of his players, as all of his seniors at both Villanova and Manhattan graduated. The Ducks are coached by Ernie Kent (Oregon, 1977), who stands 162-129 (.557) in his 11th season as a head coach, 72-49 (.595) in his fifth year at his alma mater. During his tenure, Kent has guided Oregon to a pair of postseason appearances (1999 NIT Final Four, 2000 NCAA Tournament), and the school's best four-year record in more than 50 years. Before returning to Eugene as head coach of the Ducks, Kent spent six seasons as head coach at St. Mary's (Calif.) and led the Gaels to a 23-8 record, a West Coast Conference title and an NCAA bid in 1996-97, his last at the school. The second-winningest coach in St. Mary's history (90 career victories), Kent is 1-0 vs. Massachuetts all-time, but stands 1-2 vs. Lappas. Kent's first St. Mary's team dropped a 66-50 decision to Lappas' last Manhattan team, while Lappas' first and second Villanova teams split a pair of games against the Gaels, losing in 1992-93 (65-64) and winning the following year (89-78).
Marist Recap: Massachusetts opened the game on a 12-2 run and never trailed in beating Marist, 66-59, last Saturday at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half (while limiting the Red Foxes to 21.7 percent marksmanship) in building a 36-17 halftime lead. But, Marist opened the second half on a 16-3 run to pull within 39-33 at the 14:23 mark, and would eventually draw within three on two occasions, the last at 48-45 with 9:03 to play. UMass responded with a 7-0 run to put the lead back to 10 at 55-45 with 6:54 left, and the closest the Red Foxes would come the rest of the way would be five on two occasions. Senior center Kitwana Rhymer came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, grab seven rebounds and block four shots in 24 minutes for the Minutemen, while senior guard Shannon Crooks added 14 and junior forward Micah Brand chipped in 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Willie Jenkins, making his second career start for the Maroon and White, tallied career-bests of nine points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes of work. Nick Eppehimer led Marist with 14 points. For the game, UMass hit 44.2 percent from the field and held a 42-29 advantage on the glass, while limiting Marist to 32.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Minutemen, though, had 18 turnovers and shot just 65.2 percent at the foul line, but they did shoot 75.0 percent at the stripe in the second half.
The Series: This is the second meeting in a series that Oregon leads, 1-0, after last year's 91-76 victory at Portland. UMass is 4-4 all-time vs. the Pac-10 Conference, while the Ducks are 10-11 all-time vs. current members of the Atlantic 10, having played every team in the league except Fordham.
Last Year in Portland: UMass dropped a 91-76 decision to Oregon in the third-annual Pape Jam at Portland's Rose Garden. The game was close for the game's first 10 minutes, with the Minutemen holding a 20-18 advantage at the 10:44 mark of the first half. Oregon, though, went on a 32-17 run to take a 50-40 lead at intermission. The Minutemen closed to within four at 56-52 with 11:23 to go, but the Ducks used an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 12 at 64-52 with 9:44 left. UMass drew within five at 67-62 with 6:44 to go on a pair of Micah Brand free throws, but Oregon scored on its next two possessions and the visitors would get no closer than seven after that. Monty Mack led UMass with a then-season-high 26 points, while Brand added a then-career-best 19 points. Bryan Bracey led Oregon with 24 points, while Frederick Jones had 23 and Anthony Lever netted 12. The loss was the third straight for UMass after a season-opening win over Iona, while Oregon improved to 5-0 on the year. The Minutemen return 44 of the 76 points they scored in last year's game, while Oregon returns 56 of its 91 points from a year ago. A box score from last year's game is included with tonight's notes package.
Civic Center is UMass' Home Away From Home: The UMass basketball team has enjoyed success in the Springfield Civic Center, winning five straight and 12 of its last 13 played here, including a 80-69 victory over Duquesne here a year ago. Last year's game against the Dukes marked UMass' first game at the Civic Center since posting a 95-65 victory over West Virginia, Jan. 3, 1995. The Minutemen, who scored a 78-71 victory over Holy Cross in their first-ever appearance in this building, Jan. 30, 1973, own an all-time record of 35-21 (.625) at the Civic Center. The lone team to beat UMass in its last 13 games here was Cincinnati, which scored a 64-53 victory, Jan. 7, 1993.
