Minutemen Close Out Home-And-Home Series At Northeastern On Sunday

University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 2	Massachusetts (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10) vs. Northeastern (0-1, 0-0 CAA)
Date \| Time	Sunday, December 13, 2020 \| 12 p.m.
Location	Boston, Mass. \| Cabot Center
Watch	NESN
Listen	WEEI (105.5 FM) \| WCRN (830 AM) \| Tune-In App
Live Statistics	Live Stats
Game Notes	Massachusetts Notes \| 2020-21 Prospectus
Twitter	@UMassAthletics \| @UMassBasketball
Instagram	UMass Basketball
Facebook	UMass Basketball

AMHERST, Mass. – After picking up a 15-point win over Northeastern on Friday, the UMass men's basketball team makes the return trip to Boston on Sunday for a 12 p.m. matchup with the Huskies live on NESN. Sunday marks the 10th time in team history that UMass will play the same opponent in consecutive games during the regular season, and first time since 1982-83.

The new normal
On November 17, the Massachusetts men's basketball team paused all team activities following a positive COVID-19 test result among the program's Tier 1 personnel, which consists of coaches, student-athletes, team managers and support staff. Results were detected during COVID-19 surveillance testing, which is conducted three times a week in accordance with NCAA guidelines.

Due to a pause in team activities, UMass did not participate in the Multiple Team Event at Mohegan Sun previously scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend. UMass returned to practice on December 5.

Friday's game vs. Northeastern marked the latest the team started a season since 1947-48, when the team's first game was held on December 12, 1947.

The series with Northeastern
Massachusetts and Northeastern will be meeting for the 57th time in program history on Sunday, with UMass leading the series, 39-17, with the Minutemen winning each of the last six matchups.

Sunday marks the 10th time in team history that UMass will play the same opponent in consecutive games during the regular season, and first time since 1982-83.

Picking up where he left off
Tre Mitchell wasted no time in confirming that the hype is real on Friday with 31 points and 11 rebounds in his season debut, including 19 points and six boards in the first half alone. Mitchell's performance put him on a list with some of the UMass greats, tying him for the fourth most points in a season opener in program history:

Lou Roe - 34 vs. No.1 Arkansas (1994)
Marcus Camby - 32 vs. No. 1 Kentucky (1995)
Julius Erving - 32 vs. St. Anselm (1970)
Tre Mitchell - 31 vs. Northeastern (2010)
Anthony Gurley - 31 vs. Rider (2010)

Mitchell is one of only 46 players in the country with a 30-point game this season.

Garcia dazzles in UMass debut
Javohn Garcia's 23-point performance against Northeastern on Friday tied T.J. Weeks Jr.'s night last season as the most points for a Minuteman in his collegiate debut in more than 20 seasons. Since 1999, only 10 players have scored at least 23 points in the season opener.

He gets buckets
Redshirt-freshman T.J. Weeks Jr. is back in the lineup for the Minutemen after missing the final 21 games of last season due to injury. At the time of his injury last season, Weeks Jr. was 15th in the NCAA with 32 made three-point field goals, and finished the year shooting 48.5% from beyond the arc.

Weeks Jr. is the son of former UMass great Tyrone Weeks Sr., who scored over 1,000 points for UMass from 1994-98 and played in four consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

O Captain, My Captain
Last season, senior captain Carl Pierre became the 52nd player in team history to reach 1000 career points, and enters 2020-21 in a tie for 31st on UMass' all-time scoring list:

Player (Years) - Career Points
t-27. Anthony Anderson (2001-05) - 1211
Jim Town (1974-77) - 1211
29. Carmelo Travieso (1993-97) - 1186
30. John Murphy (1972-75) - 1184
31. Carl Pierre (2017-pr.) - 1177

Pierre is also fourth all-time at UMass in career three-point field goals made, and hit his 250th on Friday vs. Northeastern:

Player (Years) - Career 3-point FGs
1. Monty Mack (1997-01) - 331
2. Ricky Harris (2006-10) - 276
3. Anthony Anderson (2001-05) - 275
4. Carl Pierre (2017-pr.) - 251

Ball security
UMass finished the 2019-20 season with 407 turnovers, the third fewest in a season in team history. The Minutemen continued to take care of the ball on Friday vs. Northeastern with just nine turnovers. Dating back to last season, UMass has recorded 10 or fewer turnovers in four of its last six games.

Veteran leadership
UMass' four upperclassmen (Brady Antonopoulos, Mark Gasperini, Carl Pierre, Dibaji Walker) make the Minutemen tied for 12th in the nation for the fewest upperclassmen on an NCAA roster this season. It's the second straight year that UMass has had four or fewer upperclassmen.

Scoreboard

Minutemen Close Out Home-And-Home Series At Northeastern On Sunday

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Players Mentioned

Brady Antonopoulos

Javohn Garcia

Mark Gasperini

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Dibaji Walker

T.J. Weeks Jr.

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics