The past is over, but UMass' game at the Cage shows it is worth revisiting once a year
Published: Saturday, November 27, 2010, 9:05 PM Updated: Saturday, November 27, 2010, 9:25 PM
Freddie Riley, who was 3 years old when UMass last played at Curry Hicks Cage, scored 17 points and hit five 3-pointers in Saturday's 83-76 win over Holy Cross. photo by J. Anthony Roberts As Curry Hicks Cage was filling up Saturday, well before gametime, John McCutcheon was ready for the question of whether his men's basketball team should consider playing there more often, maybe even all the time.
"We built the Mullins Center for a reason,'' said the University of Massachusetts athletic director, who was not here when the team's modern arena was built, but knows the story.
No, UMass basketball can't go back in time for good. Even the 3,395 fans who filled the Cage to near-capacity Saturday understood that.
But even if we can't live in the past, it doesn't hurt to revisit it from time to time. The UMass-Holy Cross game had the feel of a class reunion, and on a day the students were home for a long holiday weekend, a mostly older crowd provided the type of environment a college game should enjoy.
A Cage game probably should have been played years ago. The irony of playing it now was that UMass is using the old barn to help regain the same regional passion that made the place too small in the first place.
Building the Mullins Center was a way to restore the hockey program, but it also doubled the capacity for a rising basketball team the region had come to adore. There was no Save-the-Cage movement in 1993.
"We were excited to move. We were getting the crowds; getting the bigger building was a way for a lot more fans to see us,'' said Harper Williams, a star center on the 1993 team.
It was still the end of an era. Curry Hicks Cage first hosted basketball in 1932, back when dunks, 3-point shots and TV timeouts might as well have been passages from a Jules Verne novel.
"The place looked a lot different then. It had a dirt floor, and they would put a (basketball) floor over it to play,'' said Bill Walsh, 91, an Agawam resident and 1941 UMass graduate who played at the Cage in its first decade.
UMass coach Derek Kellogg is trying to achieve a difficult balancing act. He wants to draw on the tradition of the program, while also asking people to grant his young, unbeaten team its own identity.
Saturday's 83-76 win over Holy Cross was a big step forward. It was so enjoyable that it may entice some of the locals to reconnect with the team at the Mullins Center, just down the street.
That, of course, was the true motive. Truth be told, the Cage is not Valhalla to every hoop nut, anyway.
"I hate this place. I want a chair,'' one said as he settled in Saturday.
He was in the minority, though. For many nostalgia buffs, Curry Hicks Cage is magical because it represents a more innocent time.
The Minutemen left it at just about the time they went national, a rise that made life a lot more exciting around here for awhile, but also more complicated.
The crowd Saturday was not UMass' biggest this year. The opening turnout of 3,784 against Rider holds that distinction.
The students were gone, too, and it was students, as much as their elders, who made the Cage a ragin' place.
But if a late Holy Cross rally kept this from being UMass' best game of the year, it did not keep it from being by the most fun, by far.
"This is a nice, nostalgic experience. Once,'' associate athletic director Tim Kenney said.
It would be a mistake to think the team can return to the Cage for good. But it will also be a mistake if they don't do it again once next year, and connect our past to our present.
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Rage at the Cage: UMass holds on to beat Holy Cross at Curry Hicks
Published: Saturday, November 27, 2010, 7:36 PM Updated: Sunday, November 28, 2010, 8:17 AM
AMHERST - The Minutemen are not perfect, but their record is.
For a University of Massachusettsmen's basketball team that is off to its best start in 15 years, that is good enough for now.
"We showed today that we can play great ball at certain times, but we also have things to work on,'' senior guard Anthony Gurley said after scoring 24 points in UMass' 83-76 win over Holy Cross at Curry Hicks Cage.
It was a happy ending to a nostalgic day for 3,395 fans, who nearly filled the Cage for its first regular-season game in nearly 18 years.
"It was great to be back in the Cage. It was a terrific environment for the players,'' coach Derek Kellogg said.
"We played a pretty good 32-minute game, even if we didn't finish as well as we could.''
Kellogg was a Minutemen guard on Jan. 29, 1993, the last time UMass played at the Cage before moving into the new Mullins Center.
With Gurley, Freddie Riley (17 points), Sampson Carter (14) and Sean Carter (12) leading the way, the Minutemen improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 1995-96 Final Four season.
They extended their Cage winning streak to 15. The interruption between No. 14 and 15 was 6,511 days.
It got dicey at the end. Trailing 70-46 with eight minutes left, Holy Cross went on a 26-6 run and trailed 76-72 with 1:41 to go.
Sampson Carter's layup off a Gurley pass followed, and UMass hung on.
The hectic finsh did not diminish Kellogg's enthusiasm for a return at the Cage, which he hopes will become an annual event.
"This was one of my best days here. The atmosphere was like 1993,'' the coach said, then smiled.
"It means we're getting old.''
Kellogg put some of the onus on himself for the comeback by Holy Cross (0-5).
"I did some subbing, and or maybe I pulled the reins in. I probably should have played Freddie Riley more, and when he was in there, we didn't run any plays for him,'' the coach said.
In 17 minutes, Riley hit 5 of 9 shots from 3-point range. He electrified a crowd that, even with students gone for the holiday weekend, was less than 700 short of capacity.
"When I get going like that, I try not to get too excited. I'm also looking for layups in transition; you need those to get a run going,'' Riley said.
One of the biggest boosts came from forward Sean Carter, who has been playing far better since being moved from the starting lineup to a role off the bench.
"I took that move as a positive. I'm a team guy, and winning is everything,'' said Carter, who had seven rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists in 21 minutes.
Foul shooting has been his Achilles heel, but Carter's hard work in practice paid dividends with a 6-for-7 day from the line.