Putting the Clamps On: Stingy defensive play has been a trademark of the UMass basketball program over the last 12 seasons, and that tradition has continued under coach Steve Lappas, as Massachusetts' first two opponents have hit just 34.5 from the field (31.7 perecent from three-point range) and have attempted 60 three-pointers (made 19). The 119 points allowed by the Minutemen mark the lowest tallied by their opponents in the first two games of the season since the 1993-94 season, when UMass held its first two foes to a combined 115 points. Against Marist, UMass limited the Red Foxes to 32.7 percent shooting for the game (including 21.7 percent in the first half, the lowest shooting percentage in a half by a UMass opponent since Temple's 10.3 percent second-half performance, Feb. 28, 1999) and 59 points (just 17 in the first half, the fewest allowed by UMass in a half since holding Rhode Island to 15 first-half points, Feb. 22, 2000). In their season-opening victory over Arkansas-Little Rock, the Minutemen held the Trojans to 36.2 percent shooting from the floor for the game, and just six points over the game's last 9:25 as they rallied for the victory. The 60 points were the fewest allowed by UMass in its season-opener since holding Chaminade to 48 points in 1996-97, and the fewest allowed by UMass against a Division I opponent in its opener since limiting Cleveland State to 60 points in the 1993-94 lid-lifter. A year ago, Massachusetts ranked fourth in the A-10 in scoring defense for all games (68.2 ppg, which marked the 10th-straight season the Minutemen held their foe to a season mark below 70.0 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.413, the 10th-straight year UMass held its opponent below .420 for the season), while it was second in scoring defense for league games only (64.9 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.403).
A Greek Vacation: The UMass basketball team got a head start on the 2001-02 season when it traveled to Greece, Aug. 12-23, 2001. The Minutemen, who traveled overseas for just the second time ever and for the first time since a mid-season excursion to France and Germany for the Buckler Christmas Classic in December, 1994, finished 1-3 on the trip to Athens, Kavouri and Mykonos. UMass was one of two A-10 institutions (St. Bonaventure was the other) to take a foreign trip last summer with their first-year coaches at the helm. Two seniors, forward Eric Williams and guard Shannon Crooks, paced the UMass offensive attack. Williams posted team-leading marks of 10.8 ppg and 8.5 rpg, while Crooks averaged 10.3 ppg and led the team in both assists (16) and steals (13), while committing just seven turnovers.
Team Captains Selected: In voting conducted by the team, the Minutemen elected a trio of seniors to serve as team captains for the 2001-02 campaign, in guard Shannon Crooks, center Kitwana Rhymer and forward Eric Williams. It marks the second consecutive season, and just the sixth time ever, that tri-captains have been named at Massachusetts. The first UMass basketball team to have tri-captains was the school's 1963-64 squad.
Another Tough Slate: After playing one of the toughest schedules in school history a year ago (College RPI.com and Jeff Sagarin ranked the 2000-01 schedule as the 17th-toughest, while Collegiate Basketball News ranked it 18th), the Minutemen are tackling another challenging slate in 2001-02. But that's really nothing new, as over the last eight seasons, only once has the Massachusetts strength of schedule been ranked lower than 56th in degree of difficulty among Division I institutions, and four times in that stretch it has had an SOS ranked among the nation's top 20. Ten postseason teams from a year ago dot this year's schedule, with UMass scheduled to play eight games against 2001 NCAA Tournament entrants (Holy Cross, Boston College, Ohio State, Xavier, Temple-2 and St. Joseph's-2), and five contests against teams that participated in the 2001 NIT (UConn, Dayton, Richmond and St. Bonaventure-2). In addition to playing 13 games against 2001 postseason teams, the Minutemen will play 18 games against teams which finished last season with a .500 or better record, and 22 games against teams which ranked from 1-150 in the final 2000-01 Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report. Twenty of UMass' 30 games last season were against 2001 postseason tournament entrants, and the Minutemen fashioned a 7-13 record in those games (5-8 vs. 2001 NCAA Tournament field, 2-5 vs. 2001 NIT entrants).
Consistent Success: The Minutemen, who have posted 12-straight winning A-10 records (after posting no winning marks, just two .500 records and 56 victories in their first 13 seasons in the league) since a 5-13 mark in 1988-89, own a 138-56 (.711) record in regular-season league play since then and have captured 10 league titles (five regular season, five tournament) in that time frame. Last year, after a 2-9 non-conference start, Massachusetts went 11-5 in the A-10 (its eighth 11-win league mark in the last 12 seasons), good for fourth place in the standings, and advanced to the title game of the Verizon A-10 Tournament for the first time since 1995-96, but dropped a 76-65 decision to Temple. Over the last 12-plus seasons, UMass owns a 271-125 (.684) overall record (includes 2001-02 record, too), an average of 22.4 wins per season, and has posted seven 20-win seasons, 11, .500 or better campaigns, and made 10 postseason appearances (seven NCAA, three NIT).
The Comeback Kids: It really shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that UMass overcame a double-digit defict against Arkansas-Little Rock to post a 66-60 victory in its season-opener, as those type of comebacks have happened before in Amherst. Including the UALR comeback, the Minutemen have now recorded 18 double-digit comebacks to win over the last eight seasons, including a pair last year. Prior to rallying from 10 down to beat the Trojans, UMass' most-recent double-digit rally to win effort came last year against Dayton, when it overcame an 11-point first half deficit to beat the Flyers, 62-57, at the Mullins Center, Jan. 18, 2001. In last year's game against George Washington in Amherst, UMass overcame a 15-point deficit with 1:07 left in the first half to beat the Colonials, 76-60, at the Mullins Center. The deficit was the largest the Minutemen had overcome to win since rallying from 16 down to beat Maryland, 50-47, Dec. 2, 1995.
Kit's Hits: Fifth-year senior Kitwana Rhymer came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, grab seven rebounds and block four shots in 24 minutes of work against Marist. He ranks fifth on the school's all-time block chart with 143 rejections, 47 behind No. 4 Edwin Green's (1980-84) total of 190. While first-place Marcus Camby's 336 career blocks are well out of Rhymer's reach, he needs just 80 rejections to climb into second place on the UMass career list. Having improved his scoring average every season he has been in Amherst, Rhymer needs 353 points (he enters tonight's game with 647) to become the school's 35th career 1,000-point scorer, and 227 rebounds (has 564 in career) to crack the UMass top 10 in that category, too. Rhymer was a second team 2001-2002 preseason All-Atlantic 10 pick by the league's coaches and media, the only UMass player named to the early-season honor squad, and was one of five players selected to Dick Vitale's All-Velcro (nation's top defensive players) team. He was also named to the A-10's preseason all-defensive unit, after garnering the league's Defensive Player of the Year award a year ago. His selection to the all-defensive team a year ago marked the fifth-straight season a Minuteman had been named to that squad.
Opponents Get Branded: Perhaps no Atlantic 10 player stepped up his game more from the 1999-2000 season to last year than UMass' Micah Brand, who shared the league's Chris Daniels Most Improved Player honor with teammate Kitwana Rhymer, and his junior season is off to a strong start, too. Against Arkansas-Little Rock in the season-opener, Brand had a career-high-tying 23 points, four rebounds, a pair of steals and a block in 34 minutes of work. He came back to tally 10 points, a team-best eight rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes against Marist. UMass' leading scorer after two games at 16.6 ppg, Brand also leads the team in field goal shooting (.737) and ranks second in free throw percentage (.833).
To Catch a Crook(s): The old man of the Massachusetts backcourt, senior guard Shannon Crooks, has gotten his final season in a Maroon and White uniform off to a good start. The first UMass player since Edgar Padilla in 1996-97 to lead the Minutemen in both assists (95) and steals (47) in the same season, a feat Crooks accomplished a year ago, he has averaged 15.0 ppg in two games this season. His scoring is up because of the dramatic improvement in his field goal and three-point percentages. Crooks shot 36.2 percent from the field a year ago, including 24.3 percent from beyond the arc, but has shot 52.6 percent overall and 50.0 percent from the three-point line over the season's first two games after being moved from the point to his natural two-guard position. Crooks had 14 points, two rebounds and a pair of assists in 36 minutes against Marist, 16 points, six assists and two steals in 33 minutes of action against Arkansas-Little Rock. The fifth-year senior is 276 points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career (and 319 points shy of that plateau in his UMass career). He needs 97 assists to crack the UMass career list (he has 202), 25 steals (he has collected 109) to make the school's career theft chart. One of four former Bay State preps on this year's roster, Crooks has had at least one assist in 39-straight games and in 63 of 65 career games as a Minuteman. UMass owns a 4-0 mark in Crooks' career when he scores 20 or more points in game.
Double A Please: No, not batteries, but UMass sophomore point guard Anthony Anderson, who came off the bench to score 10 points (eight in the second half), grab five rebounds, dish out four assists and collect a steal in 37 minutes against Arkansas-Little Rock. For his efforts against the Trojans, Anderson earned Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors, the first Minuteman to earn the honor since Monty Mack captured the last of his three awards during the 1997-98 campaign. Anderson was inserted in the starting line-up for the Marist game, and responded with five points and three assists in 38 minutes of work.
