NCAAB Game Preview - UMass at Minnesota
Fri Nov 24, 2017 12:00 PM EST

Duke
85
Tex
78
F(OT)
Purd
89
Ariz
64
F
Oakl
59
Kansas
102
F
UConn
57
MSU
77
F
Vill
64
NrthIA
50
F
Fla
111
Gonz
105
F(2OT)
UNC
87
Ark
68
F
UMass
51
Minn
69
F
Xav
86
AzSt
102
F
Pepp
65
TAMU
81
F
StFPA
72
Lou
84
F
Vand
59
Seton
72
F
StMar
79
WaSt
84
F
UCF
45
WVU
83
F
Bama
71
BYU
59
F
Mizzu
90
StJon
82
F
ChiSt
73
Presb
75
F
TNTec
86
NebOm
85
F
ArkSt
61
SoFL
72
F
Furm
78
UNH
64
F
ECU
47
Rut
61
F
LongB
74
OrSt
69
F
NoAZ
71
UCIrv
77
F
SeLA
77
Samf
71
F
AbCh
85
Campbl
80
F(OT)
Tenn
67
NCSU
58
F
MD-ES
66
JackSt
63
F
Nich
88
UMBC
89
F
PorSt
69
Butl
71
F
SprH
67
NOrl
74
F
Bry
78
Hartfo
73
F
Seatt
84
Wash
89
F
ORU
48
PSU
86
F
TXSo
77
Clem
84
F
UtSt
71
NE
67
F
Harv
77
StJos
71
F
AlaAM
74
Niag
96
F
Toled
77
Corn
80
F
StFNY
76
Navy
85
F
N TX
49
GaTec
63
F
JU
92
Fairf
84
F
E MI
67
Ind
87
F
UNCW
78
LoyIL
102
F
CenCT
74
Clev
73
F
USC-Up
74
BGSU
83
F
Portl
71
Okla
93
F
Norf
53
RobM
75
F
USM
71
SDak
84
F
W Ky
63
SMU
61
F
UGA
68
SDSU
75
F
WCU
65
TexAr
89
F
NM
67
TCU
69
F
FlaAM
50
WIGB
57
F
GWebb
47
WriSt
67
F
Winth
85
Aub
119
F
Denv
71
FlGlf
79
F
UNCG
75
Wake
81
F
MtStM
77
Ohio
96
F
HiPt
67
UNCC
70
F
Kent
67
Valpa
77
F
UVA
70
URI
55
F
NCC
73
Ill
86
F
Nebras
84
Maris
59
F
GrgWas
59
KSU
67
F
E WA
69
Utah
85
F
TXAMC
58
UTSA
72
F
(N/A)
48
MOSt
80
F
Citad
78
FSU
113
F
(N/A)
44
E IL
96
F
SacHr
50
NW
81
F
Stan
71
OhSt
79
F
NWSt
60
ColSt
72
F
N CO
80
YSU
67
F
WIMil
49
Wisc
71
F
ArkPB
69
Pacif
78
F
CAPoly
53
CenMI
56
F
Oreg
89
DeP
79
F(OT)
Sac
63
CS-Ful
68
F
StBon
63
MD
61
F
PVAM
66
UCSB
69
F
Hamp
80
Rider
94
F
TxSt
62
Canis
68
F
Ida
62
CSBak
64
F
Nev
67
HI
54
F
No. 14 Minnesota looks to continue unbeaten start
Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:39 PM

No. 14 Minnesota takes a step up in competition this weekend when it plays Massachusetts and No. 25 Alabama in the Barclays Center Classic in New York.

The Golden Gophers (5-0) will first play UMass (3-1) on Friday at the Steinberg Wellness Center at LIU Brooklyn. They face No. 25 Alabama on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Minnesota has an impressive 86-74 win at Providence, but it has also beaten at home overmatched opponents USC Upstate, Niagara, Western Carolina and Alabama A&M.

Tuesday's 100-57 win over Alabama A&M allowed coach Richard Pitino to go 10 players deep with his rotation and still rest his starters. The bench scored a season-high 42 points.

Jordan Murphy had a team-high 20 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in 22 minutes. Murphy was the only starter to play in the last 10 minutes of the game.

The Gophers shot 61 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers.

"I wanted our starters playing crisp minutes together," Pitino said. "I saw that, and I thought they were really good. And then obviously, I wanted to get the bench guys some minutes."

UMass tried to stay crisp as well in an 85-76 win over Western Carolina on Tuesday at its Mullins Center that was without a pep band, cheerleaders and its usual student crowd because of Thanksgiving break. The Minutemen overcame the lack of spark by pulling away in the waning minutes.

"I'm happy we won. Take nothing away from a victory, but I think we're going to be able to take a lot from this game," UMass coach Matt McCall said. "We'll break it down and really, really learn a lot of different things. I was not happy with our effort at shoot-around, much less our effort to start the game. ... We were too loose and it completely showed to start the game."

Luwane Pipkins led UMass with 21 points and a career-high 10 assists. Carl Pierre had 15 points. Malik Hines added 11 points and nine rebounds.

McCall, in his first season with UMass after coaching two years at Chattanooga, has only eight scholarship players on his roster.

Seven players transferred after his hire in March. Four incoming transfers are not eligible this season. The biggest blow was fifth-year point guard Jaylen Brantley diagnosed with a heart condition that ended his career.

"You can never prepare for that as a coach," McCall told the Boston Herald. "The guys haven't flinched. They're like, 'All right coach, what's next? Let's get better.' For me as a coach, that's all you can ask for."

UMass will face an experienced Minnesota lineup led by senior point guard Nate Mason, who started against Alabama A&M and made his first five shots and scored all of his 12 points in the first half. He earned All-Big Ten first-team honors last season.

While McCall is short on scholarship players, Pitino was able to dig deep into his bench Tuesday, giving freshmen Isaiah Washington and Jamir Harris and junior Davonte Fitzgerald more opportunities.

Washington finished with six points on 2-for-8 shooting, but he had eight assists with only two turnovers in 21 minutes. Harris scored 11 points in 18 minutes. Fitzgerald had 13 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes.

"These next five games will be pretty big," Fitzgerald said. "The bench, we're going to have to step up a lot. The starting five really has a good flow going out there. So our job is to come in and not have any downfalls."

Team Record Comparison

Standings GB W-L Aw/Hm Stk L10
UMass  
Minnesota  

Hot Players (Last 10 team games)

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