AMHERST — UMass was back in the Curry Hicks Cage on Monday morning.
Fresh off a 54-51 shocker over Atlantic 10-leading Davidson on Saturday, the Minutemen weren’t ready for the Champions Center just yet. The decision by Matt McCall to bar his team from its fancy $30-million practice facility was part of a larger point the second-year coach was trying to make.
Yes, the wake-up call served its purpose to help UMass win Saturday, but one game is far from enough data to proclaim the Minutemen’s issues cured.
“It’s not just about the result on Saturday, it’s about understanding how we have to have an appreciation for everything,” McCall said. “It starts with that appreciation to put on that jersey every single day and it has to mean more to you than your own individual numbers, your own individual success, it has to be about the team and the success there.”
There were several players who embraced the challenge of practicing in a venue that hasn’t been in full use for the better part of a quarter century. Those who did earned most of the minutes in Saturday’s victory, including sophomore guard Carl Pierre. When asked after the win if he thought the move helped UMass, he paused for a brief second before saying he thought it did refocus the team.
“Everybody knows that Champs is nice, it’s a nice facility,” Pierre said. “But just getting away from it and getting back to a gritty facility where everything started from helped a lot. Just getting back to square one and competing.”
The grit and competitive fire has been the link in UMass’ best performances of the season. The second half at Providence, the first half at Temple and Saturday’s game were all examples of when UMass has played its hardest and had its best compete levels. It’s the reason why the same Minutemen that can come within a shot of beating Dayton and Saint Louis – two A-10 front-runners – on the road can be blown out by Fordham, a cellar dweller, a few weeks later at home.
McCall said last week that fighting for the culture of his team would lead to better effort, which will in turn lead to more wins. And Saturday was a golden example of the importance of that battle.
“When we play with that level of intensity or that effort, we’ve proven what we’re capable of even though all those results didn’t result in Ws,” McCall said. “When you don’t have effort or I have to coach effort, you have zero chance.”
UMass (9-15, 2-9 Atlantic 10) will get a chance to prove that Saturday’s result wasn’t a fluke Wednesday when it travels to George Mason. The Patriots (14-10, 8-3 A-10) are one of four teams tied atop the league along with Davidson, Dayton and VCU.
What stood out about Saturday’s performance was the effort exuded by the six players who earned a majority of the minutes. They demonstrated a chemistry that has been lacking at times for UMass this season and played in sync on both ends of the floor. The lineup also showed some mettle in not allowing the Wildcats’ early 15-2 run deter them and continuing to grind away on defense and disrupting Davidson’s form.
It was the type of heart and determination that McCall has been looking for this year, but the coach cautioned against interpreting how UMass played on Saturday as a sign that those issues have been resolved.
“Certain guys responded to what we did and it carried over to those guys playing the game connected,” McCall said. “You could see the guys who played the majority of minutes in that game were really connected out there, and it’s been one of our biggest issues. There was some carryover, but again, it’s one game and we have so far to go as a program. It was a game in which I was proud of how we responded and when adversity hit in the game, those guys stayed together, and that was a result of the things we’re trying to do.”
WOOD RETURNS: Freshman point guard Tre Wood made his 2019 debut against Davidson after missing 10 games with a concussion.
He played 15 minutes in his return to action, dishing out two assists while providing UMass some much-needed ballhandling depth with Luwane Pipkins sidelined by a hamstring injury. Pipkins is doubtful for Wednesday’s game, which will expand Wood’s role as a complement to Keon Clergeot on the ball.
“It was nice to have another steady ballhandler on the floor to where Keon didn’t have to do it a majority of the game,” McCall said. “It was nice to have a true point guard, out on the floor, he made some good plays for us. I don’t know how rusty he was, I didn’t feel that, I had full confidence putting him in there. Obviously, he’s going to need to continue to get some game reps and we’re going to need him (Wednesday) and going forward just to be that steady point guard, steady ball handler and help us get into offense, maybe get some guys some easier looks.”