With a seat next to play-by-play voice Bob Behler left open in honor of the late Jack Leaman, tonight the Massachusetts men’s basketball team will begin its quest to attempt to do what its former coach, commentator and most dedicated supporter preached that it could: make a run in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
The A-10 East Division’s fourth seed, the Minutemen (10-18 4-12 A-10) will face West Division No. 5 seed Duquesne (11-16 6-10 A-10) at the University of Dayton Arena, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
The winner of the contest will move on to meet tournament host and West Division top seed Dayton.
UMass is hoping to avenge an 88-62 road loss to the Dukes in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Jan. 18, in which Jack Higgins scored a career-high 24 points to help send the Minutemen to what was their sixth consecutive loss.
However after a pair of promising performances in narrow losses to A-10 rivals Temple and Richmond, Massachusetts coach Steve Lappas feels his team is on the right course heading into the postseason.
“There’s no question, we’re learning and improving,” Lappas said. “This is what happens when you start three first year players; they’re going to have their growing pains, but they’re also going to learn from them and get better
“We played a couple good games over the past week, we just weren’t able to keep it together until the final buzzer and we need to be able to do that from here on out.”
In a 98-92 double overtime loss to the Owls, the Maroon and White benefited from a season-high 18 3-pointers made, as well as having all five starters scoring in double figures, including 23 points from sophomore forward Jeff Viggiano and 18 points and eight assists from freshman guard Art Bowers.
In falling 69-65 to the Spiders, however, UMass relied almost solely on a gargantuan effort from six-time A-10 Rookie of the Week Rashaun Freeman. The sophomore forward poured in his second-highest point total of the season with 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and a 9-of-12 effort from the free throw line, and also chipped in with seven rebounds.
However now entering the post season, where a loss would send the Minutemen home, Lappas knows that the winning formula lies somewhere in the middle of these two vastly different efforts.
“We have to have some sort of balance,” Lappas said. “We want to be able to get the ball to Ray on the block and have him carry some of the offensive load, so we don’t necessarily have to rely on our perimeter players making a ton of shots.
“But at the same time, we have to have some disparity in our offensive game that will take some of the pressure off of Ray.”
The Dukes, meanwhile, ended their season on a sour note with losses in eight of their last 11 contests – all league games – after beginning conference play 3-2.
Head coach Danny Nee, a recent beneficiary of a two-year contract extension, will look to powerful forward Elijiah Palmer, along with guards Jimmy Tricco and Bryant McAllister to carry the load against UMass.
A 6-foot-7 senior, Palmer leads the team in both scoring (14.1 points per game) and rebounding (6.1 rebounds per game), while also shooting an efficient 55.4 percent from the field.
Tricco, a perimeter player who stands 6-foot-8, poses a match up problem for the Minutemen and has been impressive in his last four contests, recording double figures in each and averaging 13.5 ppg over the stretch.
McAllister checks in as Duquesne’s second leading scorer with an 11.2 ppg average, and has scored in double figures in 20 of his 27 games on the season.