Free Willie: Sophomore forward Willie Jenkins has been an early-season surprise for the Minutemen, and is coming off a career night against Marist. He turned in career-highs of nine points and seven rebounds against the Red Foxes in the second start of his career, an effort which followed a four-point, six-rebound effort in his first career start, the 66-60 season-opening victory over Arkansas-Little Rock. Jenkins has already grabbed more rebounds (13) this season than he did a year ago (seven in 18 appearances) and he's just four points shy of surpassing last year's offensive output. While he has not shot the ball well from the field this season (.167, on two-of-12 shooting), he's hit six-of-six at the free throw line, with every attempt coming in the game's final 4:50.
Quick Tips: Senior forward Eric Williams made his first UMass career start against Marist, in place of Kitwana Rhymer, and responded with four points and three rebounds in 18 minutes...when freshman guard Kyle Wilson was in the starting line-up against Arkansas-Little Rock, it marked the first time a freshman was in the UMass opening-day starting five since the 1996-97 seson when Winston Smith debuted against Chaminade...Wilson came off the bench against Marist and dished out a team-high four assists in 12 minutes...sophomore forward Raheim Lamb had career-highs of six points and six rebounds in 18 minutes off the pine against Marist...UMass has outrebounded both of its opponents this season, and holds a +9.5 advantage (41.0-31.5) on the glass...in 14 of its 15 wins last season, UMass out-shot its opponent (the lone exception was in the victory at Temple), a trend that has continued in both of its victories this season...over the last three years, Massachusetts owns a 21-5 record when scoring 70 or more points, including last year's 8-3 mark...UMass hit 50.0 percent or better from the field in seven of 30 games a year ago, and has won 18-straight games when reaching the 50.0 percent mark since an 88-83 loss to George Washington in the quarterfinals of the 1998 A-10 Tournament...UMass was 5-4 in games decided by five or fewer points last year, after going just 1-6 in such games during the 1999-2000 season...the Minutemen have made at least one three-point goal in 95-straight games since a 1998 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to St. Louis, while their opponents have made at least one trey in 39-straight games...UMass, 2-0 this season when leading with 5:00 to play, has won 16-straight when leading at the juncture of the game and owns an 80-9 record since the start of the 1996-97 season when leading with 5:00 left...UMass has produced at least one all-conference performer for 18-straight seasons...Massachusetts was 8-11 away from home last season, including a 5-3 mark vs. A-10 opponents, only the second time in the last 12 seasons it failed to post a .500 or better mark away from home overall...Ronell Blizzard's seven blocked shots against Boston U., matched the best single-game effort in the A-10 last year, as Xavier's David West also turned in a seven-block game.
Fast Breaks: Marist---Minutemen race to a 12-2 lead in game's opening minutes, hold 19-point halftime advantage, but watch visiting Red Foxes get within three in second half, first 2-0 start for UMass since 1995-96 season, Kitwana Rhymer comes off bench, has 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, while Shannon Crooks added 14 and Micah Brand 10. Arkansas-Little Rock--UMass overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to give Steve Lappas a victory in his first game on the Minuteman bench, as Brand netted a career-high-tying 23 points and Minutemen win season opener for eighth time in the last nine years, despite the Trojans' 10, 3-point goals.
From Here: UMass hits the road for the first time this season when it travels to North Carolina State, Saturday, Dec. 1. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Raleigh. Oregon is idle until playing at Portland next Sunday.
Umass lost Monty Mack, Larry Ketner, Jonathan DePina who either started or logged alot of minutes.
If you look at their last gm and take away the 12-2 run to start the gm, they were outplayed(and that was Marist!!!)
This gm is @ the Springfield Civic and not on Umass's hm court.
Tough gm to call 3000 mile trip for the ducks and their first road gm as well.
GL whatever you decide to play.
