University of Massachusets Athletics
Wednesday, January 26
Philadelphia, Pa.
7 p.m.
University of Massachusetts
9-10,2-5Atlantic 10
77
at
71
La Salle
6-11,1-6Atlantic 10
1
2
F
Massachusetts
32
45
77
La Salle
42
29
71
Minutemen Dominate Glass In Comeback Win At La Salle, 77-71
January 26, 2022 | Men's Basketball
Rich Kelly led all scorers with 21 points while T.J. Weeks posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team rallied back from down 16 points in the second half to come away with a 77-71 win at La Salle on Wednesday evening. The Minutemen (9-10 Overall, 2-5 Atlantic 10) finished with a 44-27 rebound advantage, led by T.J. Weeks 10 to go along with 11 points.
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La Salle started the game by making three of its first four attempts from 3-point land to help build an 11-4 advantage and scored nine unanswered to lead 19-10 with 9:54 left in the half. UMass started the game just 1-of-7 from deep before T.J. Weeks knocked down consecutive triples before a Trent Buttrick 3-pointer with 3:55 left gave UMass its first lead since the early moments at 28-27. Buttrick finished with 16 points to go along with six rebounds.
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The Explorers closed the first half on a 12-to-2 scoring run to lead 42-32 at the break. The run continued into the second half as La Salle built its largest lead of the evening at 50-34 before the Minutemen strung together a 13-0 run to pull within three.
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Buttrick started the scoring run with back-to-back 3-pointers before Greg Jones knocked down a triple of his own to bring UMass within seven. Rich Kelly followed by scoring four straight points and capped off the scoring run with a fadeaway jumper to make it a 50-47 game with 13:40 left. Kelly finished with a game-high 21 points, including 17 in the second half.
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Rich Kelly scored five unanswered points again with 5:12 left to give UMass a three-point lead before La Salle clawed back to tie at 71-71 with just over a minute remaining. Kelly came through with his sixth assist of the night the following possession, finding Javohn Garcia on a cut to the basket to give the Minutemen a two-point lead. Garcia finished with 11 points off the bench and added a pair of steals.
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C.J. Kelly and Garcia converted on both in their trips to the line to cap off a 14-of-16 showing in the second half as a team on the way to finishing the game 21-of-26 from the stripe. Kelly added a career-high 10 rebounds and went 5-of-6 from the line to finish with nine points.
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The Minutemen return home to the Mullins Center for a Sunday matchup against George Mason at 2 p.m.
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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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La Salle started the game by making three of its first four attempts from 3-point land to help build an 11-4 advantage and scored nine unanswered to lead 19-10 with 9:54 left in the half. UMass started the game just 1-of-7 from deep before T.J. Weeks knocked down consecutive triples before a Trent Buttrick 3-pointer with 3:55 left gave UMass its first lead since the early moments at 28-27. Buttrick finished with 16 points to go along with six rebounds.
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The Explorers closed the first half on a 12-to-2 scoring run to lead 42-32 at the break. The run continued into the second half as La Salle built its largest lead of the evening at 50-34 before the Minutemen strung together a 13-0 run to pull within three.
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Buttrick started the scoring run with back-to-back 3-pointers before Greg Jones knocked down a triple of his own to bring UMass within seven. Rich Kelly followed by scoring four straight points and capped off the scoring run with a fadeaway jumper to make it a 50-47 game with 13:40 left. Kelly finished with a game-high 21 points, including 17 in the second half.
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Rich Kelly scored five unanswered points again with 5:12 left to give UMass a three-point lead before La Salle clawed back to tie at 71-71 with just over a minute remaining. Kelly came through with his sixth assist of the night the following possession, finding Javohn Garcia on a cut to the basket to give the Minutemen a two-point lead. Garcia finished with 11 points off the bench and added a pair of steals.
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C.J. Kelly and Garcia converted on both in their trips to the line to cap off a 14-of-16 showing in the second half as a team on the way to finishing the game 21-of-26 from the stripe. Kelly added a career-high 10 rebounds and went 5-of-6 from the line to finish with nine points.
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The Minutemen return home to the Mullins Center for a Sunday matchup against George Mason at 2 p.m.
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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
UMass
LaS
FG%
.393
.458
3FG%
.364
.333
FT%
.808
.727
RB
44
27
TO
12
12
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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