UMass Dedicates Jack Leaman Court On Saturday Vs. Dayton

UMass Hosts Dayton On Saturday; Dedicates Court To Jack Leaman At Halftime
 Saturday will be a historic day for the University of Massachusetts as the court at the Mullins Center will be named in honor of the man most synonymous with UMass basketball Jack Leaman. The official court-naming ceremony will take place at halftime of the game against Dayton. At UMass, Leaman worked for more than 40 years. He coached the men's basketball team from 1966-79, the women's basketball team in 1986-87 and following that stint, he served the athletics department in a variety of roles as an assistant coach and radio broadcaster until his untimely death on March 6, 2004. He led the UMass basketball program for 13 seasons, compiling a career record of 217-126. The all-time winningest coach in school history, Leaman guided UMass to eight Yankee Conference titles in a nine-year span (1968-71, 1973-76), and six National Invitation Tournament appearances (1970-71, 1973-75, 1977). A two-time New England Coach of the Year, Leaman coached Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, Boston College head coach Al Skinner and UMass Athletic Hall of Famers Bill Tindall, Joe DiSarcina and Ray Ellerbrook. Leaman coached 22 All-Yankee Conference selections during his tenure at UMass.

 The Minutemen (11-13, 6-7 A-10) look to pull back to .500 in Atlantic 10 action on Saturday as Dayton pays UMass a visit. The Flyers are 13-14 overall and have posted a 5-8 record in conference play. UMass suffered a heart breaking loss to Charlotte on Wednesday night falling in the final seconds on a Curtis Withers' free throw, while Dayton enjoyed an upset victory over Xavier on Tuesday. The Minutemen have won just two of their last six games and fell on Wednesday for just the second time in the last 14 games at the Mullins Center. Dayton has posted a 3-3 record over the last six games, but each of their losses have come on the road. The Flyers, however, hold a 7-4 all-time record in the series against UMass and have won the last five straight games.

 UMass is led by the trio of Rashaun Freeman, James Life and Stephane Lasme who are averaging 13.8, 10.5 and 9.6 points per game, respectively. Freeman and Lasme also lead the team on the boards with 9.3 and 6.8 rebounds per contest each. Lasme is still third in the nation in blocked shots per game at 4.1 per contest. UMass is third nationally as a team (7.4).

 The Flyers are led by Brian Roberts (16.7 ppg), Monty Scott (10.8 ppg) and Norman Plummer (10.3 ppg). Dayton suffered a seven-game losing skid at the end of its non-conference and beginning of its Atlantic 10 schedule, but have righted the ship somewhat winning five of its last nine games.

 The game will be televised live in Ohio on WHIO Television and will be available via streaming video online for a cost of $5. Mike Hartsock, play-by-play and Derrick Dukes, color call the action. The game will be carried on the UMass Sports Network on 100.9 FM in Western Massachusetts and 830 AM and 95.9 FM in the Eastern portion of the state. Bob Behler and Kevin Kennedy call the action for UMass. Gametracker will be available on UMassAthletics.com and DaytonFlyers.com.

The Series With Dayton
 This will be the 12th meeting between UMass and Dayton, with the Flyers leading the all-time series 7-4. Dayton has won five straight in the series, with the last victory for the Minutemen coming at the Mullins Center on Jan. 18, 2001 (62-57). Dayton won last year's meeting, 53-52 in Dayton on March 1, 2005.

 Prior to the Flyers' current five -game win streak, UMass had won three out of four meetings between the schools.

 For all games played at the Mullins Center, the Minutemen and Flyers are tied at 3-3. Dayton has won the last two including its last two trips to Amherst on Jan. 29, 2002 (83-68) and Feb. 8, 2004 (66-59).  For games in Dayton, UMass is 1-4 with that only win coming in 1999 in overtime, 59-57.

