UMass Defeats Georgia At Home 72-62 Behind Five Double-Digit Scorers

AMHERST, Mass. – Five Minutemen scored in double figures as the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team remained unbeaten at home in the Mullins Center with a 72-62 win over Georgia on Saturday afternoon. The Minutemen (6-5 Overall) out-shot the Bulldogs (7-2 Overall) by 14-percent as UMass finished the day 50-percent from the field and 55-percent from behind the arc.

The win marked the 10^th win for UMass over an SEC opponent and the first since a 92-90 win over LSU at home on Nov. 12, 2013.

UMass set the tone offensively early with five straight made baskets to open the contest as Luwane Pipkins dropped in 10 early points to help the Minutemen build a 16-2 lead. Pipkins scored 12 of his team-best 17 points in the first-half for a UMass team that shot a blistering 57-percent from the field in the opening half with a 62-percent mark from deep. Over the last two games, the sophomore guard has scored 34 combined points in the first half.

The first-half scoring fury marked the second-best shooting start to a contest for UMass this season after the Minutemen shot 61-percent from the field in the first half in a win over Providence a week ago.

Carl Pierre added 12 first-half points of his own off the bench on a day where the freshman added 15 points on a career-best five 3-pointers on seven attempts from deep. Pierre opened the game 4-of-4 from 3-point land, including one with 2:23 left in the half to give UMass their largest lead of the game at 41-19 on their way to taking a 19-point lead into the break.

Georgia strung together a 13-3 after Pierre's bucket, spanning the end of the first half into the beginning of the second as they cut the UMass lead down to 12 with an 8-1 run to start the final 20 minutes. Yante Maten finished with a game-high 20 points to lead Georgia to go along with nine rebounds while William Jackson II chipped in 14.

Chris Baldwin helped UMass respond to the Georgia pressure to open up the second half by knocking down this third 3-pointer with 16:26 remaining to push the lead back to 15 at 51-36. Baldwin came off the bench to score 11 points while setting a new career-best in 3-point field goals made in a game. The UMass bench out-scoring Georgia's bench 30-19 on the afternoon led by Pierre and Baldwin.

The Bulldogs cut the lead down to single-digits for the first time since 17:26 in the first half after Jackson knocked down a two-point jumper with 11-seconds remaining as Georgia scored seven straight points before a pair of Pipkins free throws sealed a UMass win.

Rashaan Holloway and C.J. Anderson both added double-digit numbers in the scoring column for UMass as Holloway scored 12 points on 67-percent shooting while Anderson chipped in 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.

The Minutemen will remain at home in the Mullins Center as they wrap up non-conference play, beginning with a matchup against Georgia State on Wed., Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. before taking on Maine on Dec. 22 at 4.

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UMass Defeats Georgia At Home 72-62 Behind Five Double-Digit Scorers

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Team Stats

Luwane Pipkins

Carl Pierre

Rashaan Holloway

Chris Baldwin

Players Mentioned

C.J. Anderson

Chris Baldwin

Rashaan Holloway

Carl Pierre

Luwane Pipkins

Players Mentioned

C.J. Anderson

Chris Baldwin

Rashaan Holloway

Carl Pierre

Luwane Pipkins

Scoreboard

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