University of Massachusets Athletics
Men's Basketball Game Notes Against Marquette
November 20, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2000
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Game No. 2
UMass (1-0) vs. Marquette (0-1)
Monday, Nov. 20, 2000, 6 p.m., Bradley Center (19,150), Milwaukee, Wis.
TV: Nationally, ESPN2 with Bob Carpenter (play-by-play) and Larry Conley (color)
Radio: UMass Radio Network--Bob Behler (play-by-play) and Jack Leaman (color)
Live Internet Broadcast: umassathletics.com
Tonight's Officials: Jim Burr, Art McDonald, Jim Jenkins
Tonight: Before the national spotlight of ESPN2, a pair of 2000 National Invitation Tournament entrants square off, as coach Bruiser Flint's 1-0 UMass basketball team faces the 0-1 Golden Eagles of Marquette. This is the second of 14 games against 2000 postseason tournament teams for the Minutemen, who opened their 92nd season of intercollegiate basketball by handing 2000 NCAA Tournament participant Iona a 67-65 setback Saturday night in Amherst. UMass, which won its opener for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, hopes to go 2-0 for the first time since the 1995-96 team ripped off 26 straight victories to open the season en route to a school-record 35 wins (against two losses) and the school's first-ever Final Four appearance. The Minutemen, who have appeared in postseason play 10 times over the last 11 seasons, only started 2-0 three times over that stretch (1991-92, 5-0 start, 1993-94, 3-0, 1995-96, 26-0).
The Marquette game also marks the return of senior guard Monty Mack, who was suspended from UMass' first two exhibition games and the Iona contest. Mack, the consensus preseason player of the year in the Atlantic 10 Conference, is the nation's second-highest active career scorer (1,617 points) behind Centenary's Robert McCollum, who began the season with 1,737 points. Mack, who ranks fifth on the all-time UMass scoring chart, needs 27 points to overtake No. 4 Tony Barbee (1989-93).
The Golden Eagles are 0-1 on the season after dropping a 67-54 homecourt decision to South Alabama in the opening round of the Preseason NIT six days ago. Marquette will be looking to avoid its first 0-2 start since the 1990-91 team dropped its opening game in the Preseason NIT at Duke, then its second game of the season at Kansas. The Golden Eagles, who have earned a postseason bid seven times in the last eight seasons (NIT in 1999-2000), haven't started 0-2 on their homecourt since the 1957-58 team opened 0-3 at home. Like UMass, Marquette is an experienced team, as it returns 73 percent of its scoring and 85.5 percent of its rebounding from last year's 15-14 unit which finished 8-8 in Conference USA (fourth in the American Division).
The Coaches: Minuteman bench boss James "Bruiser" Flint (St. Joseph's, 1987) is 72-57 (.558) in his fifth season on the UMass sideline, and his 12th overall in Amherst. One of only two coaches in school history to take three teams to postseason play in their first four seasons at the UMass helm (John Calipari was the other), Flint is the fifth-winningest coach in school history, and needs 10 victories to overtake No. 4 Robert Curran.
Flint, whose first two Minuteman squads earned NCAA Tournament bids and whose fourth team went to the NIT, owns a 41-23 (.641) record in regular-season Atlantic 10 Conference play. Each of Flint's first four UMass squads have finished third or higher in the A-10 standings, and his 2000 unit became the first to reach the conference tournament semifinals since the 1996 squad captured the last of five consecutive league crowns. In addition, his program has produced at least one all-conference performer each season, and nine of his 11 seniors (81.8 percent) have left Amherst with degree in hand. Before being tabbed to replace Calipari, Flint spent seven seasons as an assistant to Cal on the UMass bench. One of only 31 active Division I head coaches to have both played and coached a team in the NCAA Tournament, he is coaching against Marquette for the first time.
Marquette's Tom Crean (Central Michigan, 1989) owns a 15-15 (.500) record in his second season as a head coach, all at Marquette. In his rookie season, the Golden Eagles finished 15-14, earned a postseason tournament bid (NIT) and finished 8-8 in Conference USA's American Division. Prior to being selected as the 15th coach in Marquette history, Crean spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Michigan State, Pitt and Western Kentucky, and eight of those 10 squads earned postseason bids. He is coaching against UMass for the first time.
The Series: Second meeting in a series Marquette leads, 1-0, after posting a 62-55 victory over the Julius Erving-led Minutemen in the first round of the 1970 National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden. For the record, Erving had 18 points and 14 rebounds in 40 minutes of work against a Marquette team which went on to beat Utah, LSU and St. John's to claim the title. The UMass coach that evening in the Big Apple was Jack Leaman, who went on to become the school's winningest basketball coach and now serves as the color analyst on the UMass Sports Network. The Minutemen are 8-9 all-time against Conference USA foes.
Mack's Back: All-America and Atlantic 10 Player of the Year candidate Monty Mack will see his first action of the season tonight after sitting out both UMass exhibition games and the season opener against Iona as punishment for an off-court incident. Mack, who begins his senior season ranked fifth on the UMass all-time scoring chart with 1,617 points, ranks second among all active Division I players in career scoring, behind Centenary's Ronnie McCollum's 1,737 points.