 UMass coach Travis Ford is 1-1 all-time against Dayton as he led Eastern Kentucky to a 73-66 win in Dayton in the 2004-05 season opener for both teams on Nov. 21, 2004. Ford's Colonels connected on nine of their first 11 shots in the game and built a lead as large as 13 points holding on for the seven-point win. Several members of Ford's current staff were a part of EKU's win: Associate Head Coach Tim Maloney, Assistant Coach Steve Middleton, Director of Operations James Altman and Staff Assistant Austin Newton. Ford's Colonels lost an 82-70 decision at Dayton on Dec. 8, 2001. Dayton's Brian Gregory is 2-0 against UMass winning each of the last two seasons and 0-1 against Ford, losing last season's opener.

Last Meeting: March 1, 2005, Dayton 53, UMass 52
DAYTON, Ohio - Despite a boost from freshman Lawrence Carrier who tied his then-career-high with 11 points off the bench, UMass fell 53-52 to Dayton at a packed UD Arena. In a game that came down to the wire, the Flyers' Warren Williams converted a pair of free throws with 3.5 seconds to play to escape.

With just under two minutes to play, Rashaun Freeman hit the front-end of a pair of free throws and converted a tip-in off a Chris Chadwick miss on the same possession to tie the game at 48 each.

Dayton's Jimmy Binnie hit his biggest shot of the game on the ensuing Flyer possession as he drilled a three-pointer with the shot clock expiring and Stephane Lasme drapped all over him.

That shot was the ninth three-pointer for Dayton in the game and gave the Flyers a 51-48 lead. Dayton hit 9-of-18 deep shots compared to just 5-of-13 for the Minutemen.

The Minutemen (15-11, 8-7 A-10) took the lead with just over four seconds remaining as Freeman was able steal the ball from Brian Roberts and find Maurice Maxwell who threw down a fastbreak dunk to take a 52-51 lead.

Freeman then was called for the foul, his fifth, and Williams hit both free throws as UMass was over the limit. UMass got the ball up the court with 3.5 seconds on the clock, but Chadwick's heave as the buzzer sounded fell just short and Dayton held on for the win.

Home Sweet Home At Mullins
 UMass saw its 12-game home win streak at the Mullins Center end on Feb. 8. The Minutemen had not lost a home game in more than a year, last falling to Richmond on Jan. 29, 2005. When the streak was broken only 11 teams had longer home wins streaks in the nation. UMass had the longest home win streak in the A-10. That honor now belongs to George Washington which has won 13 in a row after their win over UMass on Feb. 15.

 UMass is now 8-2 at home this season. After the three-game road swing, UMass hosts three of its final four games at home, starting with the Feb. 22 game vs. Charlotte, a narrow 72-71 loss.

 The win streak stands as the second-longest home win streak in the history of the Mullins Center. The longest home win streak in the history of the Mullins Center came from the building's opening, as the Minutemen reeled off 27 wins starting with the debut game, a 64-59 win over West Virginia on Feb. 4, 1993. The streak lasted until late in the 1994-95 season when George Washington beat the Minutemen on Feb. 14, 1995.

 Those 27 games came after six wins in a row to close the Curry Hicks Cage, setting the overall UMass record for 33 home wins a row.

 UMass won 11 in a row after George Washington ended the record streak, giving UMass 38 wins in the arena's first 39 games. The Minutemen also won 10 in a row from Feb. 6, 1997 to Feb. 1, 1998. That streak was ended by Temple with a 61-47 win on Feb. 3, 1998.

 UMass is in its 14th season of play at the William D. Mullins Memorial Center, and has posted an all-time record of 124-49 (.723) in the building with a 8-2 mark this season. Last year, UMass was 12-5 at the Mullins Center as they hosted a school-record 17 games. The 12 home wins last season was the second-best total at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen were 14-0 in 1993-94 and 11-1 in 1994-95.

 With the addition of last year's 12-5 home record, UMass has not had a losing record at home since moving into the new arena in 1992-93. In fact, UMass has gone 22 straight seasons without having a losing record on its home court. The Minutemen also own a 71-32 (.696) all-time record in regular season Atlantic 10 Conference games at the Mullins Center.

