AMHERST — The words echoing out of UMass men’s basketball practice Thursday were far more important than the tone in which coach Matt McCall was screaming them.
After an unorthodox week of squeezing practices in between finals, the Minutemen have one game separating them from some time off with family for Christmas. UMass hosts Fairleigh Dickinson in a rare 3:30 p.m. tipoff Friday at the Mullins Center, and McCall said his biggest concern is making sure his players are still mentally checked in for a game in which the Minutemen are heavily favored.
“These games, you always have a high level of concern about complacency,” McCall said. “It’s the last game before Christmas, you get to turn around and leave after the game, but the bottom line is we’re not going anywhere until that game is over. We have to fight complacency and understand that it’s about competing and competing for 40 minutes.”
McCall said the onus falls on the players to fight through whatever distractions are facing them with finals and the prospects of going home to put together one more 40-minute performance before the holiday. He said the Minutemen need to appreciate the opportunity they have to play a game and not take a victory for granted.
Sophomore guard Carl Pierre agreed with his coach and said UMass can’t afford to be caught thinking ahead to the break if it wants to be a successful team.
“It’s just important to be in the moment, that specific moment of that game,” Pierre said. “Not to try to think ahead or not be distracted by anything, be locked in for 40 minutes and play as hard as we can for 40 minutes.”
McCall said he sees similarities between Fairleigh Dickinson and Howard, which defeated UMass 68-63 on Nov. 16 in Amherst. Both teams possess talented guards who can give the Minutemen trouble from the perimeter and driving into the lane. Although the physical attributes of the Knights’ guards concern McCall, he said he thinks the difference is whether his team can match the compete level FDU will bring Friday.
“The biggest challenge is fighting complacency and understanding those guys are going to come in here with a chip on their shoulder and be excited to play and compete,” McCall said. “They’re one of the harder teams I’ve seen on film all year with how hard they play. … They’re going to play really hard and we can’t allow them to play harder than us, that’s the bottom line. And if they do, it’s could to be a long night for us.”
BROTHERLY LOVE: Rashaan Holloway circled Dec. 21 on his calendar as soon as UMass released its schedule for this season.
A Friday matchup against Fairleigh Dickinson might not matter much to most people, but for Holloway, it was the rare chance to face off against his brother, Mike, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound forward. Rashaan (6-11, 310) is a year older than Mike, but the two never played against one another growing up in New Jersey. Instead, the two paired up against their older brother and his friend at home or teamed up for a year at Schalick High School.
Even with a majority of their family making the drive from southern New Jersey, the two brothers have kept their relationship cordial.
“We’ve always been real tight, so we don’t really trash talk,” Holloway said. “It’s more like a ‘we’ll see what happens’ type of game. Let’s see who can really work it.”
The dream matchup of brothers was almost put on hold, too, after Rashaan rolled his ankle less than 90 seconds into last week’s loss to Temple. He left the arena that night in Philadelphia on crutches and was held out of practice until Thursday. Holloway said he didn’t even start running until Wednesday and went through a light workout under the watchful eye of athletic trainer David Maclutsky.
“I actually thought I wasn’t going to be able to play and then I kind of threw myself out there yesterday and put myself through a couple of drills,” Holloway said. “Dave didn’t want me to practice, but I said I needed to do something before (Thursday’s) practice so I got a couple of bike workouts in and came back here and I was fine (Thursday).”
FUTURE SCHEDULES: The Atlantic 10 and Mountain West announced a two-year challenge — the 2020-21 and 2021-22 basketball seasons — with an option to extend the partnership for an extra two years. The two conferences will play 10 games each year with each conference hosting five games, meaning one MWC and four A-10 teams would not participate in a given year.
“It gives you an opportunity to really prepare you for A-10 play and going on the road or playing at home against a high-level opponent,” McCall said. “The Mountain West has been a league like the Atlantic 10 that traditionally gotten two, three, sometimes even four teams in the NCAA Tournament.”
UMASS CONNECTIONS: Half of Fairleigh Dickinson’s coaching staff have strong connections to the Minutemen. Assistant Pete Lappas (2008 Amherst Regional graduate) is the son of former UMass coach Steve Lappas, who led the Minutemen from 2001-05. Patrick Sellers, who is also an assistant for the Knights, was an assistant for one season under Steve Lappas in 2003-04.