Mighty Mack: After earning first-team All-Atlantic 10 Conference honors a year ago, senior guard Monty Mack should challenge for All-America honors in his final season as a Minuteman. Mack, who averaged 19.8 points per game a year ago, is on track to become just the second player in school history to top the 2,000-point mark, joining Jim McCoy, who tallied 2,374 points in four seasons from 1988-92. He starts his final campaign with 1,617 points, good for fifth on the UMass career scoring list, and needs 289 to climb into second and 383 to reach the 2,000-point plateau. His 1,617 points rank as the second-highest three-season point total in UMass history, behind McCoy's three-year total of 1,818 points. Last year, Mack became the first UMass player since Marcus Camby in 1996 to earn both first team all-league and all-tournament honors in the same season.
Team Captains Selected: The UMass coaching staff has selected a trio of seniors, guards Monty Mack and Jonathan DePina and forward Winston Smith, to serve as tri-captains for the 2000-01 season. It marks the fifth time in school history, and the first since 1996-97, that tri-captains have been named. In three of the four seasons tri-captains have led the team, UMass has advanced to postseason play (1974-75, NIT, 1991-92, NCAA Tournament, 1996-97, NCAA Tournament). The first UMass basketball team to have tri-captains came in 1963-64.
Four for 1,000: In its 92nd season of intercollegiate basketball competition, UMass needs just four wins to reach the 1,000-victory mark. The Minutemen, who own an all-time record of 996-879 (.531) on the hardwood, have enjoyed their greatest success over the last 11-plus seasons, posting a 255-110 (.699) mark and advancing to postseason play 10 times in that span while winning an average of 23.1 games per season.
70 or More Equals Victory: In 13 of its 17 victories last season, UMass tallied 70 or more points, and for the season it was 13-2 when putting 70-plus points on the scoreboard. Under coach Bruiser Flint, the Minutemen are 39-10 (.796) all-time when reaching the 70-point mark. But, UMass is just 11-33 (.250) under Flint when it allows 70 or more points, including a 3-8 mark a year ago.
Sizzling From the Field: In its season-opening victory over Iona, UMass hit 54.0 percent from the field, including a red-hot 59.3 percent effort in the first half, the best opening game shooting effort in the Bruiser Flint era. The Minutemen were 7-0 a year ago when shooting 50.0 percent or better from the floor, own a 26-4 mark under Flint when hitting better than half of their fielders and have won 12-straight when reaching the 50.0 percent mark since an 88-83 loss to George Washington in the quarterfinals of the 1998 Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Crooks Picks Up Slack: With senior guard Monty Mack on the sideline, Mack's backcourt runningmate, junior Shannon Crooks, stepped up his game against Iona. Crooks tallied a team-high 20 points, and recorded a Mullins Center-record-tying six steals against the Gaels in 39 minutes of work. It was the fourth time in his career that Crooks has tallied the 20-point mark, and the Minutemen are 4-0 in those contests. Crooks, who has had 17 multiple-steal games in 34 career appearances, recorded a career-high six thefts against Iona, a mark which equalled the fifth-best single-game effort in school history.
Impressive Debuts: Junior forward Eric Williams, who sat out the 1999-2000 season after transferring from Syracuse, was impressive in his first game in a Maroon and White uniform. Williams came off the bench to score 14 points and grab nine rebounds in 26 minutes of work. He was five-for-five from the field and four-of-six from the foul line against the Gaels. In addition to Williams, junior forward Jackie Rogers and freshman swingman Willie Jenkins made their collegiate debuts. Rogers tallied eight points in 19 minutes, while Jenkins had two points and an assist in five minutes.
DePina is Steady: Senior guard Jonathan DePina played a strong all-around game against Iona. He scored nine points, dished out seven assists and collected one steal in a career-high-tying 40-minute effort against the Gaels. DePina, who hit 44.4 percent of his three-point attempts as a junior, connected on two-of-four treys against Iona.
We Can Play the "D": A trademark of the UMass basketball program over the last 12 years has been stingy defensive play, and that looks to again be the case this season. The Minutemen have held 37 of their last 43 opponents to under 50 percent shooting from the field (UMass is 21-16 in those games) and 21 foes to under 40 percent (16-5) marksmanship. Saturday night, Iona hit 46.7 percent from the field against the Minutemen. Under Bruiser Flint, UMass has held an opponent to under 40 percent shooting 66 times (in 129 total games) and owns a 52-14 (.788) record in those contests. Last year, UMass ranked fourth in the A-10 in both scoring defense (64.8 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.412). Each of Flint's first four teams rank among the school's top 10 in fewest points allowed per game (since the 1951-52 season), with the average points scored against UMass in that stretch being 64.6 points per game.