The Coaches: A new chapter in UMass basketball history began on March 26, 2001, when athletic director Bob Marcum introduced Steve Lappas (CCNY, 1977) as the school's 19th head coach. In his 14th season as a head coach, Lappas owns a 232-172 (.574) record, including a 2-0 (1.000) mark in his first year on the Minuteman bench. He is coaching against Oregon for the first time. Lappas joined the UMass staff after spending nine highly-successful years at Villanova University (1993-2001), where he guided the Wildcats to a 174-110 (.613) record, seven postseason appearances (four NCAA, three NIT), six, 20-win campaigns, a Big East regular-season (1996-97) and Tournament crown (1994-95), and the school's first-ever National Invitation Tournament championship (1993-94). He ranked as the sixth-winningest coach in Big East history (and the third-winningest among active league coaches) at the time he left the Main Line with 97 Big East victories. At Manhattan (1988-92), Lappas improved the Jasper win total every year, going from seven in 1988-89, to 11 the following year, 13 in his third season and 25 in his fourth and final campaign (1991-92) en route to a 56-62 (.475) four-year mark. His last Manhattan team won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title, and advanced to the third round of the NIT. Prior to moving to Manhattan, Lappas spent four seasons as an assistant to Rollie Massimino at Villanova, and was a coach on the Wildcats' national championship team in 1985. Equally impressive as Lappas' on-court record is the classroom performance of his players, as all of his seniors at both Villanova and Manhattan graduated. The Ducks are coached by Ernie Kent (Oregon, 1977), who stands 162-129 (.557) in his 11th season as a head coach, 72-49 (.595) in his fifth year at his alma mater. During his tenure, Kent has guided Oregon to a pair of postseason appearances (1999 NIT Final Four, 2000 NCAA Tournament), and the school's best four-year record in more than 50 years. Before returning to Eugene as head coach of the Ducks, Kent spent six seasons as head coach at St. Mary's (Calif.) and led the Gaels to a 23-8 record, a West Coast Conference title and an NCAA bid in 1996-97, his last at the school. The second-winningest coach in St. Mary's history (90 career victories), Kent is 1-0 vs. Massachuetts all-time, but stands 1-2 vs. Lappas. Kent's first St. Mary's team dropped a 66-50 decision to Lappas' last Manhattan team, while Lappas' first and second Villanova teams split a pair of games against the Gaels, losing in 1992-93 (65-64) and winning the following year (89-78).
Marist Recap: Massachusetts opened the game on a 12-2 run and never trailed in beating Marist, 66-59, last Saturday at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half (while limiting the Red Foxes to 21.7 percent marksmanship) in building a 36-17 halftime lead. But, Marist opened the second half on a 16-3 run to pull within 39-33 at the 14:23 mark, and would eventually draw within three on two occasions, the last at 48-45 with 9:03 to play. UMass responded with a 7-0 run to put the lead back to 10 at 55-45 with 6:54 left, and the closest the Red Foxes would come the rest of the way would be five on two occasions. Senior center Kitwana Rhymer came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, grab seven rebounds and block four shots in 24 minutes for the Minutemen, while senior guard Shannon Crooks added 14 and junior forward Micah Brand chipped in 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Willie Jenkins, making his second career start for the Maroon and White, tallied career-bests of nine points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes of work. Nick Eppehimer led Marist with 14 points. For the game, UMass hit 44.2 percent from the field and held a 42-29 advantage on the glass, while limiting Marist to 32.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Minutemen, though, had 18 turnovers and shot just 65.2 percent at the foul line, but they did shoot 75.0 percent at the stripe in the second half.
The Series: This is the second meeting in a series that Oregon leads, 1-0, after last year's 91-76 victory at Portland. UMass is 4-4 all-time vs. the Pac-10 Conference, while the Ducks are 10-11 all-time vs. current members of the Atlantic 10, having played every team in the league except Fordham.
Last Year in Portland: UMass dropped a 91-76 decision to Oregon in the third-annual Pape Jam at Portland's Rose Garden. The game was close for the game's first 10 minutes, with the Minutemen holding a 20-18 advantage at the 10:44 mark of the first half. Oregon, though, went on a 32-17 run to take a 50-40 lead at intermission. The Minutemen closed to within four at 56-52 with 11:23 to go, but the Ducks used an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 12 at 64-52 with 9:44 left. UMass drew within five at 67-62 with 6:44 to go on a pair of Micah Brand free throws, but Oregon scored on its next two possessions and the visitors would get no closer than seven after that. Monty Mack led UMass with a then-season-high 26 points, while Brand added a then-career-best 19 points. Bryan Bracey led Oregon with 24 points, while Frederick Jones had 23 and Anthony Lever netted 12. The loss was the third straight for UMass after a season-opening win over Iona, while Oregon improved to 5-0 on the year. The Minutemen return 44 of the 76 points they scored in last year's game, while Oregon returns 56 of its 91 points from a year ago. A box score from last year's game is included with tonight's notes package.
