Davidson Outlasts UMass Men's Basketball, 69-60

AMHERST, Mass. – Tre Mitchell (16), T.J. Weeks Jr. (16) and Noah Fernandes (15) combined for 47 points, but Kellan Grady scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half to lead a Davidson (10-5, 6-2) squad that shot 61% in the final 20 minutes to overtake the UMass men's basketball team (5-4, 4-2) on Sunday at the Mullins Center, 69-60.

Mitchell finished the day 6-of-18 from the field and added nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks to finish just shy of a double-double. Twelve of Mitchell's 16 points came in the first half before Fernandes (nine) and Weeks Jr. (seven) carried the weight the rest of the way. Grady, meanwhile, got hot as the game went on, scoring nine points during an 11-4 run for the Wildcats to help the visitors erase the deficit and take its first lead of the game with 10 minutes to play.

UMass shot 36% as a team (20-of-56) and went 8-of-22 from three while the Wildcats were 27-of-52 overall (52%), including 44 points in the paint.

Mitchell was red hot to begin and end the first half, finishing the opening 20 minutes with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists. Massachusetts, which shot 38% as a team on 11-of-29 from the floor, used a 10-2 run to jump out to a nine-point lead capped by a Weeks Jr. three, one of three conversions from deep in the first half.

UMass led by as many as 12 in the first, but Davidson began to claw back with eight minutes left in the half using a 14-2 run over six minutes to bring it back within one point thanks to four points apiece from Collins and Brajkovic to help the Wildcats recover from a 1-of-7 start from the field to trail 32-27 at recess.

Fernandes got the momentum right back for the Minutemen out of the break, capitalizing on a pair of and-ones, highlighted by a steal at one end before taking it the distance to get himself into double-figures and give UMass a 38-31 lead in the first three minutes of the second half.

The Wildcats, though, put together an 11-4 run over 3:35 in the half to level the game at 42 apiece, including nine straight points from Grady.

The Wildcats taking its first lead of the game with 10:21 to play on a bucket from Brajkovic, and it was a back-and-forth battle from there before a 14-1 Davidson run over the final four minutes but the Wildcats up for good.

The Minutemen will head to Virginia for a pair of games next week, beginning with VCU on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

T.J. Weeks Jr.

Tre Mitchell

Noah Fernandes

Carl Pierre

Players Mentioned

Noah Fernandes

Tre Mitchell

T.J. Weeks Jr.

Players Mentioned

Noah Fernandes

Tre Mitchell

T.J. Weeks Jr.

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics