LACKSBURG, Va. - It has to be encouraging to know you can pull out road victories in a league in which most teams play exceptionally well at home and awful on the road. Massachusetts basketball coach Bruiser Flint knows that ability could prove crucial as the Atlantic 10 season nears its end. His team is one of only two in the A 10 that are unbeaten in conference away games, having notched its league-best third road triumph yesterday, 68-59, over Virginia Tech.
In fact, if it hadn't been for a dreadful UMass lapse over the last five minutes of the game - in which it saw a 20-point lead cut to 7 before it made some free throws - Flint may have been more confident about his team's chances in its five remaining road games. Instead, he rendered mixed reviews about the squad that gave him the best record (14-5) and longest winning streak (eight) of his two-season tenure.
''I thought we played great until the last three minutes of the game, then our immaturity showed,'' said Flint, whose squad limited Virginia Tech to 32-percent shooting in the first half and hit 17 of 19 second-half free throws to remain the A 10's only unbeaten team (6-0). Temple, 2-0 in league play, is the only other A 10 team unbeaten on the road.
 Lari Ketner goes up high for the shot. |
''We have struggled lately against teams that play excellent defense,'' said Virginia Tech coach Bobby Hussey, ''and certainly UMass is one that does exactly that.'' Tech is now 6-10, 1-5 in the league.
With Thursday's showdown against 22d-ranked Rhode Island at the Providence Civic Center ever closer, Flint reiterated earlier comments in which he said if his team plays to its potential it can beat any remaining team on its slate, home or away. It displayed that over the first 45 minutes yesterday in one of the toughest places to play in the league.
Leading, 27-18, at halftime, UMass held Virginia Tech to just 11 points over the first 13 minutes of the second half with aggressive man-to-man pressure. A balanced low-post attack and decent perimeter shooting enabled it to go ahead, 51-31, with 6:49 to go. Then Virginia Tech began a furious rally that was aided in part by the Minutemen, who abandoned their aggressive style and got downright careless at both ends.
Flint became angered when guard Jonathan DePina fouled Brendan Dunlop behind the 3-point line with 44 seconds left, and the latter sank three free throws to cut the lead to 8. You can imagine how Flint reacted when Mack fouled Tech's Jenis Grindstaff behind the line 21 seconds later.
''My thing was to finish it off strong. We got a little selfish and made a couple of bonehead plays, like fouling 3-point shooters,'' he said. ''We had been guarding them all night. They didn't shoot a 3-pointer without someone in their face. So all of a sudden we're going to start fouling?''
But just when the crowd of 7,811 began to get raucous, sensing a come-from-behind win, UMass put it away at the line. Weeks, an 83 percent free-throw shooter, began receiving the ball on inbounds plays and waiting for the Tech players to foul him. He has been a big reason UMass is 47 of 57 from the foul line in its last two games.
And that played a big part in UMass' continued success on the road. ''If we keep that up, we'll be right there at the end,'' said Flint.
LACKSBURG - A return to Cassell Coliseum didn't mean a return to winning basketball for Virginia Tech.
Playing at Cassell for the first time since Jan. 10, the Hokies fell into all-too-familiar pattern. Tech spotted Massachusetts a 20-point lead before cutting its deficit to seven with 1:18 remaining.
Too little, too late. UMass hit 9 of 10 free throws in the final 1:07 and prevailed 68-59 in an Atlantic 10 game yesterday at Cassell.
Against Xavier on Jan. 17, Tech trailed by 23 with 5:30 left before rallying furiously. But the Hokies lost that game by nine and fell by seven at Rhode Island after trailing by 20 with 3:35 remaining.
"I don't know if we're not ready to play or what, but we can't keep doing this," said freshman guard Jenis Grindstaff, who played 35 minutes yesterday after missing Thursday's game at Rhode Island with back spasms.
A crowd of 7,811 - the largest at Cassell this season - turned out to welcome the Hokies back from a grueling road trip. But until the final six minutes, Tech (1-5, 6-10) gave its fans little to cheer about.
"They were ready, but I guess we weren't," said sophomore guard Brendan Dunlop, who scored all 12 of his points in the final six minutes.
The Hokies scored a season-low 18 points and shot 31.8 percent from the field in the first half. They struggled to run their half-court offense -"Sometimes I don't think we know what we're doing," said Grindstaff - and didn't pierce UMass' defense until they started free-lancing late in the game.
"I think you'll probably see a lot more of that in the future," said Bobby Hussey, Tech's first-year coach.
The Minutemen (6-0, 14-5), the only team unbeaten in A-10 play, extended their winning streak to eight games. UMass isn't ranked, but that could change next week.
"I thought we played great till the last three minutes of the game, and then our immaturity showed," said second-year coach Bruiser Flint. "Guys started thinking the game was over."
For all intents and purposes, it was, though Tech made it interesting before losing its fifth straight game. The Hokies have dropped eight of their past nine - their worst stretch since the 1992-93 season.
"I never thought this would happen to me, but it is happening," Hussey said, "and I take full responsibility."