Civic Center is UMass' Home Away From Home: The UMass basketball team has enjoyed success in the Springfield Civic Center, winning five straight and 12 of its last 13 played here, including a 80-69 victory over Duquesne here a year ago. Last year's game against the Dukes marked UMass' first game at the Civic Center since posting a 95-65 victory over West Virginia, Jan. 3, 1995. The Minutemen, who scored a 78-71 victory over Holy Cross in their first-ever appearance in this building, Jan. 30, 1973, own an all-time record of 35-21 (.625) at the Civic Center. The lone team to beat UMass in its last 13 games here was Cincinnati, which scored a 64-53 victory, Jan. 7, 1993.
Putting the Clamps On: Stingy defensive play has been a trademark of the UMass basketball program over the last 12 seasons, and that tradition has continued under coach Steve Lappas, as Massachusetts' first two opponents have hit just 34.5 from the field (31.7 perecent from three-point range) and have attempted 60 three-pointers (made 19). The 119 points allowed by the Minutemen mark the lowest tallied by their opponents in the first two games of the season since the 1993-94 season, when UMass held its first two foes to a combined 115 points. Against Marist, UMass limited the Red Foxes to 32.7 percent shooting for the game (including 21.7 percent in the first half, the lowest shooting percentage in a half by a UMass opponent since Temple's 10.3 percent second-half performance, Feb. 28, 1999) and 59 points (just 17 in the first half, the fewest allowed by UMass in a half since holding Rhode Island to 15 first-half points, Feb. 22, 2000). In their season-opening victory over Arkansas-Little Rock, the Minutemen held the Trojans to 36.2 percent shooting from the floor for the game, and just six points over the game's last 9:25 as they rallied for the victory. The 60 points were the fewest allowed by UMass in its season-opener since holding Chaminade to 48 points in 1996-97, and the fewest allowed by UMass against a Division I opponent in its opener since limiting Cleveland State to 60 points in the 1993-94 lid-lifter. A year ago, Massachusetts ranked fourth in the A-10 in scoring defense for all games (68.2 ppg, which marked the 10th-straight season the Minutemen held their foe to a season mark below 70.0 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.413, the 10th-straight year UMass held its opponent below .420 for the season), while it was second in scoring defense for league games only (64.9 ppg) and third in field goal percentage defense (.403).
A Greek Vacation: The UMass basketball team got a head start on the 2001-02 season when it traveled to Greece, Aug. 12-23, 2001. The Minutemen, who traveled overseas for just the second time ever and for the first time since a mid-season excursion to France and Germany for the Buckler Christmas Classic in December, 1994, finished 1-3 on the trip to Athens, Kavouri and Mykonos. UMass was one of two A-10 institutions (St. Bonaventure was the other) to take a foreign trip last summer with their first-year coaches at the helm. Two seniors, forward Eric Williams and guard Shannon Crooks, paced the UMass offensive attack. Williams posted team-leading marks of 10.8 ppg and 8.5 rpg, while Crooks averaged 10.3 ppg and led the team in both assists (16) and steals (13), while committing just seven turnovers.
Team Captains Selected: In voting conducted by the team, the Minutemen elected a trio of seniors to serve as team captains for the 2001-02 campaign, in guard Shannon Crooks, center Kitwana Rhymer and forward Eric Williams. It marks the second consecutive season, and just the sixth time ever, that tri-captains have been named at Massachusetts. The first UMass basketball team to have tri-captains was the school's 1963-64 squad.
Another Tough Slate: After playing one of the toughest schedules in school history a year ago (College RPI.com and Jeff Sagarin ranked the 2000-01 schedule as the 17th-toughest, while Collegiate Basketball News ranked it 18th), the Minutemen are tackling another challenging slate in 2001-02. But that's really nothing new, as over the last eight seasons, only once has the Massachusetts strength of schedule been ranked lower than 56th in degree of difficulty among Division I institutions, and four times in that stretch it has had an SOS ranked among the nation's top 20. Ten postseason teams from a year ago dot this year's schedule, with UMass scheduled to play eight games against 2001 NCAA Tournament entrants (Holy Cross, Boston College, Ohio State, Xavier, Temple-2 and St. Joseph's-2), and five contests against teams that participated in the 2001 NIT (UConn, Dayton, Richmond and St. Bonaventure-2). In addition to playing 13 games against 2001 postseason teams, the Minutemen will play 18 games against teams which finished last season with a .500 or better record, and 22 games against teams which ranked from 1-150 in the final 2000-01 Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report. Twenty of UMass' 30 games last season were against 2001 postseason tournament entrants, and the Minutemen fashioned a 7-13 record in those games (5-8 vs. 2001 NCAA Tournament field, 2-5 vs. 2001 NIT entrants).
