Display truly offensive

UMass off target in rout by Vandy

AMHERST - Perhaps the University of Massachusetts Minutemen misread the schedule. Yesterday, they took on the Commodores of Vanderbilt University, but seemed to be prepared instead for the Commodores of Lionel Richie fame.

After all, they wound up turning the Mullins Center into their personal Brick House.

In a shooting display designed for wincing rather than winning, the Minutemen fired up all manner of bricks and lost, 78-48. It was equal-opportunity masonry as UMass hit 8 of 28 field goals in each half for 28.6 percent. The Minutemen clanged away from close range, midrange, and long range (4 for 23 from behind the arc). It would have been worse, except UMass hit its last four shots, most of them coming against Vanderbilt's walk-ons, one of whom didn't even have his name on his jersey.

All of that added up to UMass's second-worst home defeat at the Mullins Center, not quite measuring up (or down) to the 32-point loss to Temple in 2001.

"We took terrible, quick, bad shots on the offensive end, and didn't sprint back on defense," said first-year coach Derek Kellogg.

The former UMass point guard was particularly distressed at his team's inability to fight through a game of poor shooting. Good teams, he pointed out, are able to find a way even when the shots don't fall.

"We're just getting outtoughed the last couple of games," said senior point guard Chris Lowe, including Tuesday's 26-point loss at Houston.

Those two defeats, which closed out the nonconference portion of UMass's schedule at 5-8, seemed especially dispiriting. They came on the heels of a four-game winning streak that included a startling victory on the road against defending national champion Kansas.

"It's very frustrating because we thought we turned a corner," said Lowe, who led UMass yesterday with 14 points. "Everything will be nipped in the bud tomorrow. I promise we'll be a different team when we come out there next Saturday [in the Atlantic 10 opener against Dayton]."

To be sure, Vanderbilt deserves plenty of credit for the outcome. The 11-3 Commodores stifled the Minutemen with a man-to-man defense in the first half and a 3-2 zone in the second. They dominated UMass on the glass, outrebounding the Minutemen, 48-28.

After UMass cut the Vanderbilt lead to 28-25 with a layup by Lowe to open the second half, things became unglued. The Minutemen's frustration was apparent at both ends. On offense, they resorted to passing the ball around the perimeter and firing away. At one particularly galling moment defensively, they watched Lance Goulbourne gather in an inbounds pass some 30 feet from the hoop, and then drive powerfully into the paint, dunking over two UMass players. It was as if they were taking Vandy from a baby.

Moments later, the Vanderbilt lead peaked at 34.

A.J. Ogilvy led the Commodores with 14 points. Goulbourne was one of a trio of Vanderbilt players with 10.

Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings was gracious about the plight Kellogg faces in taking over the UMass program.

"It's tough your first year," he said. "You go in, you try to put your system in. I know they're not where they'd like to be. They're not quite in synch yet. I know they're a lot better than where that score ended up."