So much for that.
Amidst budding hope and cautious optimism following encouraging performances against the Harlem Globetrotters in its preseason opener and St. Francis to begin its regular season, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team (1-1) was returned to earth in the second round of the Preseason National Invitation Tournament Friday night.
Facing a Texas Tech team fresh off of an 89-58 drubbing of Davidson in the opening round, the Minutemen were completely overmatched by an aggressive Red Raider defense and were hurt by their own inability to shoot the basketball in a 90-50 annihilation before 8,397 at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas.
With the win, the Red Raiders advance to the semifinal round of the Preseason NIT, where they will face Utah at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
The Minutemen return to action tonight when they will host Hartford at the Mullins Center at 7 p.m.
“There’s no doubt that at some point when you’re playing young people, you are going to experience a harsh reality,” UMass coach Steve Lappas said. “We definitely got some harsh reality tonight.
“Better early than late, though.”
Sophomore forward Rashaun Freeman led the Maroon and White with 17 points in his second collegiate game. He was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for his efforts.
All-Big 12 candidate Andre Emmett led Tech with 18 points, while point guard Jarrius Jackson and forward Robert Tomaszek both chipped in with 16 apiece. Devonne Giles also poured in 11 points for the Raiders.
Bobby Knight’s squad opened the game up in the first half when it scored on five consecutive possessions to make the score 34-19 with 3:56 remaining. UMass cut the lead to 34-24 with just under three minutes remaining in the frame, but Tech went on to score the last eight points of the half to take a 42-24 edge into the intermission.
“We had good defense in both halves,” Knight said. “When you get away and you score, and there gets to be a big margin between two teams, it’s pretty easy for a team to get sloppy and give up points.”
The Red Raiders put an exclamation point on their lopsided victory when Emmett caught and dunked an alley-oop to make the score 61-30 midway through the second half.
Tech then opened up its largest lead of the game at the 2:44 mark when a LucQuente White layup gave the Red Raiders an 87-42 cushion.
After a horrendous first half shooting in which they connected on only nine of 24 field goal attempts, UMass picked up right where it left off in the second half, finishing at 20-for-61 in the field against a stifling Tech defense.
“It’s impossible to simulate what they do, because what you don’t see on tape that you used to see when you live scouted is how athletic they are,” Lappas said. “We have some athletic guys, but we also have some guys where the only way they can learn is to get out there on the court.
“I hope we learn something from this. We’ll grow from it, but it was a real lesson.”