Consistent Success: The Minutemen, who have posted 12-straight winning A-10 records (after posting no winning marks, just two .500 records and 56 victories in their first 13 seasons in the league) since a 5-13 mark in 1988-89, own a 138-56 (.711) record in regular-season league play since then and have captured 10 league titles (five regular season, five tournament) in that time frame. Last year, after a 2-9 non-conference start, Massachusetts went 11-5 in the A-10 (its eighth 11-win league mark in the last 12 seasons), good for fourth place in the standings, and advanced to the title game of the Verizon A-10 Tournament for the first time since 1995-96, but dropped a 76-65 decision to Temple. Over the last 12-plus seasons, UMass owns a 271-125 (.684) overall record (includes 2001-02 record, too), an average of 22.4 wins per season, and has posted seven 20-win seasons, 11, .500 or better campaigns, and made 10 postseason appearances (seven NCAA, three NIT).
The Comeback Kids: It really shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that UMass overcame a double-digit defict against Arkansas-Little Rock to post a 66-60 victory in its season-opener, as those type of comebacks have happened before in Amherst. Including the UALR comeback, the Minutemen have now recorded 18 double-digit comebacks to win over the last eight seasons, including a pair last year. Prior to rallying from 10 down to beat the Trojans, UMass' most-recent double-digit rally to win effort came last year against Dayton, when it overcame an 11-point first half deficit to beat the Flyers, 62-57, at the Mullins Center, Jan. 18, 2001. In last year's game against George Washington in Amherst, UMass overcame a 15-point deficit with 1:07 left in the first half to beat the Colonials, 76-60, at the Mullins Center. The deficit was the largest the Minutemen had overcome to win since rallying from 16 down to beat Maryland, 50-47, Dec. 2, 1995.
Kit's Hits: Fifth-year senior Kitwana Rhymer came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, grab seven rebounds and block four shots in 24 minutes of work against Marist. He ranks fifth on the school's all-time block chart with 143 rejections, 47 behind No. 4 Edwin Green's (1980-84) total of 190. While first-place Marcus Camby's 336 career blocks are well out of Rhymer's reach, he needs just 80 rejections to climb into second place on the UMass career list. Having improved his scoring average every season he has been in Amherst, Rhymer needs 353 points (he enters tonight's game with 647) to become the school's 35th career 1,000-point scorer, and 227 rebounds (has 564 in career) to crack the UMass top 10 in that category, too. Rhymer was a second team 2001-2002 preseason All-Atlantic 10 pick by the league's coaches and media, the only UMass player named to the early-season honor squad, and was one of five players selected to Dick Vitale's All-Velcro (nation's top defensive players) team. He was also named to the A-10's preseason all-defensive unit, after garnering the league's Defensive Player of the Year award a year ago. His selection to the all-defensive team a year ago marked the fifth-straight season a Minuteman had been named to that squad.
Opponents Get Branded: Perhaps no Atlantic 10 player stepped up his game more from the 1999-2000 season to last year than UMass' Micah Brand, who shared the league's Chris Daniels Most Improved Player honor with teammate Kitwana Rhymer, and his junior season is off to a strong start, too. Against Arkansas-Little Rock in the season-opener, Brand had a career-high-tying 23 points, four rebounds, a pair of steals and a block in 34 minutes of work. He came back to tally 10 points, a team-best eight rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes against Marist. UMass' leading scorer after two games at 16.6 ppg, Brand also leads the team in field goal shooting (.737) and ranks second in free throw percentage (.833).
To Catch a Crook(s): The old man of the Massachusetts backcourt, senior guard Shannon Crooks, has gotten his final season in a Maroon and White uniform off to a good start. The first UMass player since Edgar Padilla in 1996-97 to lead the Minutemen in both assists (95) and steals (47) in the same season, a feat Crooks accomplished a year ago, he has averaged 15.0 ppg in two games this season. His scoring is up because of the dramatic improvement in his field goal and three-point percentages. Crooks shot 36.2 percent from the field a year ago, including 24.3 percent from beyond the arc, but has shot 52.6 percent overall and 50.0 percent from the three-point line over the season's first two games after being moved from the point to his natural two-guard position. Crooks had 14 points, two rebounds and a pair of assists in 36 minutes against Marist, 16 points, six assists and two steals in 33 minutes of action against Arkansas-Little Rock. The fifth-year senior is 276 points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career (and 319 points shy of that plateau in his UMass career). He needs 97 assists to crack the UMass career list (he has 202), 25 steals (he has collected 109) to make the school's career theft chart. One of four former Bay State preps on this year's roster, Crooks has had at least one assist in 39-straight games and in 63 of 65 career games as a Minuteman. UMass owns a 4-0 mark in Crooks' career when he scores 20 or more points in game.
