Men’s Hoops Closes Homestand With Saint Louis On Tuesday Night

University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 26	Massachusetts (10-15, 4-8 Atlantic 10) vs. Saint Louis (18-7, 7-5 Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time	Tuesday, February 18, 2020 \| 7:00 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. \| Mullins Center
Watch	NESN \| ESPN+ (Outside New England) \| FOX Sports Midwest
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 men's basketball team closes out its three-game homestand on Tuesday night when the Minutemen welcome Saint Louis to the Mullins Center for a 7 p.m. tipoff on NESN and FOX Sports Midwest.

Tuesday's promotions
Tuesday is UMass For The Kids and Greek Night at the Mullins Center! UMass For The Kids is a student run organization that is dedicated to changing the lives of children at the Baystate Children's Hospital. Last year, they raised over $280,000, and this year they are looking to raise even more. This game is all about them and how the UMass community can help them in their support of Baystate Children's Hospital. They will also be putting on a special halftime dance performance.

The Minutemen will also be giving out pint glasses to fans as they exit the arena following the game.

The series with Saint Louis
The Minutemen will be looking to snap a five-game losing skid against the Billikens. Overall, Saint Louis holds a 14-5 all-time record in the series against UMass. The last win for the Minutemen came on Jan. 31, 2015 in St. Louis.

Earlier this season, trailing by nine with less than eight minutes to play in regulation, UMass stormed back to force overtime, and led by five in the extra session, but Saint Louis would score the game's final eight points to come away with an 83-80 win on Jan. 5 at Chaifetz Arena.

The Minutemen, who outmuscled one of the nation's top rebounding teams on the boards, were led by Samba Diallo (14 rebounds) and Tre Mitchell (nine rebounds) on the glass. Mitchell led all scorers with 20 points, while captain Carl Pierre added 16 points, including 15 in the second half and overtime with several clutch buckets late in a game that saw 11 ties and 18 lead changes.

UMass – Saint Louis connections
The game will also feature a pair of familiar faces for UMass fans. Saint Louis head coach Travis Ford coached at UMass from 2005-08 leading the Minutemen to a pair of 20-win seasons and an NIT runner-up finish in 2008.

On Ford's staff is former UMass standout point guard Chris Lowe, who is serving as a graduate student manager with the Billikens. From 2005-09, Lowe graduated as the school-record holder in career assists (678). That mark still stands as the sixth-best total in Atlantic 10 history. The Mount Vernon, New York, native played professionally for eight seasons in the NBA D-League and overseas in Lithuania, Slovakia, and Austria.

Stiff competition
UMass has gone up against some of the nation's top teams, including 11 currently ranked in the top-100 of the NCAA NET Rankings: Dayton (5), Rutgers (30 ), URI (32), Virginia (55), Yale (57), South Carolina (64), St. John's (66), Saint Louis (74), Akron (77), Davidson (78), Duquesne (86).

Home sweet home
The Minutemen are currently on a three-game homestand at the Mullins Center, where they are 9-4 this season. UMass is shooting 47% from the floor and 36% from three (106-of-291) at home.

Tre Mitchell (16.9) and Carl Pierre (13.8) are both averaging better than 13 points per game at home, while the defense is forcing opponents into an average of 16.3 turnovers per game.

Tre ball
Tre Mitchell had a career-high 30 points on Feb. 4 at Rhode Island, and is fifth in the Atlantic 10 and first among rookies averaging 16.6 points per game this season.

Mitchell's 30-point night against the Rams were the most for a UMass freshman since Rashaun Freeman scored 31 on Feb. 28, 2004. Mitchell's averaging 19.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in his last nine games.

New look lineup
Freshmen Kolton Mitchell and Preston Santos have started each of the last six games, including their first collegiate starts on Jan. 25 vs. Duquesne. Along with Tre Mitchell, it marked the first time the Minutemen had three freshmen start since Jan. 28, 2017 vs. George Mason. Santos had a career-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and is averaging 10.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg and is shooting 62% (26-of-42) since being inserted into the starting five.

We'll be taking that
The Minutemen are averaging 7.1 steals per game, including tying a season-high 13 on Feb. 9 against George Mason, the fifth time this season and sixth time in the Matt McCall era that a UMass team had at least 10 steals in a game.

The Minutemen are also 75th in the country and third in the conference in forced turnovers (14.84), and have forced their opponents into 20+ turnovers four times (CCSU, Maine, Saint Louis, vs. George Mason).

Double 'em up
Samba Diallo's 11 point - 14 rebound performance on Jan. 5 at Saint Louis marked the first career double-double. He's the fourth Minuteman this season to record his first-ever double-double, joining Carl Pierre (23 points, 10 rebounds at Akron), Tre Mitchell (14 points, 12 rebounds vs. St. John's) and Preston Santos (15 points, 12 rebounds vs. Duquesne).

Since then, Diallo has added two more double-doubles, good for a tie for 17th in the A-10 with teammate Tre Mitchell.

Dishin'
UMass had a season-high 26 assists on 38 made field goals on Jan. 29 against Saint Joseph's, the most assists in a game since Jan. 26, 2014 against Fordham. The 38 made field goals were also the most in a game since Nov. 19, 2017 vs. Niagara.

Sean East II and Carl Pierre had seven dimes each, a new career-high for Pierre. East II is fifth in the nation among freshmen, and t-77th overall, with 4.7 assists per game, and is also 77th in the NCAA with 116 assists in 25 games.

Welcome to the 1Klub
On Jan. 8 vs. La Salle, captain Carl Pierre became the 52nd player in team history to reach 1000 career points. His nine points on Saturday vs. No. 6 Dayton moved him into sole possession of 38th on UMass' all-time scoring list.

Scoreboard

Men’s Hoops Closes Homestand With Saint Louis On Tuesday Night

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Players Mentioned

Samba Diallo

Sean East II

Kolton Mitchell

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Preston Santos

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics