With little time in between games, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team will face Rhode Island, the team it last defeated, as it looks to break its four-game skid on the road Saturday.
Since topping the Rams on Jan. 30, the Minutemen (13-11, 5-6 Atlantic 10) have gone into a tailspin, dropping their last four games to bring their conference record under .500.
The sudden drop in play is discouraging for both UMass coach Derek Kellogg and his team. Nevertheless, Kellogg is trying to gather any available momentum to encourage his squad.
“I think that would be important,” Kellogg said of gaining anything positive. “I’m not even saying go out and win the game, I’m saying, like, let’s play the way we need to play to be successful.”
In its latest loss, UMass struggled against Duquesne’s high-scoring offense, falling 81-63. With leading-scorer Anthony Gurley unable to get going, the Minutemen caught lightning in a bottle with sophomore forward Raphiael Putney (10 points) and freshman guard Jesse Morgan (14 points), who filled in for guard Freddie Riley, who was out with an ankle injury.
Pleased with the performance of his two young players, Kellogg said following the game that he would consider letting his energy guys get more minutes down the stretch. In practice on Thursday, Kellogg was still undecided.
“I need one more night of sleep,” Kellogg said with a smile. “I actually feel really refreshed, ready to go and [to] get things straightened out for the last five games of the regular season.”
With Saturday’s contest being the third this week for the Minutemen, practice and recovery time has been few and far between. However, facing Rhode Island has made preparation easier.
“It’s good that we’ve played them already because our scouting won’t be as much as normally,” Kellogg said.
“It’s not a blueprint for us but just for the fact that we know what they like to do, where certain people like to be, what they do well, what they don’t do well,” UMass guard Gary Correia said. “In that regard, it helps that we’re not starting fresh, but in terms of the game itself, we have to go out there and play.”
While the Minutemen have dropped in the standings since the Jan. 30 matchup, the Rams (16-7, 7-4 A-10) have won three of four games, including a thrilling 71-70 overtime victory over Charlotte on Saturday.
After coming back from a 17-point deficit to force the extra period, Rhode Island won on junior Jamal Wilson’s put-back as time expired.
Following the win, the Rams have had a week off, another disadvantage for the Minutemen which Kellogg recognizes.
“They’ve had a week off and now we have a day to prepare for them so this was a strange week for us having three games from Sunday through Saturday and them not playing Saturday to Saturday,” Kellogg said of URI. “They’ve had a week to get ready for whatever we’re doing.”
In the last meeting between the two teams, UMass received a game-high 21 points from Gurley in the 64-54 victory. The Minutemen dominated the glass, earning a 43-32 advantage on the boards with Terrell Vinson and Sean Carter each recording eight rebounds. The UMass defense held the Rams’ top two scorers, forward Delroy James and guard Marquis Jones, to 15 and 10 points, respectively.
The Minutemen will look for a similar result this Saturday when the contest tips off at 2 p.m. at the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I.
Jay Asser can be reached at [email protected].