Double A Please: No, not batteries, but UMass sophomore point guard Anthony Anderson, who came off the bench to score 10 points (eight in the second half), grab five rebounds, dish out four assists and collect a steal in 37 minutes against Arkansas-Little Rock. For his efforts against the Trojans, Anderson earned Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors, the first Minuteman to earn the honor since Monty Mack captured the last of his three awards during the 1997-98 campaign. Anderson was inserted in the starting line-up for the Marist game, and responded with five points and three assists in 38 minutes of work.
Free Willie: Sophomore forward Willie Jenkins has been an early-season surprise for the Minutemen, and is coming off a career night against Marist. He turned in career-highs of nine points and seven rebounds against the Red Foxes in the second start of his career, an effort which followed a four-point, six-rebound effort in his first career start, the 66-60 season-opening victory over Arkansas-Little Rock. Jenkins has already grabbed more rebounds (13) this season than he did a year ago (seven in 18 appearances) and he's just four points shy of surpassing last year's offensive output. While he has not shot the ball well from the field this season (.167, on two-of-12 shooting), he's hit six-of-six at the free throw line, with every attempt coming in the game's final 4:50.
Quick Tips: Senior forward Eric Williams made his first UMass career start against Marist, in place of Kitwana Rhymer, and responded with four points and three rebounds in 18 minutes...when freshman guard Kyle Wilson was in the starting line-up against Arkansas-Little Rock, it marked the first time a freshman was in the UMass opening-day starting five since the 1996-97 seson when Winston Smith debuted against Chaminade...Wilson came off the bench against Marist and dished out a team-high four assists in 12 minutes...sophomore forward Raheim Lamb had career-highs of six points and six rebounds in 18 minutes off the pine against Marist...UMass has outrebounded both of its opponents this season, and holds a +9.5 advantage (41.0-31.5) on the glass...in 14 of its 15 wins last season, UMass out-shot its opponent (the lone exception was in the victory at Temple), a trend that has continued in both of its victories this season...over the last three years, Massachusetts owns a 21-5 record when scoring 70 or more points, including last year's 8-3 mark...UMass hit 50.0 percent or better from the field in seven of 30 games a year ago, and has won 18-straight games when reaching the 50.0 percent mark since an 88-83 loss to George Washington in the quarterfinals of the 1998 A-10 Tournament...UMass was 5-4 in games decided by five or fewer points last year, after going just 1-6 in such games during the 1999-2000 season...the Minutemen have made at least one three-point goal in 95-straight games since a 1998 first-round NCAA Tournament loss to St. Louis, while their opponents have made at least one trey in 39-straight games...UMass, 2-0 this season when leading with 5:00 to play, has won 16-straight when leading at the juncture of the game and owns an 80-9 record since the start of the 1996-97 season when leading with 5:00 left...UMass has produced at least one all-conference performer for 18-straight seasons...Massachusetts was 8-11 away from home last season, including a 5-3 mark vs. A-10 opponents, only the second time in the last 12 seasons it failed to post a .500 or better mark away from home overall...Ronell Blizzard's seven blocked shots against Boston U., matched the best single-game effort in the A-10 last year, as Xavier's David West also turned in a seven-block game.
Fast Breaks: Marist---Minutemen race to a 12-2 lead in game's opening minutes, hold 19-point halftime advantage, but watch visiting Red Foxes get within three in second half, first 2-0 start for UMass since 1995-96 season, Kitwana Rhymer comes off bench, has 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, while Shannon Crooks added 14 and Micah Brand 10. Arkansas-Little Rock--UMass overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to give Steve Lappas a victory in his first game on the Minuteman bench, as Brand netted a career-high-tying 23 points and Minutemen win season opener for eighth time in the last nine years, despite the Trojans' 10, 3-point goals.
From Here: UMass hits the road for the first time this season when it travels to North Carolina State, Saturday, Dec. 1. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Raleigh. Oregon is idle until playing at Portland next Sunday.
Umass lost Monty Mack, Larry Ketner, Jonathan DePina who either started or logged alot of minutes.
If you look at their last gm and take away the 12-2 run to start the gm, they were outplayed(and that was Marist!!!)
This gm is @ the Springfield Civic and not on Umass's hm court.
Tough gm to call 3000 mile trip for the ducks and their first road gm as well.
GL whatever you decide to play.
