It’s fitting for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team through all of its inconsistencies this season that it defeated George Mason Saturday afternoon in its regular season finale. The Minutemen were led by Noah Fernandes who looked like himself once again finishing with a career-high 28 points.
Fernandes carried UMass (14-16, 7-11 Atlantic 10) to a win over the Patriots (14-14, 7-8 A-10) for the first time since the 2019-20 season. The win comes four days after the announcement that head coach Matt McCall was fired, but still remaining to coach the team through the regular season and A-10 Tournament. The win over the Patriots on Saturday was the final time McCall will coach the Minutemen in the regular season.
“He just kept saying to me that he’s got me,” McCall said of Fernandes. “In the timeouts, before the game, after the game, halftime: ‘We got you coach, don’t worry coach, I got you coach.’ It’s been a pleasure to coach him.”
With the win earlier in the week against Fordham, and the victory over George Mason on Saturday, it’s the first win streak that the Minutemen have been on since they strung together three-straight wins back on Dec. 4.
Since coming back from being in concussion protocol after colliding with Trent Buttrick in their away game at Saint Louis, Fernandes hasn’t been his usual self for the squad. Up until that game against SLU on the road, the junior was on a streak of nine games in a row hitting the double-digit mark in scoring. He was sidelined until the Feb. 5 game against Rhode Island and from that point forward Fernandes has had just five games in double figures out of the nine he played in.
Saturday afternoon saw the tides change for Fernandes who went 10-of-19 from the field, good for a clip of 52.6 percent — his highest field goal percentage since Jan. 20. Fernandes had one of his most efficient nights at a time when UMass needed him most. He led the team with 40 minutes played, five more than his closest teammate.
“It’s great to see [him play],” McCall said. “He’s a terrific player. I’ve said it all along, I’ll continue to say it long after I’m gone from this place: he’s one of the best guards in the A-10.”
In the win against the Patriots, Fernandes knocked down four of the seven threes made by UMass. He went 4-of-6 from deep which was good for his most made threes since the Minutemen’s win over Harvard at home back on Dec. 4. Fernandes’ biggest three of the night came when the game could’ve gotten out of hand. There was 1:40 left in overtime and George Mason was ahead by four points. Fernandes brought the ball up the floor himself and pulled up from well beyond the arc to swish the 3-pointer and get UMass within one. The Minutemen closed out on a 7-4 run to pull out the win.
“The guys around me [helped me tonight],” Fernandes. “They’ve given me confidence. It was the last game of the season and we just wanted to finish it off the right way. [We wanted] to definitely do something special in that environment.”
Fernandes has showcased this whole season that he can be the main guy for UMass. He proved it in the win over Rutgers when he knocked down the 3-point buzzer beater in regulation, showed off his talents to the viewers of the Jersey Mike’s Classic in St. Petersburg when he finished with 24 and 25 points in the first two games of the tournament and he put on display once again his full array of talents in the overtime win over the Patriots.
UMass’ next game will be in the A-10 tournament when it squares off against George Washington next Thursday in the second round. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
Frederick Hanna III can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @FrederickHIII.
