Men’s Basketball Opens A-10 Championship Tomorrow Against #7 George Washington

University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
A-10 Championship	#10 Massachusetts (14-16 Overall, 7-11 Atlantic 10) vs. #7 George Washington (12-17 Overall, 8-9 Atlantic 10)
Date \| Time	Thursday, March 10, 2022 \| 6 p.m.
Location	Washington, D.C. \| Capital One Arena
Tickets	Tickets
Watch	USA
Game Notes	Massachusetts
Listen	WEEI (105.5 FM) \| WCRN (830 AM) \| Varsity Network App
Live Stats	S tat Broadcast
Twitter	@UMassAthletics \| @UMassBasketball
Instagram	UMass Basketball
Facebook	UMass Basketball

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The No. 10-seed Massachusetts Minutemen take on No. 7-seed George Washington in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship tomorrow at the Capital One Arena. The Minutemen and Colonials tip off at 6 p.m. on USA.

Minutemen At The Championship
The Minutemen last made it to the final game of the Atlantic 10 Championship in 2001 and last won the tournament in 1996 with a 75-61 win over Temple. UMass most recently with 1-1 at last year's championship, picking up a 100-66 win over No. 13-seed Saint Joseph's in the Thursday afternoon matchup before falling to No. 4-seed Saint Louis the following day.

UMass vs. George Washington
UMass fell to George Washington in its lone meeting this season and last defeated the Colonials on Feb. 15, 2014 on the road. The Minutemen were bested by the Colonials in overtime at the 2019 A-10 Championships by a score of 68-64 and have a 4-6 record against George Washington in tournament play. UMass last defeated GW in conference postseason play with a 77-72 win in the 2013 first round.

You Can't Guard Noah
Noah Fernandes put in a career-high 28 points on 10-of-19 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range in the overtime win at George Mason on Saturday. Fernandes scored 19 of his 28 in the second half and overtime and hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:27 left to get UMass within a point after George Mason took a 4-point lead. The guard has posted scoring outputs of 18 or more in eight games and finished in double figures in 20-of-26 contests.

Jones' Jolt
Greg Jones provides a jolt of energy off the bench for the Minutemen and most recently hauled in nine rebounds with a career-high four blocks to go along with nine points and two steals in the overtime win at George Mason on Saturday. Jones gave UMass a boost in the home win over La Salle, putting in eight straight points with back-to-back 3-pointers after the Explorers tied to help the Minutemen get the win.

On The Glass
The Minutemen have gained an advantage on the glass in the last four games after being outrebounded by Dayton and La Salle the two games prior. UMass most recently posted a 45-35 advantage on the boards in the overtime win at George Mason, led by nine rebounds from Greg Jones to go along with eight from Trent Buttrick. Over the last four, UMass owns a 39 to 33.8 rebound advantage over its opponent.

Comeback Kids
The Minutemen have rallied back from down double digits to win six games this season after most recently erasing a 10-point deficit on the road at George Mason over the weekend. UMass came back from down 16 with just over 15 minutes remaining in a road win at La Salle and also came back from down 17 in wins over Harvard and Rutgers. The Minutemen also stormed back from down 13 against UMBC and UNC Greensboro.

Minutemen From Range
UMass leads the Atlantic 10 in both 3-point field goals per game with 9.6 and in total 3-pointers made with 287 on the year. The Minutemen rank 18th nationally in 3-point field goals per game and have made the 24th-most 3-pointers in the country on the year. UMass has made 15 or more 3-pointers in four games this year, including a program-record 17 3-pointers in an overtime win over UNC Greensboro at the Jersey Mike's Classic in November.

Sharing The Rock
In addition to leading the Minutemen in scoring, Noah Fernandes owns 5.2 assists per game to lead UMass and ranks 27th in the country in the category along with ranking 57th in the nation in total assists. Fernandes posted a career-high 12 dimes on the road at St. Bonaventure on Jan. 16 and recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 assists while hitting the buzzer-beating winner in a victory over Rutgers at the end of November.

Exclusive Company
Rich Kelly became the 11th active DI player with 1,500 or more career points and 500 or more career assists as he recorded his 500th career assist in the home win over the Billikens on Jan. 20. Kelly ranks 29th in career assists among active leaders and has made the 35th-most 3-point field goals with 291 in his career. The guard has appeared in 135 games over his five-year career and has scored 1,767 career points on .428 shooting from the field and .402 from range.

Buttrick's Boards
Graduate forward Trent Buttrick leads the Minutemen in rebounding with 6.0 per game and is averaging 7.8 rebounds per game over the last four contests. Buttrick has hauled in 10 or more rebounds in four games, including reaching a career-high 11 rebounds against George Washington and at St. Bonaventure. Buttrick recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 boards at Davidson on Jan. 11 and posted a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double in the last meeting against the Colonials on Feb. 9.

First practice in The District ?#Flagship ?? pic.twitter.com/Ko1aj0sDA8
— UMass Men's Basketball (@UMassBasketball) March 9, 2022

A little Tuesday Night ?? ?? #Flagship ?? pic.twitter.com/6wXcNtpoC5
— UMass Men's Basketball (@UMassBasketball) March 9, 2022

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