The Massachusetts men’s basketball team got off to a hot start, building up a 24-point lead by halftime against La Salle, ending in an 83-67 victory for the Minutemen (3-3, 2-1 Atlantic 10).

In its only two wins of the season, UMass was led by Tre Mitchell, who averaged 34 points between the two games.

Mitchell finished his night with 11 points, though the Minutemen were not hindered by Mitchell’s lack of scoring.

Carl Pierre and Cairo McCrory paced UMass with 15 points apiece, while Noah Fernandes was right behind them with 13.

Defense is what separated the Minutemen from the Explorers (5-6, 2-2 A-10). La Salle shot 41 percent from the field and 29 percent from three, while also being held to nine total free throw attempts. Four of which were made.

“We did a good job defending them without fouling,” said UMass head coach Matt McCall. “Fouling was an issue early on for us this season and I think it’s an area we’ve grown and gotten better in. Just sliding and moving our feet and keeping teams out of the lane, I think we’ve got to continue to do that.”

UMass averaged 21.6 fouls throughout its first five games of the season, only being called for 12 in its second win against La Salle of the season.

McCall discussed having to give more effort on the glass against a physical team such as the Explorers in order to win. The Minutemen responded by outrebounding La Salle 43-33.

Having 10 more rebounds than the Explorers and allowing only nine free throw attempts is simply a product of strong defense. After a couple tough losses in a row, the fast-paced, high scoring Minutemen wanted to shift their approach to the other side of the floor.

“Our emphasis was on the defensive end and rebounding,” Noah Fernandes said. “We’ve been super efficient this year on offensive end and very unselfish in sharing the ball and stuff like that… We just locked in on the defensive end because we knew they had a bunch of guys that could really score the ball.”

“It started in practice,” Carl Pierre said. “We really tried to compete and have drills geared towards guarding the ball”

In the games this season where Mitchell’s points were not lighting up the scoreboard – usually due to the fact that that he would be double-teamed every time he touched the ball – teams would challenge other UMass players to score.

This was the first game in which UMass did not have a problem accepting the challenge and pulling through, as the Minutemen were 0-3 in games where Tre Mitchell did not score over 30 points until Saturday’s win over the Explorers.

“They’re basically playing him with two guys,” McCall said. “We’ve got to do a better job offensively when that happens, knowing exactly what we’re looking for.”

Along with his 13 points, Fernandes added seven assists and rebounds to put together an all-around offensive performance. Fernandes now has a 21-2 assist-to-turnover ratio in wins, compared to a 14-7 ratio when UMass loses.

“Everyone talks about assists,” Fernandes said. “It’s a cool stat, but it really has nothing to do with me I just find guys when they’re open and they knock down the shot. I think we’ve got to give these guys knocking down shots some more credit.”

The Minutemen are now shooting 34 percent from beyond the arc this season, which ties for 160th in the nation. Their field goal percentage of 43.5 percent ties at 203rd in the nation.

TJ Weeks exited Saturday’s game in the first half with a left knee injury. The severity of the injury has yet to be announced. Weeks had four points and five rebounds through seven minutes before leaving the game.

The next game for UMass will come on Wednesday, Jan. 13 against Rhode Island.

Joey Aliberti can be reached via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JosephAliberti1