University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Duquesne
Men's Hoops Heads To Steel City To Face Duquesne
February 28, 2019 | Men's Basketball
Minutemen and Dukes set for 2 PM tip on AT&T SportsNet/ESPN+.
| University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information | |
| Game 29 | Massachusetts (10-18, 3-12 A-10) at Duquesne (18-10, 9-6 A-10) |
| Date // Time | Saturday, March 2, 2019 // 2:00 PM (ET) |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pa. // Palumbo Center |
| Live Statistics | Statbroadcast Live Stats |
| Game Notes | vs. Duquesne (PDF) |
| Watch | TV: AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (Channel Finder) // Digital: ESPN+ |
| Listen | 105.5 FM WEEI, 830 AM WCRN, Tune-In App |
| @UMassAthletics // @UMassBasketball | |
| UMass Basketball | |
| UMass Basketball | |
| UMass Home Tickets | 866-UMASS-TIX // Single Game, Season Ticket, Mini-Plan, Parquet Pass Info |
| University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball - Duquesne Preview |
• The penultimate week of the Atlantic 10 regular-season concludes on Saturday as the UMass basketball team heads to the Steel City to face Duquesne at the Palumbo Center (2 PM). The Minutemen are coming off a disappointing loss to Dayton on Tuesday where five players were out due to injury including Luwane Pipkins, Rashaan Holloway, Samba Diallo, and Curtis Cobb who have all played significant minutes during the year. The Dukes are coming off a similarly tough loss on the road at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night.
• Saturday's game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh which is available in five states surrounding the Pittsburgh area. Tim Benz (play-by-play) and Josh Taylor (analyst) will call the action. It will also be streamed via on ESPN+ for desktop and mobile devices.
• 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. New Voice of the Minutemen Jay Burnham will be joined courtside by Adam Frenier.
• UMass holds a 40-26 record in the all-time series that began in 1975. In Pittsburgh, Duquesne has had a slight advantage with a 16-14 record in the series. UMass won last year's meeting at home, while Duquesne won the most recent meeting in 2017 at the Palumbo Center (96-66). UMass has won six of the last seven meetings overall including a 108-99 overtime win in Pittsburgh for the 2016 edition of the series.
• The Minutemen have played in a number of close games this year with 14 games being decided by seven-or-fewer points. The Minutemen are 6-8 in those contests. Six of UMass' 14 league games were decided by five-or-fewer points with the Minutemen in position to tie or go ahead late in each of the loses.
• UMass is led again this season by Pipkins who is the top returning scorer in the Atlantic 10 after notching 21.2 points per game last year. He was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason First Team after a breakout sophomore campaign. He is one of just six players in program history to average over 21 points a game in a single-season joining the likes of Julius Erving and Marcus Camby. He also became the 51st player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points for his career.
• With 1,397 career points, Pipkins needs 32 more points to pass Horace Neysmith (12th, 1,428 pts, 1981-85) on the all-time scoring list at UMass. If Pipkins maintains his current scoring average, he could finish among UMass' top-10 all-time scorers as a junior.
• Pipkins also ranks 14th in career scoring average (15.9 pts), 5th for career three-pointers (225), 13th in assists (324), and 10th in steals (140).
• On the year, UMass has the seventh best scoring average (70.1 pts) in the Atlantic 10, ranks sixth in field goal percentage (44.0) and is third in three point field goal percentage (34.7). Defensively, UMass is 13th in the league giving up 72.6 points per night - though in league play that number has fallen to 69.8 points allowed which ranks 9th overall. While the defense has improved during league play, the offense has averaged just 62.3 points which ranks 14th.
• Individually, Rashaan Holloway leads the A-10 for field goal percentage (71.0) while Pipkins ranks fourth in the league for points per game (16.6) and third in assists per game (5.2). Jonathan Laurent remains the top three-point shooter in the A-10, connecting on 46.0 percent of his attempts from range while Carl Pierre is fourth (39.4 percent).
• On the season, Pipkins' 16.6 points per night leads the Minutemen. Pierre ranks second with an 11.6 point per game average, while Laurent rounds out the top scorers with a 9.3 point average. Holloway and Curtis Cobb are just shy of double figures as well averaging 8.9 and 8.4 points, respectively, per night. Laurent has played well over the last two games averaging 22.5 points, while Cobb has missed the last four games and Pipkins has been out five of the last six games.
• Pierre has been the hot hand over the last six games averaging 18.3 points on 38-of-78 shooting that includes 24 three pointers. He has scored 20-plus points in the last three of the last five games with a career-best 26 points in the overtime loss at George Mason and the game-winner against Saint Joseph's with 2.3 seconds left in regulation.