Ford-Tough At Home
 UMass head coach Travis Ford has been strong at home over the last two years winning 20 of the last 23 games he has coached at his home arena. He posted a 12-1 record at Eastern Kentucky's McBrayer Arena prior to this year's 8-2 start at the Mullins Center. Ford led his teams to 14 home wins with EKU closing the 2004-05 season with seven wins a row at home on their way to the NCAA Tournament. He has added seven more this season at UMass. Staff members Tim Maloney, Steve Middleton, James Altman and Austin Newton were all with EKU as well.

UMass Names Team Captains
 On Jan. 16, head coach Travis Ford announced the selections of team captains for the remainder of the season. Senior Jeff Viggiano along with juniors Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme were named team captains this season. Ford said, after the rough BC loss, these three players have taken on responsibility and leadership roles earning the right to be named captains.

Defense, Defense, Defense!
 UMass has put extra emphasis on defense in the last two months since conference play has begun. In Atlantic 10 games, UMass had the top defense in nearly every category through mid-February. Currently, in A-10 games alone, UMass has the top defense is five categories: field goal percentage defense (38.3), blocked shots (6.77), defensive rebounds (26.1), rebounding (38.2) and rebounding margin (+4.6). They are second in 3-point field goal percentage defense (29.2).

 UMass has been dominant on the glass of late including a season-best 54 rebounds at St. Bonaventure when the Minutemen outrebounding the Bonnies 54-33, +21. The Minutemen have outrebounded opponents in four straight games. Overall UMass has outrebounded foes in 17 of 24 games

 UMass has held eight teams to less than 60 points and four teams to 50 points or less. UMass held Temple to just 34 points on Jan. 21. That was the lowest point total for a UMass opponent in 56 years, since the Minutemen beat Norwich, 37-28 on Jan. 7, 1950. It was Temple's lowest point total since 1973 when they lost to Tennessee, 11-6, in a stalling game.

 Over a five-game stretch from Jan. 11-25, UMass held each opponent to less than 40 percent from the floor including Temple to a season-low of 26.5 percent. That was the lowest by a UMass opponent since Boston College shot 22.3 on Dec. 10, 1998.

 The defense on the 3-point arc has been even more dominant as only one A-10 team shot over 30 percent in UMass' first six A-10 games. UMass held Temple to 10.0 percent (2-for-20) on Jan. 21. The Minutemen limited Saint Joseph's to 16.0 percent (4-for-25) on Jan. 11, which is remarkable as the Hawks came into the game leading the league in 3-point field goal percentage at 41.7 percent.

Not In Lasme's House
 Stephane Lasme is third in the nation in shots blocked per game at 4.1. He has 97 blocks in 24 games. He trails Northeastern's Shawn James (6.5) and Wyoming's Justin Williams (5.2). They are the only ones with more than 4.0 per game.

 Lasme's 97 total blocks are more than the entire team totals for eight of the 14 Atlantic 10 teams with UMass leading the way with 177. As a team, Dayton has 71.

 UMass is third in the nation in blocked shots with 7.4 per game. Connecticut is first at 9.3 per game and Northeastern has moved to second at 8.0 per contest. UMass was second most of the season until mid-February,

 Lasme has moved to third all-time at UMass in career blocked shots becoming the fourth UMass player with 200 swats in his career. He has 220 overall passing Lari Ketner (204) against URI on Feb. 4; Edwin Green (190) in the Temple game on Jan. 21, Kitwana Rhymer (184) in the Fordham game and Will Herndon (128) with his performance at Davidson. Next on the list is Harper Williams with 222. Marcus Camby is the all-time leader with 336.

 Amazingly, through just 16 games, Lasme's season was already the fourth-best in single-season in blocked shots with 75. He now has 97 this season. With his seven blocks at Rhode Island on Jan. 28, he moved past his own mark of 72 which was sixth as well as Ketner (73) and Williams (74). The record for a season is 128 by Camby, who has the three top seasons.

