Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass must contain Bembry in rematch with St. Joe’s

(Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian)
(Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian)

After going 0-2 in its biggest week of the year, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team chance at receiving at-large bid for the NCAA tournament this season is nearly shot.

The Minutemen put themselves in the situation, and now their only chance at a return to the “Big Dance” is to catch fire at the right time and make a run in the Atlantic 10 tournament in Brooklyn, New York come the middle of March.

However, before UMass or any of its players can look too far into the future, must first host three consecutive home games before ending the season on the road at George Washington on March 7.

“Anytime you can get some conference home games at the end of the regular season, that’s great for your team,” said head coach Derek Kellogg. “It gives us an opportunity to be home for about a week, week  and a half here, where were we can have three home games against three teams that are very good and are tough games for us.”

The first item of business on the itinerary for the Minutemen is a rematch with Saint Joseph’s, who defeated UMass 62-56 in the first meeting on Jan. 21. In that game, DeAndre Bembry became a one-man show, finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Bembry took over in the second half, scoring the Hawks’ first 13 points over a stretch of nine minutes, 18 seconds. Isaiah Miles broke that stretch only after Bembry recorded an offensive rebound and – to no one’s surprise – assisted Miles on the layup to break a 40-40 tie. UMass did not tie or regain the lead after that play.

“I think he’s probably the most valuable player in the league, maybe – we were talking about this, this morning – maybe even the whole country going over the guys we played against,” Kellogg said.

“The tough thing is, it’s not always him scoring through their offense, he gets put-backs, he gets steals for dunks, he scores against your press. And then he’s pretty good in their half-court offense,” he added.

Bembry leads St. Joe’s in nearly every major offensive categories and is atop the stat sheet in points per game (17.8), rebounds per game (7.3), assists per game (3.3), steals per game (2.0) and is the biggest work-horse, logging in 38.6 minutes per game.

Kellogg said that Bembry’s one of his favorite players to watch because of his ability to create off of broken plays and that he plays the game “the right way.”

Like he’s done every other game before guarding team’s best players, Derrick Gordon will have his hands full guarding Bembry and will look to slow him down. However, despite their rivalry on the court, Gordon said the two are good friends off the court.

“He’s actually a great friend of mine and a former high school teammate of mine. I know his game. When we’re on the court, it’s personal. But we’re friends off the court,” Gordon told reporters. “I talk to him just about once every three, four, five days or so. Just checking on him and seeing how he’s doing. They’ve been struggling a lot, so just telling him to keep his head up and things like that.

“If you get him out of his game, it will definitely give us a shot. They have average players on their team but he gets them going,” Gordon added.

Miles is the only other player on the Hawks averaging double-digits scoring per game (10.7). Aaron Brown (9.7) and Chris Wilson (7.5) follow closely behind in the scoring department. Miles is also the next highest rebounder on the team averaging 5.1 rebounds per game.

In the pervious meaning, the UMass struggled as a team from the foul line shooting just 52.9 percent (9-for-17) and shot just 3-for-12 from behind the 3-point line. In addition to the team’s struggles, Maxie Esho played his worst game of the season shooting 1-of-6 from the field scoring two points, grabbing down three rebounds and missing most of the game dealing with foul trouble.

Tip off from Mullins Center will be at 7 p.m. and can be seen on national television NESNPlus, Comcast Sports Network Philadelphia and on SNY.

Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected], and can be followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.

 

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