Men's Basketball Heads To Rhode Island Tuesday Night On CBSSN

University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 23	Massachusetts (9-13, 3-6) at Rhode Island (16-5, 8-1)
Date \| Time	Tuesday, February 4, 2020 \| 7:00 p.m.
Location	Kingston, R.I. \| Ryan Center
Watch	CBSSN
Listen	WEEI (105.5 FM) \| WCRN (830 AM) \| Tune-In App
Live Statistics	Live Statistics
Game Notes	Massachusetts Notes \| 2019-20 Prospectus
Feature	This Is My Story: Samba Diallo
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 continues its brief two-game road swing on Tuesday night when the Minutemen travel to Rhode Island to take on the Rams. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on CBSSN.

The series with Rhode Island
Overall, UMass holds an 89-65 advantage in the all-time series, with Rhode Island collecting wins in six of the last eight meetings. The last time UMass won at the Ryan Center was back on Feb. 9, 2014, 73-68.

The annual series dates back to 1908 with UMass winning 32-14 that year. Since 1950, the teams have played every year as charter members of the Yankee Conference (which formed from the New England Conference).

Stiff competition
UMass has gone up against some of the nation's top teams, including 10 currently ranked in the top-100 of the NCAA NET Rankings: Dayton (5), Rutgers (28 ), Yale (50), Virginia (58), Saint Louis (68), South Carolina (74), St. John's (76), Akron (80), Duquesne (88), Davidson (98).

Rhode Island, is currently 40th in the NET.

Tre ball
Tre Mitchell had a career-high 28 points on Jan. 15 vs. St. Bonaventure, and is fifth in the Atlantic 10 and first among rookies averaging 15.5 points per game this season.

Mitchell's 28-point night against the Bonnies were the most for a UMass freshman since Rashaun Freeman scored 31 on Feb. 28, 2004. He followed it up with a 14 point - 12 rebound night at George Mason on Jan. 22 for his second double-double of the season and 25 points on Jan. 25 against Duquesne, including 17 in the first half alone.

New look lineup
Freshmen Kolton Mitchell and Preston Santos have started each of the last two games, including their first collegiate starts last Saturday against Duquesne. Them, along with Tre Mitchell, marked the first time the Minutemen had three freshmen start since Jan. 28, 2017 against George Mason.

Boarding school
The Minutemen picked up a +18 rebound differential in last Saturday's win against Duquesne., just the fourth time UMass outrebounded its opponent this season. It was the most rebounds (52) in a game for Massachusetts since pulling down Dec. 11, 2009 against Grambling State.

Dishin'
The Minutemen had a season-high 26 assists on 38 made field goals on Wednesday 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 against Niagara.

Sean East II and Carl Pierre had seven dimes each, a new career-high for Pierre. East II is fourth in the nation among freshmen, and t-67th overall, with 4.8 assists per game, and is also 62nd in the NCAA with 105 assists in 22 games.

Double 'em up
Samba Diallo's 11 point - 14 rebound performance on Jan. 5 at Saint Louis marked the first career double-double for the sophomore. 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 13th in the A-10.

'baji's back
UMass announced on Dec. 30 that Dibaji Walker has received a waiver from the NCAA and is immediately eligible for competition. Walker transferred to UMass this fall after a season at Cleveland State, and made his UMass debut on Dec. 30 at Akron.

Walker played a year of prep hoops at Woodstock Academy under current UMass assistant coach Tony Bergeron, where he helped guide the Centaurs to a 35-5 record and a No. 3 national ranking.

Walker had a career-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting off the bench on Wednesday vs. Saint Joseph's. He's shooting 39% (21-of-54) in 16.3 minutes of action in conference play.

Welcome to the 1Klub
On Jan. 8 against La Salle, captain Carl Pierre became the 52nd player in team history to reach 1000 career points. His 14 points on Jan. 29 vs. Saint Joseph's moved him into sole possession of 39th on UMass' all-time scoring list:

Scoreboard

Men's Basketball Heads To Rhode Island Tuesday Night On CBSSN

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Players Mentioned

Samba Diallo

Sean East II

Kolton Mitchell

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Preston Santos

Dibaji Walker

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics