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UMass sophomore Ricky Harris (game-high 22 points) wasn't about to let Dayton's Mickey Perry stand in his way. (Skip Peterson/Associated Press) |
UMass 82, Dayton 71
DAYTON, Ohio - Travis Ford punished his University of Massachusetts team the past week. He also punished himself.
After a disappointing loss to Saint Joseph's last Wednesday, Ford said he closed down a local
When he entered the locker room following the Minutemen's 82-71 victory over the 14th-ranked Flyers last night, he stumbled upon the majority of his team laying exhausted on the floor.
That was UMass's reward - the Minutemen finally could rest in the afterglow of an important victory.
But Ford isn't likely to ease up on his squad.
"I told them it's not going to stop," Ford said. "I'm very excited about this win, but we've seen the other side of this basketball team."
Against the Flyers (14-2, 2-1 Atlantic 10) in front of an excitable UD Arena crowd of 13,435, the bad side of the Minutemen didn't emerge.
They harassed Dayton guard Brian Roberts, one of the Atlantic 10's most prolific players, into a mediocre night, and a trio of Minutemen made up for the subpar performance of senior forward Gary Forbes.
It was the first win against a ranked opponent in the Ford era. The Minutemen's last victory over a Top 25 team came against No. 21 George Washington Jan. 15, 2005.
"It's definitely a big win," senior center Dante Milligan said. "It gets our mind back on the right track."
Coming off losses to Vanderbilt and Saint Joe's, UMass hadn't felt great about itself. Frustrating Roberts, who was third in the league with 20.1 points per game, would be essential to keep the losing streak from reaching three games.
"He's like an engine - he keeps on going," UMass sophomore guard Ricky Harris said. "The game plan was just to contain him. He's going to get points, but we got him uncomfortable. He does everything. He can shoot off the dribble and he can kick out to the open man. We wanted to get him before he got to the 3-point line. We wanted to push him out further and make him uncomfortable."
For much of the contest, that plan worked.
Roberts (6 of 14 from the field, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) didn't make a field goal in the first half, and although he finished with a team-high 21 points, he wasn't as effective as usual. With the game in the balance late in the second half, he couldn't make a shot.
"He wasn't getting shots all game," Milligan said. "He was trying to force them at the last minute, and they're not going to go down that way."
Forbes (16 points on 4-of-16 shooting) also didn't play well, but Harris's 22 points, Chris Lowe's 19, and Milligan's 13 were able to compensate.
"If one person is struggling," Harris said, "we have the depth for another person to come in and pick them up."
UMass, which started the game on a 21-7 run, appeared headed for an easy victory.
But UMass missed four first-half layups and made only 3 of 9 foul shots. Dayton countered with an 11-0 run, and Marcus Johnson's tip-in with less than a minute to play in the half gave the Flyers the lead.
But Ford had punished his squad for a reason.
"You saw a team that was disappointed the last time out," Ford said. "They responded. We looked like a wounded team out there tonight. You saw a team that was finally ready to fight."
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
