BOSTON – From every standpoint, UMass’ win over Memphis on Saturday is a big one for the team and the program.
The starting point is that it’s a “name” win. Yes, this isn’t the Memphis team of the past couple of years, or what could have been this year as several talented newcomers followed departed coach John Calipari to Kentucky. But Memphis is still a big name and if the Tigers slip, it won’t be too far. Memphis has played a relatively light schedule thus far, but the Tigers have acquitted themselves well in their toughest tests to this point and have a 7-2 record. Besides that, the many connections between the programs don’t add to it for one person.
“The win is great, I love the win. To beat them really doesn’t have that much special meaning,” said UMass head coach Derek Kellogg, who had 87 text messages after the game, according to UMass Sports Information Director Jason Yellin. “I would probably have preferred that both of us could have come away with the win, because I do want to see that team and those kids do well.”
Let’s not forget that Kellogg not only enjoyed his time in Memphis, but he had a hand in recruiting a number of the current Tigers.
For the Minutemen, it’s also a game they won with an intangible Kellogg has wanted from his team. He admitted that he was worried about the Tigers’ press and their athleticism, especially since the Minutemen don’t have a true point guard on the roster. The Tigers have forced nearly 20 turnovers per game, and the Minutemen played right up to that with 20 turnovers on the evening, tying their season high (they had 20 against Cornell). The Minutemen also nearly gave the game away on the foul line, going 20-32 from the charity stripe while Memphis had a free throw line past teams would have envied, as they made 22 of 25.
But the Minutemen were able to overcome all of that, largely by having a 44-24 rebounding advantage. They had a 21-4 edge in second-chance points and a 40-16 edge in points in the paint against a Tiger team thin on low-post players.
“I thought our guys responded and play tough, tough and then they played tough, because that’s what we’re working on every day in practice,” said Kellogg. “The one thing that’s holding us back a little is that we don’t always play as tough as I want to, even in practice. We really worked on that, and I think it paid dividends in the rebound totals tonight.”
One of the winning guards noticed the rebounding edge right away when he saw the stat sheet.
“Coming into this game, Coach told us if we attack the glass, play hard and play aggressively, we can come out with the win,” said senior guard Ricky Harris, who had 13 points but wasn’t a big factor as he went 2-11 from the field.
Indeed, the Minutemen were a tougher team, especially in the frontcourt. Terrell Vinson, who will best be remembered for the game-winning basket with 0.7 seconds left after the ball was knocked around like a pinball and found its way into his hands, had 21 points and nine rebounds, while Sean Carter battled foul trouble to grab eight boards.
In light of that, however, one can’t lose sight of the backcourt in this. One person who didn’t was Memphis head coach Josh Pastner, whose team basically plays four guards most of the time. One of the Tigers’ taller players, talented sophomore Wesley Witherspoon, is a wing, so despite his size he’s not someone who’s counted on to be a big low-post factor.
“The big thing is we need Elliot (Williams) and Willie (Kemp),” said the first-year head coach. “They played, I think, 67 minutes combined but didn’t get any rebounds between the two. It’s not just the big guys, we’ve got to have guard rebounding, it’s just as important as the bigs.”
To his point, hometown kid Anthony Gurley had six rebounds to go with 14 points, and Harris added three rebounds. Gary Correia added five boards off the bench as well, so the Minutemen’s guards did their work on the glass.
Another reason this is a big win is that it came in Boston. Ever since Travis Ford took over, the program has tried to play a game in Boston every year. In years where the Commonwealth Classic against Boston College has been in Amherst, they have scheduled a game in Boston. They played at Boston University in 2006-07 and had a contract with Kentucky to play at the Boston Garden last year, but the Wildcats opted out of it and that left them without a game in Boston. The Minutemen are now 4-0 all-time in the Garden, and the school has a good alumni base in the Boston area, so there are certainly incentives to play a game in the area every year.
One other reason this is a big win is that it can give a sense of how good this team might be. There’s been a feeling that this team is an unknown, given that they’ve played teams clearly better, like Michigan State, and that they are clearly better than, like Grambling State, St. Francis (NY) and Arkansas-Fort Smith. They entered Saturday’s game with a 5-5 record and had not been above .500 all season. There’s certainly some optimism after a win like this.
“Beating a good team like Memphis gives us a lot of confidence, and it tells us what we can play with any team in the country,” said Gurley.
Even so, Kellogg is hopeful but guarded about that. Part of that is because he’s seen the Atlantic 10 have a good non-conference run, ranking fifth in conference RPI thus far. After Saturday’s games, only two teams aren’t above .500 in the conference.
“The only thing I can do is try to get us better every day in practice,” said the second-year head coach. “Hopefully they take that and respond in the games the way they did today. It would be great if it’s a springboard, that would be fantastic.”
Indeed, it is a big win, but the lasting value it has will depend on what the Minutemen do after this. Their next chance is once again in the Boston area when they take on Boston College Wednesday night.