 He is third on the team scoring at 9.6 per game and second in rebounding at 6.8 per game. He has seven games this season with five or more blocked shots.

 Lasme has four double-doubles this season with the last coming at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 19 with 11 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. He also had them against La Salle on Jan. 29 with 13 points and 12 rebounds. He also did it vs. St. Peter's and at Davidson.

 He is shooting 62.3 percent from the floor, which would rank him second in the A-10 if he had the required 5.0 field goals made per game.

 Lasme's best shooting day from the floor this season came against Charlotte on Feb. 22, as he was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field finishing with 18 points.

 Lasme scored in double-figures for four games in a row from Dec. 27-Jan. 7. Overall, he has 11 games with 10 or more this season, the last coming against Charlotte on Feb. 22 with 18 points. Coming into this season, he had just five career games with 10 or more points. His scoring average of 9.6 is more than double his career average entering the season, of 4.7 points per game.

 Lasme averaged 16.5 over four games from Dec. 27-Jan. 7. In those games, he shot 61.4 from the field. Lasme scored in double-figures in four games in a row with 19 at Duquesne, 12 at Boston College after leading the team in scoring in back-to-back games in New York with 21 vs. St. Peter's and 15 vs. St. John's.

 Lasme was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week and UMass/Dinn Brothers Athlete of the Week on Jan. 1 after his big week at Madison Square Garden. He was named to Panasonic Holiday Festival All-Tournament team after two sensational games at Madison Square Garden. In the two games, averaged 18.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg and 6.0 blocks per game as he shot 13-of-23 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the foul line.

 Against St. Peter's on Dec. 27, posted the best game of his career with a career-high 21 points, career-high 14 rebounds and eight blocks (second-most in a game in his career) as he shot 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the free throw line in leading UMass to a 66-49 win over the Peacocks. It was his fourth career double-double. Scored a game-high 15 points and added five rebounds and four blocks in the Holiday Festival Championship game as the Minutemen lost to St. John's, 51-49 on Dec. 28.

 The junior had a record-setting night in UMass' loss at Davidson, 66-63 on Nov. 22. Lasme tied the school-record for blocked shots in a game with nine. It was previously accomplished by Marcus Camby twice in 1996 and originally set by Harper Williams in 1991. Lasme's total set a new career high breaking his old mark of seven set vs. Rhode Island (2/23/05).

 Lasme had his third-career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds vs. Davidson. He missed out on the second triple-double in school history which was done by Al Skinner in 1973 vs. St. Peter's.

 Lasme was in double-figures with 10 points vs. Savannah State on Nov. 28, his third double-figure game in a row. It marked the first time in his career he scored more than 10 points in three games in a row. He has 11 double-figure games this season.

Freeman Leads The Charge Up Front
 A 2005 Atlantic 10 First Team honoree and NABC All-District Second Team selection Rashaun Freeman is the team's top scorer at 13.8 points per game, which ranks 15th in the A-10. His team-best 9.3 rebounding average is second in the A-10 and his 51.3 field goal percentage is third.

 Freeman has been in double-figures in 16-of-24 games. Freeman has scored more than 20 points seven times this season with the last coming at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 19, when he tied his season-high with 25 points. He has 10 double-doubles this year the last coming at St. Bona. He posted four in a six-game span from Jan. 18-Feb. 4: 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds vs. Rhode Island on Feb. 4, with 11 points and 10 rebounds at La Salle along with 14 points and 10 rebounds at Rhode Island on Jan. 25.

 Freeman had a career-high 19 rebounds at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 19, passing his former high os 18 -- also set against St. Bonaventure in his freshman year. Freeman had 11 offensive rebounds in the game, the first double-figure offensive glass number since Ajmal Basit on Dec. 4, 1996. Freeman's 19 total was as many as UMass player in 30 years as Jim Town last had 20 or more rebounds back on Dec. 12, 1976 when he had 27 against Boston College. In that St. Bonaventure game, he passed three players on the all-time scoring list: Carmelo Travieso (1993-97, 1,186) and John Murphy (1972-75, 1,184).

 Freeman enters the Dayton game with 1,207 career points, 21st all-time at UMass. He needs five points to move into 19th-place. Currently, Jim Town (1974-77) and Anthony Anderson (2001-05) are tied with 1,211.

 An All-Conference selection, Freeman became the 37th UMass player to score more than 1,000 points against St. Peter's on Dec. 27 with a lay-up with 8:42 left in the first half. He did it in his 65th career game. Of his 80 career games, he has reached double-figures 61 times and has 20 or more points 19 times after his outing of 25 points at St. Bonaventure Feb. 19.

 He passed Rafer Giles (1987-91, 1,163) at Florida State; Rodger Twitchell (1961-64, 1,151) and Mike Williams (1991-95, 1,122) at La Salle; Jack Foley (1954-57, 1,081) vs. Fordham; Shannon Crooks (1999-2002, 1,074) with four points at Saint Louis and Alex Eldridge (1974-78, 1,053) with his 19-point effort against Saint Joseph's.

 At his current pace, and going with average of 29 games per season, Freeman would finish his career with 1,758 points, which would be fourth all-time at UMass. Jim McCoy is the all-time record holder with 2,374 points.

 Against Siena, playing against the school he grew up just miles from, Rashaun Freeman poured in a game-high 23 points and added 12 rebounds for his third double-double this season and 23rd of his career. UMass had four players score in double-figures in the game as senior Jeff Viggiano and junior James Life had 12 points while freshman guard Chris Lowe netted a career-high 10 points. With UMass up 71-69, Lowe made a running jumper with 1:02 left in the game and added two free throws with 49 seconds left to seal the win.

 He has led the team in scoring eight times including 14 at Rhode Island, 21 vs. Fordham; 20 at Duquesne, 18 at Boston College, 23 vs. Siena; and 19 points at No. 3 UConn on Dec. 8.

 He posted back-to-back double-doubles in the UAB and Savannah State games with 21 points and 11 rebounds against the Blazers and 12 points and 12 rebounds vs. the Tigers.

 Freeman has continued to be stellar from the floor shooting 51.3 percent field goals this season. Overall, his career mark of 53.5 ranks fourth all-time at UMass.

Time Of His Life
 Junior College All-American James Life averaged 17.4 points per game over seven games (from Jan. 25-Feb. 15) including team-highs 25 points at No. 7/8George Washington; 14 points at Florida State on Feb. 12; 18 points vs. La Salle at home on Feb. 8; 14 points at La Salle on Jan. 29 and 19 points at Temple on Feb. 1. After the game at Temple, he scored 19 for the second game in a row against Rhode Island on Feb. 4. He has been in double-figures 12 times this season including seven games in a row from Jan. 25-Feb. 15.

 He is scoring 10.3 points per game overall -- second on the team -- and has hit a team-high 49 3-point field goals.

 Life's 25 points against George Washington equaled the most by a UMass player this season as Rashaun Freeman had 25 in the season opener against Hartford and against at St. Bonaventure. Life made a season-best eight field goals in the game and hit all six of his fouls shots for the second time in three games, also doing that against La Salle on Feb. 8.

 Life is UMass' second-leading scorer in A-10 games with a 12.0 average.

 Life is ranked fifth in the A-10 in 3-pointers made per game in conference game with 2.4 per contest, making 32 in 13 games. Overall, he is 10th in treys per game with 2.1 per game.

 His free throw percentage of 80.0 would rank second in the A-10 is he had enough attempts. His A-10 percentage of 80.6 would also be second if per had enough attempts. Over four games from Feb. 4-15, Life has made 18-of-20 free throws, 90 percent.

 Prior to the GW game, Life had the best game of his young career with UMass against Boston University on Dec. 12, as he had a game-high 20 points including six 3-point field goals.

 Coming off the bench, playing in his return to his native Florida, Life tallied 14 points vs. Florida State on Feb. 12. Life had 30 family members and friends at the game.

