PROVIDENCE, R.I. — With  less than three weeks until St. Bonaventure visits the Mullins Center on Dec. 30 to start Atlantic 10 play, UMass mean’s basketball coach Derek Kellogg got a clear picture of the things he liked and those that need improving in Saturday’s 75-69 loss at Providence.

He hopes his team would take lessons from the defeat.

“That’s like an A-10 road game against one of the top teams in the A-10,” Kellogg said. “It’s like playing at VCU or Dayton or Rhody or whoever. It’s a good learning experience for them that you have to play a certain way for 40 minutes to beat a team like this on the road.”

The Minutemen got themselves in a hole by rushing shots and making too many careless turnovers, but nearly came back by digging in defensively, while making some key shots.

“I love their excitement, but sometimes it turns into being a little careless on the floor,” Kellogg said. “I’m going to continue to preach ‘be excited, continue to play hard and have some fun,’” he said. “But we have to continue to watch tape every day and continue to get better from some of the mistakes we made.”

Individual inconsistency is slowing some progress. UMass got a great game from Rashaan Holloway (21 points, 9 rebounds), but Donte Clark (9 points) struggled. Ty Flowers was the Minutemen’s best player in the defeat by the University of Central Florida on Dec. 3, but was less of a factor against the Friars.

Almost everyone on the roster has made a big contributions in at least one game, while fading to invisibility in others.

“We’re still working on that. Right now there’s a lot of guys I’m still figuring out. Almost the whole team is in a new role, with the exception of Donte Clark,” said Kellogg, who added that getting DeJon Jarreau back to his pre-injury level of play would go a long way.

“We’re just trying to work one by one trying to get each guy playing at a high level,” Kellogg said. “It starts with Deeky (Jarreau). I have to get him back to where he was playing before getting hurt.”

Jarreau had four points, three rebounds, three assists and six turnovers, Saturday.

Kellogg said he is confident his team would find that consistency.

“I told them after the game, we’re going to be a good team,” he said. “We just have to clean up some stuff and make sure we come every day and work.”

Providence coach Ed Cooley predicted big things for UMass as the season continues.

“From where UMass was the last couple of years to where they are today, I like their player development. They should be really excited about their program up there,” Cooley said. “They’re going to win a lot of basketball games over the next few years. … I like their team a lot.”

Series: Providence has now won three straight vs. UMass since the Minutemen edged the Friars in Puerto Rico in 2012.

Providence leads the all-time series 25-7.

“It has been a good series,” Cooley said. “It’s a good regional game, super competitive on both sides. It’s a 90-minute ride for either team. It’s a good series for us. I know we’re going to have our hands full when we go up there next year.”

Free-Throw Woes: The Minutemen continued to struggle from the free-throw line, making just 9-of-18 attempts. They’re now shooting 61.7 percent (119 of 193) this season.

Normally a good free-throw shooter, junior wing Donte Clark has struggled along with the team. A 76.5 percent career shooter from the line coming in, Clark was 25-for-27 through the first five games of the season. But since then he’s 9-for-16 including 2-for-5 Saturday.

“We just have to keep shooting free throws every day,” Kellogg said. “We have to keep teams from shooting 30-something free throws. Those are two things that are really hurting us.

Miscellaneous: UMass debuted new charcoal gray alternate uniforms with maroon numbers and lettering. … There were 7,815 fans in attendance.