Defensive Wizards: A year ago, UMass averaged a school-record 9.0 steals per game and recorded 296 thefts, the second-highest one-season total in school history. They picked up right where they left off a year ago, as the Minutemen recorded 11 steals in the Iona victory. In UMass' win at Rhode Island a year ago, the Minutemen totaled 18 steals, their highest one-game total since a 21-steal effort against St. Joseph's, on Feb. 28, 1990. Monty Mack (62), Chris Kirkland (60) and Shannon Crooks (58) accounted for 180 of the team's 296 thefts, and the trio ranked fifth, eighth and 10th on the A-10 leader board in steals. UMass was the only team to have three of its players rank among the A-10's top 10 in steals a year ago. Prior to the 1999-2000 campaign, only five players in UMass history had recorded 50 or more steals in a single season.
Consistent Success: The A-10's winningest program over the last 11 seasons, UMass is one of 21 Division I schools to have earned 10 postseason tournament bids in the last 11 years (from 1989-90 through 1999-2000). The guest list:
11 Postseason Bids: Arizona, Arkansas, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Purdue, Temple and UCLA.
10 Postseason Bids: Duke, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Stanford, Syracuse, UMass, Wake Forest.
Another Winning A-10 Record: With nine victories in A-10 play a year ago, the Minutemen finished with a winning record against league opponents for the 11th consecutive season. UMass posted 10-8 conference records in both 1989-90 and 1990-91, went 13-3 in 1991-92, had an 11-3 mark in 1992-93 and posted a 14-2 record in 1993-94. The Minutemen then went 13-3 in conference play in 1994-95, posted a 15-1 mark in 1995-96, had an 11-5 mark in 1996-97 and went 12-4 in 1997-98. Over the last two seasons, UMass has posted identical 9-7 worksheets. The Minutemen, who haven't had a losing record in A-10 play since a 5-13 mark in 1988-89, own a 127-51 (.713) mark in regular-season league games over the last 11 years and have captured 10 conference titles (five regular season, five tournament) in that stretch.
The Schedule: UMass Basketball continues to subscribe to the any time, any place, any where scheduling philosophy, and that will again be the case this season, as tonight's game marks the second of 14 games against teams which earned postseason bids a year ago. In non-conference play, the Minutemen will face six teams which participated in postseason play last year, including 2000 Final Four entrant North Carolina in the opening round of the Hardee's Tournament of Champions in Charlotte, N.C. Other NCAA Tournament teams on the schedule include Oregon, Ohio State, UConn and Iona, the team UMass beat in the its season opener. Tonight's opponent, Marquette, is the only 2000 NIT team on ths schedule in non-league play. When A-10 play begins in January, UMass will face all three of the league's entries into the 2000 NCAA Tournament home and home, Temple, St. Bonaventure and Dayton, and it gets to play the league's other postseason tournament team, Xavier (NIT), twice as well.
Early Signees: During the recently completed early-signing period, the Minutemen received national letters of intent from forwards Eddie Basden (Greenbelt, Md.) and Mauricio Branwell (Silver Spring,Md.) and guard Jeremiah King (Passaic, N.J.). Basden averaged 19.3 points and seven rebounds as a junior at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, while Branwell averaged 18 points and 13 rebounds as a junior at Dunbar High School. King averaged 22.6 points a year ago at Paterson Catholic (N.J.) High School and will play at the Winchendon (Mass.) School as a senior. Branwell will play at Notre Dame Prep School in Fitchburg, Mass., this season.
"With what we have signed in the fall, combined with what we have sitting out, we've really positioned the program for continued success in the coming years," UMass head coach Bruiser Flint said. "These guys are difference makers."
Quick Tips: Senior forward Winston Smith made the eighth start of his career and his first since his freshman season against Iona...he responded with four points, four rebounds, a career-high five assists and three steals in 35 minutes of work...the 2000-01 seasons marks the 25th year of A-10 basketball, and the Minutemen have been there for every season...the A-10, of course, was founded as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League and started play with the 1976-77 campaign...the league became the Eastern Eight a year later, and the A-10 in 1983...prior to last season, the last time UMass made the NIT (after the 1990-91 season), it followed that with a streak of seven straight NCAA Tournament bids...seven of UMass' 16 losses last season were by seven or fewer points...the Minutemen have hit at least one three-point goal in 64-straight games since a first-round 1998 NCAA Tournament loss to Saint Louis...UMass has produced at least one all-conference performer for 17-straight seasons...the UMass coaching staff has a new face, as Chuck Martin replaced Tony Barbee (who joined former Minuteman coach John Calipari in Memphis) in May...in the election spirit, it should be noted that UMass may be the nation's only college basketball program to have had both a Bush (Louis, 1940-41) and a Gore (Harold, 1916-29) lead its basketball program...tonight's game marks UMass' first-ever appearance in Wisconsin, the 22nd different state the Minutemen have played in under Bruiser Flint...Flint's teams are 5-2 on Monday's during his tenure.
From Here: UMass hits the road again for a Saturday afternoon game against Holy Cross at Worcester. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at The Centrum. Marquette is idle until hosting the Blue and Gold Classic, Dec. 1-2.