AMHERST — The nine-day break from games took a toll on UMass early.
The Minutemen were scoring well, but they looked a little lethargic on the defensive end and Maine was able to keep pace. When the first timeout hit, though, a switch flipped for UMass and the attitude on the floor for the next 10 minutes was far different than the one that began the game.
The message from coach Matt McCall was simple but effective as the Minutemen found a new level on the court. UMass held Maine without a basket for nearly nine minutes as it expanded its lead to 18 points with eight minutes left in the first half. It was all the momentum the Minutemen would need to snap a six-game losing skid with a 74-53 win over the Black Bears at the Mullins Center on Friday night.
“We’ve worked entirely too hard over this extended period where we haven’t had a game,” freshman center Tre Mitchell said. “We’ve drilled so much in practice, started competing so much harder, he just kind of told us we’ve got to just step on their throats and keep going for 40 minutes.”
It turned out to not be as simple as McCall had hoped, but that 20-3 run was the epitome of how the third-year coach wants his team to play this season. The Minutemen (6-6) used their press to force Maine (3-9) out of rhythm on offense, causing six turnovers and numerous poor shots from the Black Bears. UMass also received a little help from some poor finishing around the rim, but it rebounded the ball well on those misses and denied the Black Bears second looks at the rim.
Tying the performance together was the clinical ball movement UMass showcased on offense to earn itself open shots all over the court. The Minutemen had 10 assists on their first 13 makes and shot nearly 50 percent from the floor while extending the lead.
The run was followed by a lull as Maine cut the lead in half by the intermission. Then a strong second-half start was followed by another span of sloppiness from the Minutemen. Yet UMass was able to hang on and pull away in the final seven minutes of the game.
“We got off to a good start, we jumped out there, we had an 18-point lead and we really relaxed,” McCall said. “The last eight minutes of the first half, we played really, really poorly. Then to start the second half, the two plays that Keon (Clergeot) made were big for us. … We got layups then again there was just sloppy play, but we closed the game out the right way.”
With a short-handed roster, McCall had to get creative with his lineups and give more playing time to some players who haven’t seen much of the floor this season. Freshman C.J. Jackson made the most of his first extended playing time of the season with 10 points and three steals in 24 minutes of action against the Black Bears. Those 24 minutes tripled what Jackson had played in the Minutemen’s first 11 contests, but he said he was ready for the moment Friday.
“I just treated it like another basketball game,” Jackson said. “I’ve played in over a thousand games in my life, I just treated it like I treated every other one.”
Jackson’s contributions were an additional sign of the depth UMass has on its roster this season. In McCall’s first two seasons, the depth started to drop off after the third or fourth player off the bench, but Jackson was able to give the Minutemen quality minutes despite starting the season as McCall’s sixth man off the bench.
In addition, the contributions from the role players came at moments when UMass needed to find some secondary scoring. Junior Carl Pierre made just one 3-pointer in the first half and had a tough day shooting the ball until late in the contest.
But his teammates picked up the slack with Tre Mitchell scoring 16 of his game-high 23 points in the first half and the Minutemen getting additional scoring from Jackson, Preston Santos and Djery Baptiste with a combined 12 points, nearly double their combined season averages entering the game.
“It just shows how hard we work and all the time we put in and all the off hours everyone puts in,” freshman point guard Sean East said. “We’re a good team, we just took a few bumps and bruises … and (Jackson) came ready to play. That’s what we need out of him.”