University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Richmond
Men's Hoops Closes Road Schedule Wednesday At Richmond
February 27, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Minutemen and Spiders tipoff at 7 PM on MASN2.
Looking to build momentum heading into the Atlantic 10 Tournament, the UMass basketball team takes to the road one more time during the regular season for a midweek match-up at Richmond. Tip-off on at the Robins Center is slated for 7 PM and the game will be televised live on MASN2 and streamed on the Atlantic 10 Digital 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.
UMass is currently tied with Fordham for 13th in the A-10 standings with a 4-12 league record. Richmond is tied for eighth alongside Dayton with a 7-9 mak in A-10 play. The Spiders are 9-19 overall and have lost five straight.
Richmond has won four consecutive games against the Minutemen and lead the series 12-6. The two teams first met during the 2000 season. UMass' last win against the Spiders was 70-65 on Jan. 27, 2013 in the Mullins Center. The last road win for the Minutemen was the year before, 79-68, on Jan. 21, 2012.
UMass is coming off a tough 78-76 overtime loss at George Mason last Saturday night. Despite missing Luwane Pipkins due to injury, the Minutemen were able to rally back after trailing by 16 at the intermission. The Minutemen took a three-point lead following a pair of Carl Pierre free throws with 10.9 seconds left in regulation. The Patriots were able to tie the game on three free throws by Goanar Mar who was fouled with 0.9 seconds to go. In overtime, C.J. Anderson tied the game on a physical lay-up with five seconds remaining, but GMU was able to go the length of the court for a buzzer-beating lay-up to win the game. Anderson finished the game with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead the Minutemen.
Pipkins remains ninth all-time for career three-pointers made (165) and moved up to fifth for single-season threes (94), while Pierre moved into a tie for 12th with 82 three-pointers extending his UMass freshman record.
On the season, UMass continues to be led by Pipkins who is averaging 21.5 points followed by Pierre who is posting 12.3 points in his rookie campaign. The lone senior on the roster, Anderson, has been one of the most well-rounded players on the squad with 9.8 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. Over the last seven games, Anderson has been scoring at a clip of 15.5 points while averaging 5.1 assists and 6.0 rebounds.
After averaging 23.4 points per game in January, Pipkins leads the A-10 for scoring average this season and is 18th nationally. 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 fourth-best individual performance in the NCAA this season. Defensively, the Chicago native is 8th overall in steals per game (1.54). Offensively, the guard has improved from 2016-17 to this season by +11.3 points per game - the best of any Minuteman this year. Pipkins is looking to become the sixth player in program history to average 20-plus points for a season - a list which includes Julius Erving, Jim McCoy and Marcus Camby.
Anderson ranks fifth among the league's best in assists as well with 5.0 per game while his 141 assists are third-most overall.
Pierre ranks second in the A-10 for three-point field goal percentage (47.1%) and is the nation's most accurate three-point shooting freshman through 29 games. Overall, the Boston native ranks 7th nationally in three-point field goal percentage. He currently holds the third-best single-season shooting percentage in school history from beyond the arc. With 82 made threes, he broke the previous UMass freshman record shared by Pipkins and Anthony Anderson (2001-02).
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.
