AMHERST – The buzz went through the Mullins Center quickly during pregame. Not only had DeJon Jarreau ditched his walking boot and the scooter he’d been using to keep weight off his injured foot, but he was in uniform, taking shots and going through a mini-workout on Saturday.
After UMass’ win over Holy Cross 13 days ago, the team announced that an MRI had revealed a stress fracture in Jarreau’s right foot and that he was expected to be out four to six weeks. People were optimistic that he would be back for Atlantic 10 play that begins in late December.
But when Jarreau was still in uniform for the national anthem and when the team returned to the floor for layup lines, it was obvious something had changed.
After UMass’ 65-62 loss to Central Florida, coach Derek Kellogg said an MRI on Friday revealed no fracture. A callus on his foot has basically created what looked like a fracture. After a short workout Friday night, Jarreau was cleared by the medical staff.
“It was not fractured. In retrospect it was inflamed along with this callus/blister he had,” Kellogg said. “I was told he could play between 10 and 15 minutes and slowly work him back in so he wouldn’t re-injure anything.”
The crowd of 3,911 roared when Jarreau checked in with 13:39 left in the first half
He played 13 minutes and had two points, a rebound, an assist and two turnovers.
“He was kind of out of it from a physical standpoint,” Kellogg said. “We have to work him back into it. … If he gets back into shape he’ll be playing more.”
It marked the first time Jarreau and high school teammate Brison Gresham were on the floor together at UMass. Gresham scored his first basket on a putback dunk and finished with two points, three rebounds and four fouls in 10 minutes.
FRESHMAN INCREASING LOAD – With Donte Clark falling short of double figures for the first time this season, UMass relied heavily on its freshmen. The rookies scored 40 of the team’s 62 points.
Five players have led UMass in scoring through seven games this season and five players have had at least 20 points. Nine players have reached double digits in scoring.
SHOOTING STRUGGLES – The Minutemen shot under 30 percent from 3-point range for the third straight game as they were 10-for-38 from outside. The number drops to 4-for-28 without Ty Flowers’ 6-for-10 shooting. UMass missed its first 10 shots after intermission.
Kellogg liked the shots they took, just not the result.
“Other than the start of the second half, I thought our offense was decent. We just didn’t make those baskets. They looked like they were going to go in,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get everybody clicking. … I’m going to try to figure out ways to get these guys to make shots and continue to play with confidence.”
Luwane Pipkins, who Kellogg said was the team’s best 3-point shooter in its two preseason closed scrimmages, is 3-for-25 over his last three games. He had 16 points in the game, but shot 7-for-22 overall and 2-for-12 from 3-point range.
“I have to get Luwane’s shots down from 22. He took a couple freshman-like shots at the end,” Kellogg said.
Pipkins was confident his shooting would return.
“I’ll shoot til I hit and shoot til I miss,” he said. “I shot 2-for-12. That’s terrible. I’m a shooter. I’m going to shoot the ball. DK told me that was too many shots. I’ve got to learn from that. My defense is going to bring my offense.”
The Minutemen actually shot better from the field (34.7 percent) and 3-point range (26.3) than what UCF had been allowing (30.1 percent from the floor, 25.0 percent from 3-point range).
STRIPKINS – Pipkins had seven steals bringing his season average to 4.0. Entering Saturday’s action, Northern Iowa’s Jeremy Morgan led the nation with an average of 3.8 steals per game.
UNCONTESTED TIP – Seth Berger didn’t bother jumping at the opening tip against UCF’s Tacko Fall, who stands 7-foot-6. Instead, the junior started his backpedal to play defense.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage