University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
George Mason
Minutemen Return Home To Host George Mason On Wednesday
January 01, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Game part of televised doubleheader on Eleven Sports and NESN Plus.
AMHERST, Mass. - Coming off a tough loss on the road at St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 season-opener, the UMass basketball team looks to bounce back Wednesday night as George Mason visits the Mullins Center. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the women's team which hosts Fordham at 5 PM. The men's game will tip at 7:30 PM and both games will be televised by Eleven Sports and carried regionally on NESN Plus.
Tim Neverett and Frank Sullivan will call the action for Eleven Sports which serves as the home of UMass basketball, hockey and football televised broadcasts. Eleven Sports can be viewed on DIRECTV channel 623, Verizon Fios channel 597, AT&T U-verse channel 1665 and on Fubo.tv and PlayStation Vue.
On the radio airwaves, the game will be broadcast on the UMass Sports Network anchored by flagship station 105.5 FM WEEI and online via the TuneIn App. Voice of the Minutemen Josh Maurer and former Minuteman Tim Collins will have the call.
Malik Hines scored a career-high 16 points in the loss at St. Bonaventure as one of four Minutemen to reach double-figures. Luwane Pipkins had a team-high 17 points, while C.J. Anderson and Rashaan Holloway added 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Bonnies were led by 32 points from Jaylen Adams and 28 points by Matt Mobley - one of the top guard combos in the country. A flurry of first half three pointers allowed St. Bonaventure to build a nine-point lead at halftime and took advantage of a six-minute stretch in the second half where the Minutemen were unable to score from the field.
George Mason won both meetings against UMass last season - an 86-81 decision in Fairfax, Va., and a 76-74 victory in Amherst. That evened the series 3-3 overall. Five of the six meetings in the series have been decided by six-or-fewer points. The Patriots also dropped their 2017 A-10 opener on Saturday falling 83-64 at Rhode Island.
UMass continues to be led by Pipkins who is averaging 18.1 points followed by Pierre who is averaging 10.1 points in his rookie campaign. Rashaan Holloway ranks third on the team with 9.7 points in just under 18 minutes of play. The lone senior on the roster, C.J. Anderson, has been one of the most well-rounded players on the squad with 8.5 points, 5.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Pipkins continues to rank among the A-10 leaders this season as the sophomore guard ranks fifth overall in scoring average. Defensively, the Chicago native is eighth overall in steals per game (1.6).
Anderson ranks second among the league's best in assists as well with 5.8 per game while his 81 assists are second-most overall.
As a team, UMass ranks third in shooting percentage (45.9%), second in three-point percentage (38.8%) and four in free throw percentage (75.1%) this season. UMass' 120 made three-pointers are third most in the league.
The Patriots are led by Otis Livingstone II who averages 14.2 points per game as one of four players in double-figures this season. Jaire Grayer is just behind with a 13.5 point average and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game. Goanar Mar and Justin Kier round out the top scorers with 11.9 and 10.9 points, respectively.
Following Wednesday's game, UMass will head back out on the road this Saturday for a Noon game at Dayton which will be nationally televised on the NBC Sports Network.
For complete coverage of the UMass men's basketball team, follow the Minutemen on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @UMassBasketball and online at www.UMassAthletics.com.
