UMass Travels To Fordham For Saturday Afternoon Tilt

University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 27	Massachusetts (11-15, 5-8 Atlantic 10) at Fordham (7-18, 1-12 Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time	Saturday, February 22, 2020 \| 4:00 p.m.
Location	Bronx, N.Y. \| Rose Hill Gym
Watch	ESPN+
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. – After erasing a 16-point deficit to defeat Saint Louis on Tuesday, the UMass men's basketball team will look to make it three wins in its last four games when the Minutemen travel to Fordham for a 4 p.m. tipoff with the Rams on Saturday on ESPN+.

The series with Fordham
Overall, UMass holds a 29-17 advantage in the series though the Rams have won the last five meetings. Prior to the past four seasons, UMass had won five straight match-ups in the series dating back to 2012. Rose Hill Gym has proven a challenging place to play for the Minutemen with the Rams leading the series in the Bronx, 11-10. UMass is looking for their first win at Fordham since Feb. 4, 2015.

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 16.8 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 20.2 points and 6.0 rebounds in his last 10 games:

• Mitchell is 73rd in the NCAA, and tied for fourth among rookies, with 166 field goals. He's 27 away from tying the UMass freshman record for made field goals in a season, held by Jim McCoy (193, 1988-89).

• Mitchell's 438 points are ninth in the nation among NCAA freshman, and 117 away from tying the UMass rookie record for points in a season, held by Jim McCoy (555, 1988-98).

• He is one of 17 players in the Atlantic 10 to have a 30-point game this season, and the only freshman to do so.

• Mitchell is one of nine players in the A-10 with a 30-point game in conference play.

• He has four 25+ point nights this season. UMass had six as a team last season.

• Mitchell has nine 20+ point nights this season.

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), URI (31), Rutgers (35 ), Virginia (55), Yale (58), South Carolina (62), St. John's (65), Akron (72), Saint Louis (79), Davidson (83), Duquesne (100).

Three of UMass' final four games after Saturday are also against top-100 teams: vs. VCU (49), at Richmond (43) and vs. Rhode Island (31).

Down, but not out
Tuesday's 16-point comeback win over Saint Louis marked the fourth time this season that UMass erased a 10-point deficit to come back and win the game (at Fairfield, vs. Saint Joseph's, vs. George Mason).

New look lineup
Freshmen Kolton Mitchell and Preston Santos have started each of the last seven 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 second on the team with 10.7 ppg since being inserted into the starting five. He's also shooting 63% (31-of-49) and 42% from deep (8-of-19) with 4.9 rpg.

We'll be taking that
The Minutemen are averaging 7.0 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 fourth in the conference in forced turnovers (14.81), and have forced their opponents into 20+ turnovers four times (CCSU, Maine, Saint Louis, vs. George Mason).

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 third in the nation among freshmen, and t-70th overall, with 4.7 assists per game, and is also 66th in the NCAA with 123 assists in 26 games.

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 starting all 20 games and East II 18-of-20.

The rookies have combined for 55% (990-of-1798) of the Minutemen's scoring so far this season.

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

Overall, the Minutemen have earned six A-10 Rookie of the Week nods this season, the most since 2003-04. On Monday, Mitchell became the first Minuteman since Rashaun Freeman in 2003-04 to earn the honor three times in a season.

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 Feb. 15 vs. No. 6 Dayton moved him into sole possession of 38th on UMass' all-time scoring list:

Scoreboard

Next Event

Players Mentioned

John Buggs III

Sean East II

C.J. Jackson

Kolton Mitchell

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Preston Santos

T.J. Weeks Jr.

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics