University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Men's Hoops Hosts No. 22 Rhode Island On Tuesday Night
January 29, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Minutemen and Rams tip-off at 6:30 PM on the CBS Sports Network.
The second half of the Atlantic 10 schedule gets underway on Tuesday night as UMass and Rhode Island kick things off with a nationally televised rivalry match-up on the CBS Sports Network. This will be the second meeting this season between the longtime foes as the Ram held serve on their home court, 73-51, two weeks ago.
UMass is currently 12th in the A-10 standings with a 3-6 record. The Rams are in 1st place with a perfect 9-0 league record (17-3 overall). In Monday's AP Top 25 Poll, Rhode Island moved up one spot to No. 22 in the country.
Tom McCarthy (play-by-play) and Mo Casara (analyst) will have the call for the CBS Sports Network.
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 will be joined courtside by former Minuteman Tim Collins.
Overall, UMass holds an 88-63 advantage in the series which is the longest running rivalry in program history. The Rams have had the recent luck, however, winning four of the last five match-ups including three straight. In the first meeting of the year in Kingston, Rhode Island won 73-51 behind 24 points from Jared Terrell and a double-double of 17 points, 12 rebounds by Stanford Robinson.
Saturday's game in the Bronx saw Fordham use a 19-to-2 run in the second half to spur an 82-69 win over the visiting Minutemen at Rose Hill Gymnasium. Unique McLean posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds - both career highs - while Luwane Pipkins led UMass with 18 points followed by 17 points from Carl Pierre.
On the season, UMass continues to be led by Pipkins who is averaging 19.9 points followed by Pierre who is posting 11.6 points in his rookie campaign. The lone senior on the roster, C.J. Anderson, has been one of the most well-rounded players on the squad with 7.9 points, 5.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game.
After scoring 168 points over the last seven games (24.0 ppg), Pipkins ranks third overall in the A-10 for scoring average this season. His 44 points against La Salle set a new UMass school record, a Mullins Center record, was the ninth-best performance in A-10 history and was the third-best individual performance in the NCAA this season. Defensively, the Chicago native is 9th overall in steals per game (1.55). Offensively, the guard has improved from 2016-17 to this season by +9.7 points per game - the best of any Minuteman this year.
Anderson ranks third among the league's best in assists as well with 5.0 per game while his 105 assists are third-most overall as well.
Pierre leads the A-10 in three-point field goal percentage (47.5%) and is the nation's most accurate three-point shooting freshman through 22 games. Overall, the Boston native ranks 8th nationally in three-point field goal percentage. He currently holds the third-best single-season shooting percentage in school history from beyond the arc.
As a team, UMass ranks sixth in the A-10 in shooting percentage (44.5%), third in 3-point percentage (37.2%) and eighth in free throw percentage (72.4%) this season. UMass' 181 made three-pointers are third most in the league, while the Minutemen rank third in the league for total assists (329).
Following Tuesday's game, UMass will host Dayton in the Mullins Center at 2 PM on Eleven Sports and NBC Sports Boston. The Minutemen won 62-60 in the earlier meeting this year in Ohio.
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.
