University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass Plays No. 8 UConn in MassMutual U Game Tonight
November 22, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 1999
Storrs, Conn. - Scoring Punch In only one game so far this season the Minutemen have lived up to their new and improved offensive game with 85 points in the season opener at Iona. Last season, UMass scored 80 or more points only twice in 30 games. The Minutemen scored 87 against Niagara in the season opener and 80 points against Duquesne in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament. Five Minutemen scored in double-figures on Saturday against the Gaels led by Monty Mack?s 21 off the bench. Last season UMass failed to have any contests where five Minutemen scored in double-figures.
The Stopper Senior Mike Babul is known nationally as one of the best defensive players in the country. On Saturday he picked up right where he left off with a lock-down on MAAC preseason player of the year, Tarik Kirksay. Babul, who has been nursing a lower back strain the past three weeks, did not draw the assignment at the beginning of the game and Kirksay would score 15 first half points. The high scoring Gael would fail to register a field goal in the second half after Babul took over on the coverage. Kirksay wouldn?t score until 19 seconds left in the game with the final verdict already decided. Babul will most likely tonight draw Kevin Freeman as his assignment. Last year against the Huskie Babul held All-America Richard Hamilton to 11 points on 3-11 shooting from the field.
Its UConn/UMass Weekend For the first time in at least 20 years the Huskies and Minutemen are meeting in ice hockey, football and basketball all in the same weekend. UMass hockey won 7-4 Friday night and the playoff bound Minuteman football team thrashed UConn on Saturday, 62-20. UMass needs a win tonight for a sweep over its biggest rival.
vs. UCONN This will be the 102nd meeting between UMass and UConn with the Huskies holding a decided advantage in the winner?s column with 63 victories to the Minutemen?s 38. The Minutemen have played only Rhode Island more times than the Huskies. Last year in Amherst it was UConn again coming out on top in front of a national ESPN audience with a 59-54 victory (SEE BOX). The Huskies have had the upperhand in the series lately winning the last eight contests. The last time UMass won was in 1983 in a 67-65 overtime victory in the Curry Hicks Cage. That victory in 1983 is the only W for the Minutemen in the last 16 contests spanning over 20 years. UMass and UConn have never met in the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. This will only be the second time these two schools have met in November.
Overall Series UConn, 63-38
Bruiser Flint vs. UConn 0-3
Last Meeting: UConn, (59-54) on 12/9/98 at the MC
Last Five Meetings: UConn, 5-0
In Overtime: UConn, 3-2
UMass Record vs. UConn When Played in:
November 0-1
December 9-17
January 13-14
February 16-30
March 0-1
Massachusetts 25-27
Connecticut 13-35
UMass in the Series
Largest Margin of Victory 44 66-22 Feb.14, 1905
Largest Margin of Defeat 42 50-92 Feb. 28, 1951 42 57-99 Dec. 4, 1957
Most Points 89 89-67 Feb. 13, 1971
Fewest Points 13 13-31 Jan. 14, 1922 13 13-21 Jan. 19, 1929
Longest Winning Streak 6 games 2/4/31 to 1/15/36
UConn in the Series
Largest Margin of Victory 42 92-50 Feb. 28, 1951 42 99-57 Dec. 4, 1957
Largest Margin of Defeat 44 22-66 Feb.14, 1905
Most Points 104 104-75 Jan. 30, 1989
Fewest Points 12 12-33 Jan. 20, 1917
Longest Winning Streak 10 games 1/13/37 to 1/12/49
MassMutual U Game The fourth annual ?MassMutual U Game? is the third game in a seven year basketball contract between Connecticut and Massachusetts. Following this season?s matchup at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on the UConn campus, the annual game between the New England rivals will move to the Hartford Civic Center for the 2000-01 game. The contest will then rotate to the Mullins Center on the UMass campus (2001-02), back to Gampel Pavilion (2002-03), and then back to the Hartford Civic Center (2003-04).
Debut Three UMass players made their collegiate debuts as a Minuteman in a regular season game this past Saturday at Iona...Junior JoVann Johnson, sophomore Shannon Crooks and freshman Micah Brand all saw gametime in their first opportunity in the maroon & white...Crooks started athe shooting guardand finished the game with 11 points on 50 percent shooting from the field... for Crooks it was his first regular season game after sitting out a year last season after transferring from St. John?s University...Brand is the only freshman on the squad...he had a team high seven rebounds coming off the bench in 22 minutes of action...Johnson is a junior college transfer from Wabash Valley College in Mt. Carmel, Ill. who failed to scored in only two minutes of play.
Center(s) of Attention It is still very early in the season BUT, while Lari Ketner plays for the Chicago Bulls the 1999-2000 UMass big men did look good in their season debut. In fact, senior Anthony Oates, junior Kitwana Rhymer and freshman Micah Brand combined for a total of 39 minutes of playing time at Iona on Saturday. In that span they scored 18 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked a shot. Rhymer, who foulded out with only 11 minutes of action under his belt, was 6 of 8 from the field for a career-high 12 points to go along with seven rebounds. Brand also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and five fouls in 22 minutes of action. Oates provided much needed depth while scoring two points, grabbing a couple of boards and a critical steal late in the game.
Welcome to the Team Senior Dwayne Early is the latest addition to the UMass basketball family. Early is a 6-4, 205-pound walk-on guard from Springfield Central High School. Early will be wearing No. 24 this season. Joining him is C.W. Post transfer, Dale Menendez. Menendez is 5-8, 180 pound point guard who will not be eligible to play this season due to NCAA transfer rules. At Westhampton Beach high school, Menendez led his team to the New York State Class B Championship after posting a perfect 28-0 record. He pulled double duty for Westhampton scoring 1,000 points while also rushing for 1,000 yards in his career as a tailback.
Television Update UMass basketball has been a popular television show in the ?90s and continues to be a prominant TV player as the new millenium beckons. Three more games have been added to the television slate, giving the Minutemen 20 televised games during the regular season. In Detroit against the Titans, Fox-Detroit is producing the now 3:05 tipoff (previously 4:05), and the game will be aired locally by Fox-New England. The New England Sports Network (NESN) has also announced that it will be televising the Commonwealth Classic pitting UMass against Boston College at Conte Forum, and the UMass-Providence tilt on December 30 at the Providence Civic Center.
Any Time, Any Place, Any Team This season, UMass will have 10 teams on their schedule which appeared in the 1999 NCAA Tournament and two teams that competed in last year?s NIT. This schedule includes a game against defending national champion UConn, and games against perennial national powers Texas and Villanova, 1999 NCAA Tourney participants Detroit, Rhode Island, Temple and George Washington, and NIT participants, Xavier and Providence. The Minutemen will appear on television at least 20 times this year, including seven national telecasts.
Time Out A new timeout policy has been installed by the NCAA and will be in effect this season. The Atlantic 10 has adopted this policy for all games. Media will be guaranteed protection fro 105 seconds during nine (9) timeouts per game. Each ?Full media timeout? shall last one minute, 45 seconds from the time the game official signals the timeout. All team-called timeouts, except for the first one, shall last 30 seconds from the time the game official signals the timeout. Nine ?full media timeouts? shall be permitted per game. Those include four each half at the first non-shooting dead-ball situation after the game clock has passed 16:00, 12:00, 8:00 and 4:00 minutes remaining. The other ?full media timeout? will be the first team-called timeout, whenever it occurs. That timeout does not replace one of the scheduled ?full media timeouts.? All other team-called timeouts will be 30 seconds including any timeouts taken during any overtime period. Each team is entitle to five 30-second timeouts and may carry-over four of those timeouts to the second half. Each team is entitled to one additional 30-second timeout during each extra period. Unused 30-second timeouts from the second half may be used at any time.
Exhibition Season The Minutemen wrapped up a challenging exhibition season with an overtime victory, downing the Converse All-Stars 97-88 at the Mullins Center. Senior forward Chris Kirkland (Timmonsville, S.C.) led the Minutemen with 23 points and eight rebounds, while junior center Kitwana Rhymer (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) added 15 points and 17 rebounds. UMass trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half before cutting the defecit to seven at the half. The Minutemen registered their first lead with 3:59 left in regulation when junior JoVann Johnson (Johnson City, Tenn.) hit both of his free throws to put UMass up 71-70. After 40 minutes of play the game was knotted at 78 a piece. In overtime UMass jumped out to an early lead but fell behind by two after five consecutive points by Converse. The Minutemen put the game away with a 12-2 run in the final 2:16 of play for the nine point victory. Junior Jonathan DePina (Boston, Mass.) posted one of the best games of his UMass career with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Also scoring in double figures was sophomore Shannon Crooks (Everett, Mass.) with 17 points while Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds. UMass opened the exhibition season with an impressive offensive showing, downing the California All-Stars 103-97 at the Mullins Center. Crooks led the Minutemen with 24 points and seven assists, while Kirkland added 26 points and six rebounds. UMass opened the game with a 17-8 run and never trailed in the contest, behind its potent fast-break offense. The Minutemen saw their lead grow as large as 14 points with just under five minutes remaining in the game, before a late spurt by the All-Stars made the final score look close. UMass scored 30 fast break points on the evening, while also totaling 72 points in the paint. Freshman forward Micah Brand (Middletown, N.Y.), playing his first game in a UMass uniform, totaled 16 points and eight rebounds, including an impressive 10 for 10 performance at the free throw line. DePina had 13 points and six assists, while Rhymer added 10 points and nine boards.
Last Game For the third time in four tries under head coach Bruiser Flint the Minutemen opened the basketball season with a victory. UMass was trailing by as many as nine in the second half after trailing by five at halftime. A defensive change putting Mike Babul on Tariq Kirksay in the second half catapulted the Minutemen to a 47 point second half while holding Kirksay to five points from the free throw line after the game had already been decided. The Minutemen went on a 11-1 run to take their first second half lead, 49-48, with 13:32 left in the game. The Gaels would follow immediatly with a score for a one point lead by a three-pointer by Monty Mack put UMass back on top to stay. UMass outrebounded the Gaels in the second half by a 28 to 16 margin giving the Minutemen 48 boards for the contest. Mack led all scorers with 21 points giving him 1,006 in his career - a scant 63 games. Junior Kitwana Rhymer scored a career-high 12 points.
Did You Know? The 85-77 win at Iona was the first time UMass has opened a season in an opponent?s home gym with a victory in 22 years. Not since the Minutemen defeated Harvard in Cambridge by a score of 73-66 to open the 1977-78 season under coach Jack Leaman had they accomplished it.
Captain(s) of the Ship Senior leadership has always played an important part of UMass basketball and this year should be a banner year in that department. Seniors Mike Babul and Chris Kirkland were named co-captains this year not only because of their improved play but because of their leadership skills and poise under fire.
