After losing its fifth straight game Tuesday, the big question for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team wasn’t about why it lost to the team that sits last in the Atlantic 10 in Loyola Chicago. The question was about Matt Cross, who exited the game early in the first half after injuring his right knee.
The team knew right away it was an injury to the medial collateral ligament (MCL), and Minutemen (13-13, 4-10 A-10) coach Frank Martin provided an update on Cross’ status on Thursday.
“[Cross is] getting some film done on his knee today, but the prognosis is he avoided any major injury,” Martin said. “Does he get back on the court this year, so close to the end of the year? With sprains, it’s a non-surgical issue and it becomes a — I don’t want to say pain tolerance because you have to let the ligament heal.”
The average MCL sprain heals in about six weeks, though that timetable varies depending on the true severity of the sprain.
“Knowing Matt, he’d play tomorrow if somebody would clear him,” Martin said. “I don’t have a timetable on him.”
On top of Cross’ injury, UMass starter Brandon Martin didn’t play Tuesday after injuring his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in Monday’s practice. Martin told media Thursday that Brandon “stretched his UCL” and that it wasn’t a tear. Widely known as the ligament that requires Tommy John surgery for baseball pitchers, Martin’s right elbow injury prevents him from passing or shooting a basketball.
Martin said he doesn’t think Brandon plays Saturday against Rhode Island, also adding that Cross is “definitely not playing.”
With three of Martin’s normal starters injured, scouting for an opponent in a crucial conference game is not the priority. Figuring out rotations and reliable options for his team is where his focus lies.
Ironically enough, one of the Minutemen’s best in-conference performances came in the final 10 minutes of the second half of Tuesday’s game. Despite it being a rough loss to a team that was 2-10 in conference play, there was positive momentum Martin and his players can try and build off.
The Ramblers (9-16, 3-10 A-10) didn’t make a single field goal in the final 9:51 of the game, UMass’ defense smothered Loyola Chicago. It was the first time they’d done that against a conference opponent, not to mention it was without Cross.
“We actually played with a purpose again in the last nine minutes of the game the other day, and it was actually fun to watch,” Martin said. “We finally played with an identity again.”
Keon Thompson, T.J. Weeks, Isaac Kante and Wildens Leveque all earned praise from Martin in Tuesday’s postgame press conference. That quartet led the 18-point comeback bid, and though they came short, Martin will lean on them moving forward.
“Those four guys will be in the lineup to start on Saturday,” Martin said. “I’m searching for guys right now that are committed to accepting responsibility, not deflecting responsibility. And with those four guys, it’s the first time in a while that we actually played an extended amount of time with the personality that we fought to create [early in the season] … Those guys earned my respect the way they handled things last game out.”
Kante has struggled recently, specifically on defense guarding pick and rolls, according to Martin. Because he wasn’t as defensively reliable as Leveque, Martin defaulted to the latter, to take some defensive burden off the guards. Kante played 27 minutes Tuesday, his most since Jan. 7 against George Washington. In the four games before Tuesday’s, Kante averaged 11 minutes per game.
“I know it’s definitely an area that I need work on,” Kante said of pick and roll defense. “I’m kind of used to just dropping back in the pick and roll areas. But in certain situations [Martin] wants me to be high and stuff like that … In order for me to get better as a defender, which I feel is the weakest part of my game, I just have to get better in that area especially.”
From the players standpoint, the late-game run sparked a new mindset.
“Wildens said when we got back to the bench, ‘We’re in survival mode now,'” Kante said. “When he said that, I guess that kind of clicked for us, it’s do or die at this point.”
“You see it in the weight room. Even now I’m pretty sure this practice, guys will be riled up. We got some big games coming up too.”
One of the more interesting things Martin brought up during his time with media Thursday was an another reason for the way his team has regressed since the beginning of the season.
“Now there’s a reason we’ve gotten to this place, those are things I’d rather not disclose,” Martin said. “But it is what it is, it’s part of the journey.”
Martin and the Minutemen take on URI at 2 p.m. Saturday on the road. The game will be streamed on ESPNU.
Joey Aliberti can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @JosephAliberti1.
