On Thursday night, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team will have a golden opportunity to improve their record before their non-conference competition stiffens.
After back-to-back home wins versus Elon and Northeastern, UMass (2-0) will face off against New Jersey Institute of Technology (1-1), the final game of their three-game home stand.
A win versus NJIT could serve as a confidence booster for the Minutemen who will face Boston College and No. 24 Florida State in consecutive games following their match with the Highlanders.
That being said, UMass coach Derek Kellogg refuses to take its next opponent lightly.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” said Kellogg. “I think at this stage of where we are, every game’s tough and we have to make sure we play UMass basketball.”
The Minutemen defeated Elon in their season opener 85-67, then cruised by Northeastern 83-67.
Sophomore point guard Chaz Williams starred in both contests, averaging 19 points, nine assists, and four rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the floor.
“He’s played well,” said Kellogg. “He’s put up numbers and done some good things, but really he’s played hard and he’s fun to watch.”
Although the stats help, the effort on the court is what the fans love about the 5-foot-9 do-it-all point guard.
“That’s really what people want to see, they want to see a team diving on the floor for loose balls, pushing it in transition, running hard, and sharing the basketball, and I think [Williams] exemplifies that persona,” said Kellogg.
One of the pleasant surprises over these first two games has been the emergence of junior forward Terrell Vinson.
“He’s just on a mission,” said Kellogg. “I think in his own mind he feels pretty good where he is.”
Vinson’s scoring average has jumped from 6.5 ppg in his sophomore year to 15.5 ppg through two games this season. He also leads the team in rebounds with seven per game.
Sampson Carter, another junior forward, appears to have finally harnessed his talent early in the season. So far he’s third on the team in scoring, averaging 14.5 ppg. One could argue that Carter has been the greatest beneficiary of UMass’ new up-tempo offense because many of his points have come in transition, a pace that tailors to Carter’s athletic style.
The Minutemen will be playing a NJIT team that has struggled to find a true identity.
Over the last few years, the Highlanders have failed to exert themselves as a legitimate Division 1 program. In 2009, they joined the Great West Conference a year after concluding a 1-30 season in which they played a schedule made up entirely of non-conference teams. Now a three-year member of the Great West, NJIT has found some success in the conference, going 13-11 thus far. However, the non-conference woes continue. Over the past two seasons and the first two games of this season, the Highlanders are just 13-26 against teams outside of the Great West.
So far this season, the results have been mixed for NJIT as it suffered a 62-48 loss in their season opener to Manhattan, then annihilated Penn State Abington – a Division 3 school – by a score of 113-61.
According to Kellogg, the Highlanders feature a lineup that could present problems for the Minutemen.
“The one tough thing for us in the way we’re trying to play is that they’re going to go with the four guard alignment,” he said. “When we’re trying to press and run it’s tough when they have four guys out there that can handle the ball.”
Those four guards are Chris Flores, Arjun Ohri, Isaiah Wilkerson and P.J. Miller. NJIT will look to use these guards to neutralize a UMass press that has given their previous two opponents nightmares.
Wilkerson, last year’s leading scorer, is the most potent Highlander when it comes to scoring.
“The kid Wilkerson has done a nice job as far as being a double-digit scorer and a kid that’s put up numbers for them,” said Kellogg.
He leads the team in scoring with 16.5 ppg, while Ohri has also contributed 12 ppg.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
Jackson Alexander can be reached at [email protected].
