AMHERST — For the second straight Tuesday, Matt McCall walked off the court at the Mullins Center victorious but disappointed in his defense.
For a second straight week, UMass put together an offensive performance that captivated the crowd. Yet it was the defense that proved troublesome for the Minutemen.
UMass-Lowell made it a point to speed up the game and put the pressure on the Minutemen’s transition defense. The River Hawks’ quick turnaround after a made basket left the Minutemen scrambling on defense. The mad dash left shooters open and paved lanes to the basket that Lowell took full advantage of.
“Lowell did a terrific job of inbounding and going, and our transition defense really, really struggled,” McCall said after his team’s 83-75 win. “In transition, you don’t have a man, we have to sprint back, shrink the floor and get matched, and we kept trying to run back to our man. We gave up some 3s, we got whipped off the bounce and they got to the rim.”
The Minutemen looked less confused when they had a chance to guard in half-court sets, but the defense is still a work in progress. McCall said he thought his team defended pick and rolls much better Tuesday than it had in the preseason, a testament to senior Rashaan Holloway and freshman Sy Chatman.
But Holloway said UMass still needs to increase the defensive communication for the Minutemen to reach their potential on that end of the floor.
“We’ve been stressing communication and that we need to talk on defense,” Holloway said. “Lately in practice our pick-and-roll defense, so we probably got to work more on our transition and talking and matching up when we miss shots. Once we get that together, we’ll be solid on defense.”
FINDING YOUR ROLE: The key run that sparked UMass’ victory was underscored by a pair of players who won’t capture much of the attention.
Keon Clergeot scored five of his seven points during the final 7-0 run that propelled UMass to its first double-digit lead of the game. The Memphis transfer made his presence felt on defense by denying Lowell’s guard off pick and rolls and it led to some scoring opportunities for him in the fast break.
“Keon Clergeot’s energy in the second half really elevated our team,” McCall said. “That’s what we need out of him, defensively especially. … We need to talk to him about embracing that role for us because at the end of the day, his energy helped us in the second half.”
The second player McCall pointed to as being crucial during that stretch was Kieran Hayward. The sophomore, who came to UMass from LSU last year, played only six minutes, but McCall said he brought a “calming force” to the floor in his limited action.
LAURENT LOOMS LARGE: Jonathan Laurent filled up the stat sheet in a big way for the Minutemen. The junior transfer from Rutgers scored 10 points, dished out a team-high five assists and grabbed four rebounds.
It might not look like much, but Laurent plays arguably the most critical position on the floor for UMass – power forward. McCall said he has stressed to Laurent the importance of his role within the offense, and was pleased with the results Tuesday.
“I was really proud of Jonathan Laurent because I’ve been very, very critical of him in practice on making the right play, staying within the offense, playing within himself and not forcing anything,” McCall said. “He didn’t force anything (Tuesday). He was 4-for-6 from the floor, he has 10 points, four rebounds and five assists. The ball is in his hands and he has to play that way every night and our team can be really good offensively.”
FREE-THROW WOES: UMass could have won the game more comfortably if it had converted better from the free-throw line. The Minutemen made 15 of 27 from the stripe and missed out on several potential three-point plays.
“That’s not good enough,” McCall said. “I felt like the couple of times when we missed, it gave them opportunities to get out in transition and our team was running around trying to get matched and maybe too consumed with missing a free throw.”
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.