Four players scored in double figures for UMass, led by forward Tyrone Weeks, the team's only senior. Weeks had 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. Center Lari Ketner and guard Monty Mack added 14 points apiece, and 6-9 reserve Ajmal Basit contributed 10.
Basit's stickback with 5:46 left made it 55-35 and started an exodus of fans to the exits. Those who stayed in their seats saw the Hokies finally snap out of their lethargy. After Dunlop buried a 3-pointer, UMass forward Mike Babul answered with a jumper to make it 57-38.
The Minutemen wouldn't score again for three-and-half minutes. During that span, Tech ran off 12 straight points, the last of which came on sophomore center Russ Wheeler's free throw with 1:18 remaining. Wheeler then missed his second free throw, but Tech retained possession on a jump ball, trailing 57-50.
"Sometimes when you think the game is won, you lose focus," said Weeks, a fifth-year senior.
Tech couldn't capitalize. At the 1:10 mark, Dunlop was called for traveling, and UMass' parade to the foul line began. Ketner closed out the scoring with an emphatic dunk with one second left.
Freshman forward Rolan Roberts and Wheeler shared scoring honors for Tech with 14 points each, and Grindstaff added 13. The Hokies' top two small forwards - Andre Ray and Eddie Lucas - combined for two points on 1-for-6 shooting.
"We've got to get some scoring out of that position," Hussey said. "You're going to see a lot more of [freshman] David Whaley down the road."
LACKSBURG, Va. - After watching his freshman teammate
Jonathan DePina miss the front end of a one-and-one with 1:20 remaining
and the University of Massachusetts clinging precariously to 57-49 lead over
Atlantic 10 rival Virginia Tech Saturday, Tyrone Weeks wanted the ball.
As the team's lone senior and one of its best free throw shooters, Weeks was willing to take the team on his broad shoulders knowing that the Hokies had to foul to stop the clock.
He buried five of six down the stretch to help UMass escape a hostile and vulgar Cassell Coliseum with 68-59 win.
"I wanted to shoot the foul shots today," Weeks said. "I didn't want to put any pressure on the freshman guards like in the Cincinnati game. I know that Monty and I are the two best foul shooters on the team and we wanted to get the ball in our hands."
UMass finished an impressive 20 of 22 on the line.
'I think we're shooting foul shots better as a team," said UMass coach Bruiser Flint. "I thought we did a great job shooting fouls down the stretch."
The win sets up a showdown between the Atlantic 10 East's top two teams at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Providence Civic Center. The Minutemen, who are undefeated in conference play (6-0, 14-5 overall) will take on once beaten Rhode Island (5-1, 13-4) in a game that could go a long way in determining the league's regular season title.
"There's been a lot of talk about the matchup between us and URI," Weeks said. "But we weren't thinking about them. No we can think about them."
The Minutemen led by as many as 20 (55-35) with 5:46 remaining in the game. Thinking the game was over, UMass lessened its defensive intensity.
"We should have won by about 25, but we got a little sloppy at the end," Babul said. "We weren't really in jeopardy of losing that game, but the fact that we let them get back in it wasn't good."
"I think we played great until the final three minutes of the game and then our immaturity showed.," Flint said. "Virginia Tech is not going to give up. That was young guys thinking the game was over. It's not that easy."
The Hokies seized the opportunity. Keyed by reserve Brendan Dunlop, VTech ran off a 15-2 run to slice the UMass lead to 57-50 with 1:18 to go. Dunlop had a chance to make it even closer but he traveled. He was forced to foul DePina, who this time made both free throws before Weeks took over and the Minutemen were able to relax.
"Sometimes when you think the game is won, you lose focus a little," Weeks said. "We didn't go out an execute like we should have to try to put them away."
UMass has now won eight straight, the longest winning streak in coach Bruiser Flint's career. The Hokies dropped to 6-10, (1-5 A-10). Weeks said that even when the team was at 6-5, it believed it was capable of this kind of play.
"If you have faith in yourself and your team, things like this happen," Weeks said. "We had team meetings and said that we need to start winning if we want to get to the NCAA Tournament and win the A-10 title again. We're putting it all together right now to try to win the A-10."
Virginia Tech led once in the game at 5-4 early in the first half, but the Minutemen dominated most of the way after that. Monty Mack appeared to find the shooting stroke that had eluded him lately. The sophomore had nine points in the first half and finished the game with 15.
"I was just taking shots that were there," Mack said. "Our big guys set some good screens, so I was getting some good looks. I'm a shooter so I'm going to take those shots."
Weeks led the Minutemen with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Lari Ketner added 14 and Ajmal Basit picked up 10.
Rolan Roberts and Russ Wheeler had 14 points each to lead Virginia Tech.
LACKSBURG, Va. - While the University of Massachusetts
men's basketball team can certainly be happy that it is the only undefeated
team in the Atlantic 10 at 6-0, what may be more impressive is that the
Minutemen have won three of those games on the road.
