Game 8, 2023-24: vs West Virginia (Springfield, 12/16)

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

I heard that Matt Cross was sick during the week. Let's get him healthy for Hawaii.
[/quote]

Frank on post game said Cross had not eaten in 2 days and he thought that def. contributed to his sloppy play. He did not have fever and thats why he played.

Most games Masslive has a very extensive write up - this is a decent one from the UML game but other games have been much more than this.

https://www.masslive.com/umassbasketbal ... owell.html

[debache]

Thank you for asking. Survived the surgery and this morning had a double blood transfusion for heart tachycardia due to the heart having to work extra hard because of lack of blood. Hopefully she recovers enough to come home to be spoiled for the next 2-6 months. Hardest part other than the diagnosis is not being there with her during her time of need, I just want to pet her over and over.

[69MG]

^ As a dog lover who has had at least 1 dog for about 38 of the 45 years we have been married, wishing for the best for her.

[stevemaz]

In related news.. Maz was a sunday paperboy of the Springfield Republican for 8 years

[LS71]

I grew up western mass reading the Republican, Daily News and Union, as well as the Holyoke Transcript Telegram, plus the NY Times on Sundays. I miss that but can't seem to justify the price, given that the internet is available on computers now

The internet changed everything for sure. During the mid-late 70’s, no Saturday night was complete, especially during baseball season, unless we stopped at the corner of Bridge and Main to get copies of some combo of the Sunday Globe, Hearld, Times, NY Daily News and The Post…needed the stats and those great sports columns…and head over to Chestnut Hill for something to eat.

An entirely different era.

[69MG]

I just watched the game for the second time. My unsung hero is DHS. 8 points and 7 boards in a little over 20 minutes. He's starting to look like the DHS we saw in PR.

[umassbaseball]

Hope this type of thing comes back every year. Was very cool to be walking around MGM and seeing a bunch of WVU and FAU fans. Think it helps our profile. Hope more UMass fans turn out next time though

[69MG]

^ Just like in Amherst, winning will bring in the fans. The game in 2013 (one of the Chaz years) against BYU was a sellout. BYU did bring in a good fan base, but it might have sold out with just UMass fans. We were 8-0 and it was an exciting team.

[Floyd]

I just watched the game for the second time. My unsung hero is DHS. 8 points and 7 boards in a little over 20 minutes. He's starting to look like the DHS we saw in PR.

I like his game alot and what he brings to the team. His game reminds me a little of Donta Bright. Can shoot it, defends well, can really rebound. And does it all in the flow of the game without much notice. He's a good player. That one offensive rebound at the end of the game yesterday was HUGE.
This is a pretty balanced team. Pretty talented in all spots

[WillHerndonFan]

Great Start… Sloppy 10 minutes in 2nd Half…Great Recovery in the End! After a good victory against a really good team in UMass Lowell, UMass followed it up with another good victory over a Big 12 opponent. Despite the attendance for the Hall of Fame Classic not even being close to a sellout, UMass came out with great intensity as Cohen and Cross came out and took it right to Edwards and WVU. If you look at Edward stats, this guy is a pretty good player, so it says a lot about Cohen and Cross can play big against the major conferences. Again, the combined stat line for “Crohen” was 32 points and 20 rebounds, which means bad news for opposing teams. The supporting cast of Thompson, Diggins, Hankins-Sanford, Ndijgue, and Davis is becoming more reliable. Hopefully Curry and Worthy can find their role as both have the talent to play! I have to say I am excited about our chances of winning it all at the Diamond Head Classic as there is no team in this event we can’t beat. Here is my player summary:

Cohen: Maybe our best offensive Center since Marcus Camby. No longer surprised by his output night after night. Needs to stay away from foul trouble.
Cross: Played with such force and intensity early on and played another well rounded game with 13, points 13 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
Davis: Thought this guy after the UM Lowell game would be a big time shooter for us, but didn’t expect it would happen the next game. Davis shoots like NBA player with his catch/jump/release being so quick and fluid.
Diggins: Just rock solid as I am always surprised at the end of the game when he has double digit points as he does it within the flow of the game. Good pickup by Frank from UCON!
Thompson: Love his game as he is grinder. Not his best game, but I wish he would take it to the rim more as he is so strong!
Hankin-Sandford: Said he reminds me of Lou Roe earlier in the year as he can score, rebound, and play defense. What about the one arm rebound in the end! If this guy brings the Lou Roe edginess to his game, then watch out!
Ndjigue: Plays every game as if he is going to be cut from the team!
Curry and Worthy: Nothing to really say as both were barely noticeable when out on the floor.

[BR72]

What I liked is that we saw what Frank meant when he talked about how other teams would not want to face them. WV simply could not handle their physicality, particularly Cohen, Cross and DHS, as exemplified by the huge rebounding disparity and by Edwards’ whining the whole game. Their coach recognized it well as he told a ref during the game that “somebody is going to get hurt.” He also complained about the difference in free throws between the teams, even stating that the numbers should have been reversed with WV having the edge, ignoring the fact that 44% of WV’s shots were 3s which don’t generate a lot of fouls.

The other positive for Frank, IMO, is that the returning players have all clearly improved under his tutelage. It’s most obvious with Thompson and Diggins but Cross is better too, playing more under control (despite his 7 TOs yesterday).

You can clearly see what Frank is trying to build. I just hope enough players stick around long enough to bring it to fruition.

[inthescoop]

Hope this type of thing comes back every year. Was very cool to be walking around MGM and seeing a bunch of WVU and FAU fans. Think it helps our profile. Hope more UMass fans turn out next time though

Surprised that they didn’t have the winners of UMass/WVU and FAU/St. Bonaventure play each other and make a little mini tournament out of it.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

in regards to the attendance - wondering if this was earlier - say first week of December or maybe even Saturday before Thanksgiving if it might draw more fans. Students were gone for semester so I'm sure that did not help, but I personally had a couple extra tickets that I could not give away due to people either having holiday parties or saying they had too many things to do before xmas next weekend.

[Floyd]

It's also a longer drive for those not living in western mass. People east of 495 don't want to drive out to Amherst nevermind springfield.

[Juice Stand]

Floyd, are you saying that Springfield is harder to get to for people outside of Western Mass than Amherst? The highway runs right through Springfield and there is Amtrak service, pretty easy to get to from Boston, Hartford, New Haven, NYC. I wasn't in the building for the game, but the box score indicates a decent crowd. I was hoping for 5,000 and we didn't get quite there, but 4,264 is not bad.