Minutemen Come Up Short At Northeastern, 82-76

BOSTON, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team came up short against Northeastern on the road at Matthews Arena, 82-76. The Minutemen (6-4 Overall) were led offensively by Rich Kelly's game and season-high 25 points.

Fernandes scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half, including 11 points in the first 3:52 of game time to help the Minutemen jump out to a six-point lead. The junior opened the night 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from three and added four rebounds and seven assists. The game marked the fourth game in the last six for Fernandes that he has eclipsed the 20-point mark.

UMass opened the night by knocking down six of its first eight shots from behind the 3-point line while making 9-of-13 from the field to take a 24-13 lead with 11:36 to go in the first.

Northeastern took its first lead with 2:04 on the clock at 37-36 and made five consecutive shots from the field to take a 41-36 lead into the locker room for halftime. The Huskies shot nearly 61-percent in the first half while the Minutemen converted on a shade over 41-percent of their shots. UMass shot just under 54-percent in the second half to finish the game at 47-percent from the field.

Rich Kelly poured in 19 points in the second half, including three straight 3-pointers before an eventual layup gave the Minutemen a 60-49 lead with 11:37 left. The guard had nine points in the first 4:16 of the second half on his way to finishing the night 6-of-12 from 3-point land.

The Huskies used an 11-2 run to pull within two before taking a 71-66 lead with just over four minutes remaining. The Minutemen made it a one possession game with 2:28 left with the help of a 6-0 run at 78-76. UMass had the ball coming out of a timeout with 25-seconds left, but could not convert from behind the arc.

Trent Buttrick added 15 points and tied his season-high with nine rebounds.

The Minutemen remain on the road this weekend with a matchup at North Texas on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

For complete coverage of the UMass men's basketball team, follow the Minutemen on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @UMassBasketball and online at www.UMassAthletics.com.

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Team Stats

Rich Kelly

Noah Fernandes

Trent Buttrick

C.J. Kelly

Players Mentioned

Trent Buttrick

Rich Kelly

Players Mentioned

Trent Buttrick

Rich Kelly

Scoreboard

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