Wins in hostile gymnasiums have become rare and valuable commodities. Atlantic 10 road teams have gone 11-27 for a winning percentage of just under 29. Take away the combined four wins at Fordham's Rose Hill Gym and that number drops to 21 percent. Only the Rams and St. Joseph's have losing records in their own buildings.
UMass coach Bruiser Flint is pleased with his team road showings.
"Winning conference games on the road is very important," Flint said. "You have to win at home because it's so hard to win on the road. If you can sneak a few on the road here and there ... If we can keep that up, we'll be fine.
"It's a tough league because the teams are really good," he continued. "You're going to be in for a battle every night."
Other than UMass, only Temple (2-0), Rhode Island (3-1) and George Washington (2-1) have records better that .500 on the road. Xavier, who was ranked No. 19 in last week's Associated Press poll is 0-4 on the road in league play.
Starting the season 3-0 on the road was tough, and continuing that trend will be tougher for the Minutemen. UMass still has games remaining at Xavier, Temple and St. Bonaventure, who has yet to lose in the Reilly Center this year.
But the Minutemen don't have to travel to either Dayton or George Washington, two teams with strong home court advantages.
* * *
THE STEADY climb toward national rankings continues for UMass. In the latest Associated Press poll, the Minutemen received 36 votes, good for 29th place. And the Minutemen received 13 points in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, in 31st place.
Flint said that being ranked isn't a priority for his team.
"Wins take care of themselves," Flint said. "I watched Hawaii. They get in the top 25 and they get hammered. I watched Cincinnati. They get in the top 25 and they go to Marquette and get beat. If you get in the top 25 it's great, but you also get a bull's-eye on your chest. You've gotta still pay the games. Our goal is to win the Atlantic 10 championship. If top 25 comes? We'll see."
Despite losing Sunday to Cincinnati, Rhode Island moved from 22 to 21 in the coaches poll, while Xavier's loss to Dayton dropped the Musketeers to 22.
UMass advanced to No. 20 in the Ratings Percentage Index, up two slots from a week ago. The RPI is a ranking system based on performance, conference strength and strength of schedule.
* * *
TYRONE WEEKS became the first Minuteman to earn Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Honors this season. He averaged 13.7 points and nine rebounds in UMass' wins over St. Bonaventure, Davidson and Virginia Tech.
Weeks moved into 12th place on the UMass career rebounding list as he grabbed his 775th board against Virginia Tech. He needs just eight Thursday to pass Rodger Twichell and Doug Grutchfield, who are currently tied for 10th.
Lari Ketner moved up the UMass career blocked shots list. His one swat against the Hokies gave him 121 career rejection to tie him with Lou Roe for fifth on the UMass career list.
| Massachusetts Minutemen | 68 |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | 59 |
| at Virginia Tech | |
MASSACHUSETTS (68)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Babul 34 1-1 0-0 1-3 3 2 2
Weeks 36 3-10 9-10 3-11 1 2 15
Ketner 32 6-12 2-2 0-4 0 4 14
Clarke 27 3-7 2-2 0-2 6 5 9
Mack 38 5-13 1-1 0-4 3 2 14
Depina 15 1-2 2-3 0-1 3 1 4
Kirkland 6 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 0 0
Basit 12 3-4 4-4 1-2 0 4 10
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-50 20-22 6-29 17 20 68
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.440, FT-.909. 3-Point Goals:
4-9, .444 (Clarke 1-3, Mack 3-6). Team rebounds:
None. Blocked shots: 5 (Weeks 2, Babul, Ketner,
Depina). Turnovers: 13 (Clarke 4, Babul 3, Depina
3, Kirkland, Mack, Weeks). Steals: 6 (Mack 2,
Babul, Basit, Clarke, Depina).
VIRGINIA TECH (59)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Roberts 33 4-10 5-6 1-8 0 3 14
Ray 17 0-1 0-0 0-3 1 1 0
Wheeler 34 5-8 4-6 0-2 0 3 14
Guillory 14 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 2 2
Grindstaff 35 5-12 2-4 1-3 2 2 13
Whaley 5 1-2 0-0 2-3 1 2 2
Dunlop 31 4-8 3-3 1-2 1 3 12
Lucas 19 1-5 0-0 1-1 1 0 2
Tor 12 0-1 0-0 0-3 0 3 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 21-50 14-19 6-25 8 19 59
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.420, FT-.737. 3-Point Goals:
3-13, .231 (Roberts 1-3, Ray 0-1, Guillory 0-2,
Grindstaff 1-4, Whaley 0-1, Dunlop 1-1, Lucas
0-1). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 3
(Roberts, Wheeler, Tor). Turnovers: 16
(Grindstaff 4, Roberts 4, Dunlop 2, Tor 2,
Wheeler 2, Guillory, Ray). Steals: 5 (Dunlop 2,
Grindstaff 2, Wheeler).
__________________________________
Massachusetts 27 41 - 68
Virginia Tech 18 41 - 59
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 7,811. Officials:
Arnie McDonald, Fran Connolly, Lou Filipetti.
