The last time the Massachusetts men’s basketball team started the season 2-0 was six years ago during the 1995-96 season. That year the Minutemen reached the Final Four and finished with a 35-2 record. That was also head coach John Calipari’s final season in Amherst.
Now, in the first year of the Steve Lappas era, UMass is once again 2-0 following a 66-59 victory over Marist Saturday night at the Mullins Center. Senior center Kitwana Rhymer, who came off the bench for the first time since his sophomore year, scored a game-high 16 points and added four blocked shots to lead the way for the Minutemen, who opened up a 19-point lead at halftime before holding off a furious Red Fox rally for the victory.
UMass opened the game on a 12-2 run inside the game’s first seven minutes and was able to keep its lead in double digits for the majority of the first half. Shannon Crooks scored 10 of his 14 points in the opening stanza and Rhymer and sophomore Raheim Lamb came off the bench to add 15 points on seven of nine shooting to give UMass its healthy halftime cushion.
The Minutemen hit 56 percent of their shots in the opening period, including three of four from behind the arc and outscored Marist 22-4 in the paint en route to opening up their 19-point halftime lead.
However, the real story of the opening 20 minutes was the play of the Maroon and White at the defensive end of the floor. Lappas used a 1-2-2 zone for most of the first half in an attempt to frustrate the Red Foxes and their perimeter shooters, a tactic that worked with Marist (3-1) seldom getting open looks at the basket, especially from three point range. Marist had led at halftime in all three of its previous games but was held to just five first half field goals and scored just 17 points to fall behind 36-17 when the horn sounded. Sean Kennedy, the Red Foxes leading scorer with 18 points per game coming into the game, took just two shots and was held scoreless.
The second half was a different story for both clubs, especially at the offensive end. Nick Eppehimer, a junior forward for the Red Foxes, hit three consecutive three pointers in a 90 second stretch at the beginning of the second half to cut the UMass lead down to 10 and force Lappas to call a timeout. Marist had relied on the three to win its first three contests of the season and after struggling from behind the arc in the first half, looked to have found its stroke with Eppehimer.
“We just came out dry,” Rhymer said of UMass’ strggles at the start of the second half. “But we picked it up and started doing what we’re supposed to do.”
“I think we were frustrated with the way we came out in the first half,” Eppehimer said. “At halftime we looked at each other and we were determined to make this a game in the second half.”
The Red Foxes were able to make it a game by chipping away at the once mighty UMass lead, getting it down to three on two separate occasions. However, the Red Foxes were unable to forge ahead at any point, thanks in large part to the UMass defense, especially Rhymer.
Just as he had turned the tide of the game in the season opener last Friday with a key blocked shot, Rhymer did the same with 5:10 remaining on Saturday. With the lead down to just seven, Rhymer got the first of his three second half blocks, rejecting a Kennedy shot, sending it out of play and energizing the UMass faithful.
“I saw the ball so I knew I had to block it somehow and it seemed like it sparked something,” Rhymer said. “As long as I can change the game in any way I feel good about it.”
“He did a great job, he changed the game on the defensive end,” Lappas said of his senior big man. “Kit is Kit. He’s such a good kid and he plays so hard and he can change a game.”
Despite the win, Lappas sees much room for improvement, especially offensively, before Tuesday’s match up with the University of Oregon at the Springfield Civic Center.
“We’re 2-0, teams are shooting 35 percent against us, but I’d like to get our offense better, that’s what our problem is,” he said. “We need to play better on offense. Except for Shannon, these guys are all young, and that inexperience is going to show up and guys are going to make mistakes until they get experience. My fears of what I thought would plague us, our youth on the perimeter, is evident as can be.”