 He had an amazing stretch on Feb. 8 against La Salle as he scored 18 points, all of which came in the second half and were UMass' final 18 points as a team in the game. He had a run of 12 points in just 2:05 midway through the second half.

 Life drew his first start with UMass on Jan. 7 at Duquesne and responded with 11 points including three 3-point field goals. The former JUCO All-American duplicated that performance exactly in the win over Saint Joseph's - his second start of the season on Jan. 11.

Senior Vigg Can Do It All
 The best all-around player on the team who does a little bit of everything is senior Jeff Viggiano. He is in the top four on the team in every statistic: scoring (8.9, fourth), rebounding (3.5, fourth), assists (52, second), blocked shots (29, second), steals (26, first).

 Viggiano played his 100th collegiate game at George Washington on Feb. 15 and tallied 11 second-half points in aiding UMass' valiant comeback. He has scored in double-figures in three of his last four games (10.3 pgg).

 Viggiano moved to second on the team in scoring for a while with his burst of 15.3 over four games from Jan. 14-25. He had just six points in three games (Jan. 29-Feb. 4) after suffered with an ailing shoulder and flu illnesses He is now scoring 8.9 per contest overall. He returned to the double-figure scoring column at Florida State with 11 points.

 He was named Co-UMass/Dinn Brothers Athlete of the Week on Jan. 23 after his 16.0 average in two wins over Fordham and Temple, including several thunderous dunks.

 After 14 points at Rhode Island, he has averaged 15.3 points per game over four games including a season-high tying 17 points vs. Temple on Jan. 21, in a game nationally-televised on ESPN. His other game 17-point game this season, came on ESPN2 against home-state UConn on Dec. 8.

 Viggiano has been solid since entering the starting line-up in the third game of the season. He had four straight games in double-figures from Dec. 8-27 including a season-high 17 against UConn on Dec. 8. He posted his first double-double since Feb. 8, 2004, when he had 11 points and 11 rebounds vs. St. Peter's on Dec. 27. In that game, he also added a career-high six blocked shots and five assists.

 The lone senior on the team, Viggiano has started the last 21 games and taken to his role at small forward in addition to playing power forward at times. Viggiano has scored in double-figures 11 times in 22 games. He posted back-to-back 15-point games against Fordham and with a team-high at Saint Louis, as he was UMass' only double-figure scorer in the game. He had a season-high 17 points against his home-state team No. 7 Connecticut on Dec. 8. In fact, that started a stretch of four games in a row which he scored in double-figures, equalling the longest streak of his career. He continued with 10 vs. Boston University, 12 vs. Siena and 11 vs. St. Peter's.

 His game against St. Peter's at the Panasonic Holiday Festival in New York was indicative of his all-around game, as he had 11 points, 11 rebounds, six blocks and five assists. It was his first double-double in nearly two years as he last did it against Dayton on Feb. 8, 2004.

 Against Hartford, Viggiano had 14 points his highest total since March 3, 2004, when he netted 23. It was his 27th career double-figure scoring game.

Lowe-And Behold, Freshman Steady
 UMass' lone freshman on the team point guard Chris Lowe has earned increased minutes as the season has moved along to go with his continued progress. The Mount Vernon product has started the last 11 games after coming off the bench in the first 13 games. Over 13 A-10 games, he has averaged 35.8 minutes per game and 6.0 assists per contest. In all games, Lowe is averaging a team-high 4.67 assists per game (second in the A-10) along with 5.6 points.

 His 6.0 assists per game in the A-10 are the most among all players in conference-only games.

 Lowe has piled up nine assists twice, most recently against Charlotte on Feb. 22, tying the high he set against Temple on Jan. 21.

 Lowe earned his second A-10 Rookie of the Week honor on Jan. 22 after a sensational week as UMass beat Fordham and Temple. Lowe, in his first two collegiate starts, averaged 8.5 points and 8.0 assists, playing 78 of a possible 80 minutes. In his first career start, Lowe had a career-high 14 points along with seven assists in a 74-61 win over Fordham on Jan. 21. He earned his second start on Jan. 21 and had three points and a career-best nine assists in the Minutemen's 60-34 win over Temple.

