University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
VCU
Minutemen Exit A-10 Tournament with Loss to VCU
March 11, 2016 | Men's Basketball
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BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Trey Davis finished with a game-high 20 points and Rashaan Holloway provided interior power on both ends of the court through 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, but UMass men's basketball exited the Atlantic 10 Championship with an 85-70 quarterfinals loss to No. 2 seed VCU at the Barclays Center Friday evening. Jabarie Hinds also had 16 points for the Minutemen with four boards, two steals and two assists.
Holloway earned his 16 points via an 8-of-10 finish from the floor as the 6-foot-11 reserve center worked the paint for layups and dunks. His eight rebounds marked a single-game personal best.
Melvin Johnson paced the Rams with 19 points while JeQuan Lewis scored 16. Korey Billbury added 12 points while Justin Tillman nearly had a double-double on 10 points and nine rebounds.
With the loss, the Minutemen finish the season 14-18 overall. It marks the final game for a quartet of seniors: Tyler Bergantino, Davis, Hinds and Chris Lydon, as well as graduate student transfer Antwan Space.
"First of all, I want to thank my seniors for what they've been able to accomplish at UMass both on and off the floor," head coach Derek Kellogg said. "Those guys have been great to have as ambassadors at UMass, and I'm appreciative for those guys coming to UMass and helping us do some great things on the floor and off the floor. Getting to the basketball game, VCU played a great game today. They obviously won the game on the boards with -- 20 offensive rebounds that they turned into points. I thought that was the difference in the game."
Both sides pushed the pace early on and looked inside via driving layups and entry passes. The Rams (23-9 overall) made use of six offensive rebounds for as many second chance points that helped VCU to a 13-6 lead with 12 minutes, 11 seconds to go in the first.
The guard trio of Donte Clark, Davis and Hinds brought Massachusetts back within five through a combined 14 points as the Minutemen fought back to within 21-16 at the 7:18 mark. After Johnson spread the VCU margin to 11 with two at the foul line, Hinds rose up for back-to-back jumpers in the span of 38 seconds. Davis slashed to the rim for a layup two possessions later to bring it back to a five-point margin.
However, the Rams continued to clean the offensive glass into halftime with 13 boards under the UMass basket, which sprang VCU to their nine-point lead at the break. The Minutemen limited the damage with 24 points from Clark, Davis and Hinds while the group finished 9-of-10 at the foul line.
After the break, the Rams grew their lead to 20 with 14:40 to go via 13 of the opening 15 points in the second half, including a 7-0 scoring run that start the frame.
"They got the full-court points in the second half, and that really -- that hurt when we went from down 9 to 13, and that put a dent in what we were trying to do," Davis said. "But we kept fighting hard, man. That's all I can ask for."
Holloway went to work with a layup at the 14:25 mark for his first points of the stanza as the Minutemen looked down low to Holloway throughout the second half, which led him to provide 14 points in the frame. With Holloway opening up space, Davis also finished the frame with 14 scored via 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, and a pair of free throws. However, despite Davis and Holloway's efforts, Massachusetts was unable to chip its deficit to less than 15 over the remainder of play.
For continued coverage of UMass men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter through @UMassBasketball.
