Minutemen Set For Saturday Matinee At Harvard

University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 10	Massachusetts (5-4) at Harvard (4-4)
Date \| Time	Saturday, December 7, 2019 \| 1:00 p.m.
Location	Cambridge, Mass. \| Lavietes Pavilion
Watch	NESN \| NESNgo \| ESPN+
Listen	WEEI (105.5 FM) \| WCRN (830 AM) \| Tune-In App
Live Statistics	Stat Broadcast
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 men's basketball team heads back on the road this weekend as the Minutemen travel to Harvard for a meeting with the Crimson on Saturday afternoon on NESN and ESPN+. It's the fourth straight season, and 27th meeting all-time between the two programs.

Pregame gathering
Heading to Harvard for Saturday's game? Join fellow UMass fans at Beat Brew Hall (13A Brattle St.) in Cambridge for a pregame gathering, beginning at 11 a.m.

The series with Harvard
The Minutemen and Crimson for the fourth straight season, and 27th time in team history. Massachusetts is in search of its first victory against the Crimson since 2016, and first win at Harvard since the 1981-82 season.

Taking on the Ivy
Saturday is the first of two straight games for the Minutemen against Ivy League opponents, marking the first time since the 2006-07 season that Massachusetts has played a pair of Ivy opponents in a season.

Massachusetts will host defending Ivy League champion Yale next Wednesday at the Mullins Center

3J Weeks
Freshman T.J. Weeks is 13th in the NCAA, and third among rookies, in three-point shooting percentage (30-of-59; 50.8%), and his 30 made three-pointers are tied for 15th in the country and third among freshmen.

As a team, UMass is shooting nearly 37% beyond the arc (80-of-217), and its 80 made threes are third in the Atlantic 10.

Lending a helping hand
Rookie Sean East II is tied for 49th in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (2.5), and his 45 assists through nine games are tied for fifth among freshmen, including a season-high eight against Rider on Nov. 20.

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.

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 all nine games.

The rookies have combined for 58% (372-of-638) 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.

Best start since 2013
UMass started the year 5-0 on the young season, the best start for the program since the 2013-14 season. Before the loss to No. 7/6 Virginia on Nov. 23, 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.

Milestone watch
Captain Carl Pierre currently sits at 897 career points, and is closing in on becoming the 52nd player in team history to reach 1000 career points.

Scoreboard

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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