 Lowe has been a telltale sign for the Minutemen this season. When he has more assists than turnovers, UMass is 10-6. The Minutemen won eight of the first nine games when this occurred.

 Lowe posted a career-high nine assists vs. Temple on Jan. 21 as he aided UMass' defensive effort which limited the Owls to just 34 points. He has handed out more than five assists on seven occasions including eight vs. Rhode Island on Feb. 4 and seven against Boston University on Dec. 12, Saint Joseph's on Jan. 11, vs. Fordham on Jan. 18 and at Rhode Island on Jan. 25. The game vs. St. Joe's was his best all-around game, as he played 37 minutes and had seven points and eight rebounds in addition to the seven assists.

 Lowe was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week following his performance against Siena on Dec. 23 has he hit the game-clinching shot in the game as he scored a career-high 10 points.

No Doubting Thomas
 Brandon Thomas has had an up-and-down season. He returned to the double-figure scoring column at Florida State with 10 points in a start. He continued his strong play at No. 7/8 George Washington as he tallied 13 points including UMass' first seven points of the game. The 13 points were his most in 17 games. He had nine points against Charlotte.

 Thomas had gone nine games between games with 10 points. He had scored in double-figures with 12 at Boston College and 10 at Duquesne. Thomas started the first 13 games this season, at three different positions including his most recent spot -- point guard, where he started three games. He started the first two games at small forward then eight games at the shooting guard spot. Thomas was at the two guard for his start at Florida State.

 Coming off the bench for seven games before starting the last four, he is scoring 6.8 points per game, fifth on the team. He averaged 16.3 points over three games from Nov. 22-28. Thomas scored the first field goal for UMass in six of the first 11 games this season and seven times overall including the game at George Washington.

Milligan Makes The Most Of His Chance
 UMass gained a scholarship player starting with the Siena game on Dec. 23 as redshirt-sophomore forward Danté Milligan made his UMass debut. Milligan was strong in 20 minutes as he scored seven points, grabbed eight rebounds and had two blocked shots. Coach Travis Ford said he "made things happen in the game" is the "type of player who can flourish in this system."

 In 18 games, the active Milligan is averaging 3.6 points and 4.4 rebounds, ranking third on the team. He has at least five rebounds in nine of his 18 games -- including six of the first seven games he played.

 Prorated over 40 minutes, Milligan would average 9.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game.

 Milligan played one of his best games at Florida State with 10 points and seven rebounds. Milligan made all five of his field goal attempts before fouling out in just 18 minutes. It was the second time he was 5-for-5 as he also did it against Saint Joseph's.

 After some tough games, Milligan posted six points and seven rebounds against La Salle on Feb. 8. He had five offensive boards in a career-high 24 minutes.

 Milligan was a perfect 5-for-5 for a season-high 11 points in the win over Saint Joseph's on Jan. 11, hauled in four rebounds and swatted three shots. His three-pointer in the first half gave UMass its first lead of the game swinging momentum to the Minutemen after the Hawks started the game on a 6-0 run.

 In his return to Pittsburgh, where he began his college career, as he had a season-best nine points along with six rebounds in UMass' win at Duquesne.

 Milligan transferred to the Minutemen from Pittsburgh last winter. He last played in a collegiate game on Dec. 18 against Coppin State. He has played just seven collegiate games in his career, dating back to 2003, as he red-shirted his true freshman year with Pittsburgh.

Minute Matters From 2005-06
 In his first year at UMass, Travis Ford was off to the best start for a first-year coach at UMass (at 9-6 through Jan. 21) since John M. Orr, who got off to a 11-5 start in 1963-64. Over the next seven coaches at UMass, only Jack Leaman (8-8 in 1966-67) had a non-losing record after 16 games.

