Minutemen Return Home to Host South Carolina Wednesday on CBSSN

University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 9	Massachusetts (5-3) vs. South Carolina (5-3)
Date \| Time	Wednesday, December 4, 2019 \| 7:00 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. \| Mullins Center
Watch	CBSSN
Listen	WEEI (105.5 FM) \| WCRN (830 AM) \| Tune-In App
Live Statistics	SIDEARM Live Stats
Game Notes	Massachusetts Notes \| 2019-20 Prospectus
Twitter	@UMassAthletics \| @UMassBasketball
Instagram	UMass Basketball
Facebook	UMass Basketball
UMass Home Tickets	Get Your 2019-20 Tickets Now! \| 2019-20 Promotional Calendar

AMHERST, Mass. – The UMass basketball team is back home for three of its next four games, beginning with SEC foe South Carolina on Wednesday night on CBSSN. The Minutemen are a perfect 4-0 at the Mullins Center this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 20 points per game.

Wednesday's promotions
UMass is made great because of the individuals and organizations that make a positive impact in the community. Community Night is our chance to give these organizations and individuals the recognition they deserve. Do you know a community who deserves to be recognized? Submit the individual's name with a brief blurb about them to Erik Franke at efranke@umass.edu and we will be recognizing a few select community members throughout the game.

In addition, Adidas will hold a t-shirt giveaway for students, while supplies last, one student will have an opportunity to win a 43'' television at halftime, and there will be a $50 Amazon gift card giveaway, courtesy of Isenberg!

The series with South Carolina
The Minutemen and Gamecocks for the third time in series history, and second time in the last three seasons. The last meeting came during the 2017-18 season in Columbia, when UMass knocked down seven 3-pointers in the first half to take a one point lead into halftime, but could not hold on as they fell to the Gamecocks 76-70.

Minutemen against the SEC
Against schools from the SEC, UMass is 10-18 and looking for its first win against a school from the conference since the 2017-18 season against Georgia.

Home sweet home
Massachusetts is back at the Mullins Center for three of its next four games, where the Minutemen are a perfect 4-0 on the year. UMass is outscoring its opponents by an average of 20 points per game, and is shooting better than 50% from the floor.

T.J. Weeks (16.3), Carl Pierre (15.8), Sean East II (13.3) and Tre Mitchell (11.3) are all averaging double-figures at home so far this season.

3J Weeks
Freshman T.J. Weeks is seventh in the NCAA, and second among rookies, in three-point shooting percentage (26-of-48; 54.2%), and his 26 made three-pointers are tied for 21st in the country and fifth among freshmen.

As a team, UMass is shooting better than 36% beyond the arc (70-of-194), and its 70 made threes are tied for the fourth most in the Atlantic 10.

Lending a helping hand
Rookie Sean East II is tied for 33rd in the nation with 42 assists through eight games, tied for fourth among freshmen, including a season-high eight against Rider on Nov. 20.

Youth movement
It's a new look roster for the Minutemen in 2019-20 with nine newcomers, including seven freshmen. The seven rookies are the most for UMass since the 2007-08 season.

All seven freshmen (John Buggs III, Sean East II, C.J. Jackson, Kolton Mitchell, Tre Mitchell, Preston Santos, T.J. Weeks) have made their collegiate debuts, with Tre Mitchell and East II starting each of the first four games.

The rookies have combined for 58% (324-of-558) of the Minutemen's scoring so far this season.

Weeks and East II started the season with back-to-back Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week accolades, marking the first time since the 2003-04 that UMass collected consecutive conference rookie of the week honors.

Veteran leadership
UMass' four upperclassmen (Carl Pierre, Keon Clergeot, Djery Baptiste, Davonte Higginbottom) are tied with Central Connecticut, Lipscomb and Long Beach State for the third fewest juniors and seniors on an NCAA roster.

Utah (two) and Florida (three) are the only schools in the country with fewer upperclassmen than the Minutemen.

Best start since 2013
UMass entered last weekend at 5-0 on the young season, the best start for the program since the 2013-14 season. Before last Saturday's loss to No. 7/6 Virginia, the Minutemen were one of 53 remaining unbeaten teams in the NCAA, and one of 22 with a record of 5-0 or better.

It was the 15th time in school history that UMass has started 5-0, and made Matt McCall the eighth head coach in program history to lead a team to a 5-0 start.

Familiar faces
A trio of UMass freshmen (Tre Mitchell, Preston Santos, TJ Weeks), all played together in prep school at Woodstock Academy. In 2018-19, they led the team to a 38-2 record with a No. 2 national ranking for a team coached by new assistant coach Tony Bergeron.

Protecting the ball
UMass turned the ball over just seven times against Northeastern on Nov. 12, the fewest for the Minutemen since Feb. 24, 2018 at George Mason. On the flip side, the Minutemen are averaging 7.5 steals per game, including a season-high 13 against CCSU, the third time this season and fourth time in the Matt McCall era that a UMass team had at least 10 steals in a game.

How low can you go?
The defensive performance against CCSU on Nov. 16 was one for the ages for UMass. The Minutemen held the Blue Devils to just 48 points, the fewest points allowed since Jan. 21, 2006 against Temple.

Scoreboard

Minutemen Return Home to Host South Carolina Wednesday on CBSSN

Players Mentioned

Djery Baptiste

John Buggs III

Keon Clergeot

Sean East II

C.J. Jackson

Kolton Mitchell

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Preston Santos

T.J. Weeks Jr.

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics