PHILADELPHIA — Matt McCall went into the UMass locker room after Wednesday’s loss to Temple with a simple message for his team.
“I told them in the locker room after the game, they’re nuts if they don’t think we’re going in the right direction,” McCall said after his team squandered a 10-point halftime lead in a 65-63 setback. “It sucks that we felt like we gave one away here and it sucks to lose, but we’re moving in the right direction. This team is continuing to get better.”
There were plenty of moments for the second-year coach to build upon in the defeat. Less than 90 seconds into the game, fifth-year center Rashaan Holloway rolled his left ankle chasing a rebound and missed the rest of the game. Despite not having their best big man, the Minutemen (6-5) responded with a combination of Khalea Turner-Morris and Sy Chatman to take a 37-27 lead at the intermission.
The duo played an important role in helping UMass take that advantage, mainly benefitting from the same types of offensive chances that Holloway tends to capitalize upon. Turner-Morris scored UMass’ first four points of the game on simple dump-off passes that resulted from the Temple defense collapsing on the UMass guards driving to the paint.
Redshirt junior Jonathan Laurent said the first half showcased how far UMass has progressed since the beginning of the season.
“I feel like this would have been a big game for Rashaan,” Laurent said. “But it shows a lot of growth and a lot of maturity that we’re able to still take that 10-point lead without our big man shooting 71 percent from the field.”
One of the main reasons UMass was able to find success early against the Owls was its commitment to the defensive end of the floor. The Minutemen were able to crowd out Temple from its comfort zone and forced the Owls to take contested shots all over the floor. It resulted in Temple shooting 33 percent from the field in the first half — a figure far worse if Shizz Alston’s six made field goals that led to 18 first-half points are excluded.
Defense has been a point of emphasis for McCall since UMass’ shocking 68-63 loss to Howard on Nov. 16. In the seven games since the defeat, the Minutemen have shown a renewed sense of urgency on that end of the floor, a major factor in their 18-point second-half comeback last Friday against Providence.
McCall said he was happy with his team’s defense Wednesday, lamenting the 12 second-half turnovers that led to 17 points for Temple. He said outside of those transition points, he thought UMass continued its progression in effort, energy and communication on defense.
“We’ve made strides defensively in the last three weeks,” McCall said. “We’re way better now than we were three weeks ago, and that’s what we have to continue to do, we have to continue to get better. We now have time to get better.”
The second half against Providence and the first half against Temple were proof of what UMass could be if it consistently played up to its potential. The Minutemen outscored the Friars and Owls by a combined 29 points in those 40 minutes and made life very difficult for two normally explosive offenses.
Yet the other two halves are examples of how young and inexperienced this team still is despite its talent. The Minutemen veered away from the game plan in the second half against Temple and most of those turnovers were a direct result of not handling the Owls’ pressure well. It was the same pressure and scheme that UMass was able to neutralize in the first 20 minutes, but the players handled it much worse.
McCall said he takes confidence in knowing that what he has been working on in practice is taking effect during games. He said he is hopeful his players can build upon that over the next nine days while they study for final exams and prepare for their next game against Fairleigh Dickinson on Dec. 21 at the Mullins Center.
“It’s all about development,” McCall said. “Our young guys are growing and getting better … and that’s it, that’s what it’s about. We can’t get frustrated, we have a lot of time to practice here. What we have been working on is translating, and we need to keep being able to do that.”
Josh Walfish can be reached at jwalfish@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshWalfishDHG. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.