 UMass began the A-10 season 2-0 for the first time -- with an 68-58 win against Saint Joseph's on Jan. 11 -- since the 2000-01 season when they beat George Washington, 76-60 on Jan. 6 and Xavier 75-64 on Jan. 9. UMass had lost four straight A-10 openers.

 UMass' 4-1 start in the league was the best since 2000-01 when it started 8-1 in the league.

 In its first five A-10 games, UMass has held its opponents to 22.2 from 3-point range, 20-of-90. UMass leads the A-10 in 3-point field goal defense in league games, giving up just 28.9 per game.

 The Minutemen held the A-10 top 3-point shooting team at the time, Saint Joseph's (41.7 entering the game) to just 16.0 percent on 4-of-25 shooting from behind the arc on Jan. 11. UMass held Fordham to 4-of-17 from the arc on Jan. 18.

 UMass' win by 26 points over Temple on Jan. 21 was the largest against an A-10 opponent since an 85-59 win over Fordham on Feb. 3, 2001. The 19-point win at Duquesne was the largest conference road win since the 78-46 win at Rhode Island on Jan. 30, 2001.

 UMass had 16 blocked shots against St. Peter's on Dec. 27 at Madison Square Garden, which was the second-most in school history and most since the record 20 was set vs. West Virginia on Jan. 3, 1995. UMass has had 10 or more blocks in a game four times.

 The Minutemen had a pair of players with double-doubles for the first time in two seasons in the game against St. Peter's as Stephane Lasme had career highs of 21 points and 14 rebounds along with Jeff Viggiano who had 11 points and 11 rebounds. The previous time UMass had two players with double-doubles was Feb. 3, 2004 vs. Rider.

 UMass' 44 points in the first half against Siena on Dec. 23 was the highest total at halftime in two years -- since the Minutemen led Marshall, 46-29 on Dec. 20, 2003.

 UMass held Boston University to just 45 points on Dec. 12. UMass also limited the Terriers to just 16 second-half points, the lowest also since that URI game when the Rams had 14 in the first half.

 Free throws were at a premium in the game with BU on Dec. 12 as UMass was just 3-of-6 from the line and the Terriers were just 5-of-8 from the charity stripe. Those were the lowest numbers for UMass in two seasons.

 Against Savannah State on Nov. 28, UMass had six players with 10 or more points for the first time since Dec. 27, 1991 when they beat Harvard 98-63 in Springfield: Jerome Malloy (19), Lou Roe (15), Jim McCoy (14), Tony Barbee (13), Harper Williams (12) and Will Herndon (10). In the Savannah State game, James Life led the way with 18 points.

 In the Savannah State game, UMass posted its second-largest margin of victory in the history of the Mullins Center, winning by 36 points. The record of 39 was set on Jan. 22, 2000, as UMass beat Rhode Island, 89-50, which was the largest spread dating to its opening in 1993.

 On Nov. 18 against Hartford, the crowd of 6,488 was the largest for a UMass home opener since the 1997-98 opener when 7,356 came out for the College of Charleston game on Dec. 2, 1997.

 UMass is now 64-33 all-time in season openers having won 11 of the last 13. They are 7-0 at the Mullins Center in season openers.

 In their preseason exhibition win over Dowling, 96-55, UMass came away with 23 steals, which would have been a UMass record if the game had counted as a regular-season contest.

See You Next Year
 Three Minutemen are sitting the entire season as transfers from Division I programs, all will be eligible to play in the 2006-07 season. Junior forward Gary Forbes came to UMass for Virginia where scored 9.4 points per game with the Cavaliers last year including a career-high 23 against eventual national-champion North Carolina. Forbes will have two seasons to play at UMass. Junior forward Etienne Brower will also have two years after coming over from Boston University. Brower started all 29 games with the Terriers in 04-05 scoring 8.3 points per game and 5.4 rebounds. Sophomore center Luke Bonner will have three years to play at UMass after his freshman season at West Virginia where he was part of the Mountaineers Elite Eight team.

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