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UMass's Chris Lowe finds the going tough on his way to the hoop in the first half, thanks to BU's Tyler Morris. (NANCY PALMIERI/Associated Press) |
UMass 70, BU 61
AMHERST - Despite tipping off just 45 minutes before the Patriots game, the University of Massachusetts basketball contest against intrastate rival Boston University drew a season-high 4,482 fans to the Mullins Center last night.
By halftime it looked like football fans and history hounds were free to flee and get the best of both worlds. UMass was up, 44-25. Senior Gary Forbes already had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
But early exiters would have missed a spirited comeback by the Terriers, who drew within 3 points at 62-59 with 1:35 left on a layup by Carlos Strong. Then in a critical moment at the other end, Forbes lost the ball on a drive, but teammate Chris Lowe picked up the loose change and hit a floating jumper from the left baseline to give UMass some separation. The Minutemen put a nice ribbon and bow on a sloppy second half and emerged with a 70-61 triumph.
The victory gave coach Travis Ford two presents on his 38th birthday. One was a 10-2 record, the best at the New Year's break for the Minutemen since their Final Four year of 1995-96, when they bolted from the gates Patriot-like with a 26-0 mark. The other gift was a second-half struggle that will provide Ford with plenty of motivational fodder as the schedule gets far more difficult in the new year. According to Ford, it will be plenty clear to his players that it's not time to break out the confetti.
"We understand from this point on we need to be better than that," said Ford. "That should get their attention. If it doesn't, they're in the wrong sport and on the wrong team."
UMass closes its nonleague season this week by hosting Houston, then traveling to No. 15 Vanderbilt. The teams have a combined record of 23-1. The Minutemen then open league play in the much-improved Atlantic 10.
Last night featured a showdown of the two biggest academic institutions in the Bay State, schools that have plenty of hardwood history. Back in 1961, Matt Zunic left the coaching job at BU to take over at UMass, and led the then-Redmen to their first NCAA Tournament. Jack Leaman, who as a point guard in the late '50s led the Terriers to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tourney, went on to become UMass's all-time winningest coach in the '60s and '70s.
One of Leaman's UMass point guards then went over to Boston University and in 1983 led the Terriers to their first NCAA appearance since Leaman manned the point in 1959. That man was Rick Pitino.
More recently, the teams have had some change in player personnel. Two of the key Minutemen this season, Etienne Brower and Tony Gaffney, began their careers as Terriers. Neither had a memorable game last night. Brower scored just 1 point, though he grabbed nine rebounds. Gaffney had just 3 points and two boards, though he did come up with a key block at crunch time that helped stave off the comeback.
Forbes led all scorers with 25 points, getting it done with some silky moves in the post and a couple of long 3-pointers. He also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds. Still, he felt frustrated with UMass's listless performance after halftime. "Our intensity let up in the second half," Forbes said. "We got away from putting pressure on the defense. We've got to be better finishing teams off."
Credit the Terriers, though, for fighting hard off the mat. Strong led BU with 17 points. Corey Lowe, the team's leading scorer coming in, had a rough night from the field (5 for 20), but finished with 13 points.
Coach Dennis Wolff was pleased with his team's near-comeback, but felt the Terriers were too soft from the get-go.
"We played the first half way too passively," Wolff said. "To me it looked like we had a deer-in-the-headlights look."
The Terriers, picked as a favorite in the America East Conference, have struggled against nonleague foes to the tune of 3-8.
"They're not a 3-8 team - by no means," said Ford.
The Minutemen also got 16 points from Ricky Harris and 14 from Lowe.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