With UMass leading 80-74 and 17 seconds left, he hit two free throws that clinched it.
"This might have been Sean's best game in his two years here,'' Kellogg said.
"I've had better games as far as stats, but I think I gave us a lift with energy off the bench,'' said Carter, a 6-foot-9 junior.
"Sean was terrific with scoring, rebounding and blocking shots. Freddie was Freddie, hitting shots and running the floor,'' Gurley said.
Gurley did his part, too. After an 11-0 Crusaders' run had cut the UMass lead to 70-57, he scored eight of his team's last 13 points over the final six minutes.
Sampson Carter had five assists for UMass, which led 35-29 at halftime and beat Holy Cross for the third straight meeting.
Even the older UMass players were toddlers when the Cage last hosted a regular season game. They still understood the meaning and felt the emotion of this game.
"It was a great atmosphere. It reminded me of high school,'' Gurley said of the up-close environment.
"We know the history, and the community came out today. We appreciated that,'' Sean Carter said.
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Minutemen hold on to defeat Holy Cross in first game at the Cage since 1993
AMHERST - With just over a minute left in Saturday's game, the crowd at the Curry Hicks Cage was nervous. The lead by the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team over Holy Cross had dwindled from 24 points all the way down to four.
As the shot clock ran down, senior Anthony Gurley drove to the basket. With the defense moving toward him, Gurley fed the ball to Sampson Carter who was driving the baseline.
The sophomore laid the ball in with 64 seconds left, and for the first time in over 17 years the Cage roared. The play and the Minutemen's free-throw shooting in the final minute allowed UMass to escape with an 83-76 win over the Crusaders.
As the Minutemen (6-0) walked off the floor with a perfect November, the 3,395 fans that made the old gym feel alive gave them an ovation.
"It was a great to be back in the Cage," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "What a treat for the players to have a jammed environment. I thought the players played a really good 32-minute game.
"We didn't finish them off the way we needed to, but it was great to see the Cage rocking and rolling," he added. "Everything worked out pretty nicely."
The Minutemen appeared to be en route to an easy win. Freddie Riley had 11 of his 17 points during a 21-6 UMass run that gave the home team a 70-46 lead with 8:17 left.
But Devin Brown led the Crusaders (0-5) back. The leading scorer for Holy Cross did not have a point at halftime, but he scored 18 after intermission, including 11 at the free-throw line, to create some anxious moments before UMass held on.
"Whenever we get up on a team we don't need to hold back," Riley said. "We need to play the way we played to get the lead."
Gurley agreed.
"Tonight we showed we can play great at certain times, but when we had our letdown we showed we had some things to work on as well," Gurley said. "Overall I thought we played well. I'm glad we got the win and we're 6-0 now."
Gurley was the Minutemen's leading scorer for the sixth straight game with 24 points. Sampson Carter added 14, and Sean Carter had 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
"Since he went to the bench, Sean has been really playing good basketball," Kellogg said. "He was great."
The teams traded the lead back and forth early in the first half with neither holding much of an edge.
After R.J. Evans made a reverse layup with 12:41 left in the half to put the Crusaders up, 13-12, Sampson Carter made one of two free throws to tie the game and launched a run in the process. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Riley followed to put UMass ahead to stay.
Gurley hit a pull-up jumper in the lane and then converted a steal by Riley to stretch the surge to 11-0 as the Minutemen took a 23-13 lead. UMass has led by at least 10 points at some point in every game this season.
A 3-pointer by Gary Correia gave the Minutemen their biggest first-half lead at 35-23 with 4:56 left, but the UMass offense went cold. The Crusaders scored the last six points of the half to cut their deficit to 35-29 at intermission.
The Minutemen go on the road for the first time this season at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they head to Hamden, Conn., to face Quinnipiac.
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One thing I'm not ever worried about is our guys quitting.
"It was great to be back in the Cage and see it rocking and rolling," said Kellogg, who started the final game in the Cage on Jan. 29, 1993. "It brought back a lot of old school memories."
The 4,000-seat gym was home to UMass basketball from 1932-93 before the Minutemen moved to the Mullins Center.
UMass junior backup center Sean Carter's back-to-back dunks with 8 minutes to play put the Minutemen up by 24 points against Holy Cross and got yesterday afternoon's crowd of 3,395 going, but the Crusaders roared back, outscoring UMass, 26-6, to get within four with 1:39 left.
Senior Anthony Gurley and Carter combined for four straight free throws in the final seconds and the Minutemen closed out the Crusaders, 83-76.
UMass is 6-0 for the first time since 1995-96, its Final Four season. Holy Cross, playing the fourth of five straight road games, fell to 0-5.
"I'm not a moral-victory guy," HC coach Milan Brown said, "and I told the guys, 'Let's not get used to this.' But we took some steps against a very good team, and if we can keep doing that, it's eventually going to turn."
Gurley, the Minutemen's leading scorer in all six games this year, poured in a game-high 24 points. Sophomore guard Freddie Riley came off the bench to add 17.
Junior guard Devin Brown led HC with 18 points. He was 11 for 11 at the free-throw line. Senior forward Andrew Keister had his second double-double of the year with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Holy Cross trailed at intermission, 35-29, and senior guard Andrew Beinert's 3-pointer kept the Crusaders within six points 4 minutes into the second half. With 15:40 to play, sophomore forward Sampson Carter started UMass on a 16-4 run. Riley sank back-to-back 3s, and at the end of the spurt, the Minutemen converted on a pair of HC turnovers to take a 60-42 lead with 11:45 to play.
UMass extended the lead to 70-46 after the second of Carter's slams with 8:21 left.
Brown, R.J. Evans and Beinert combined to score 11 straight points for Holy Cross.
"We thought we had it going," Gurley said, "we thought the game was ours, but just like every other team, they didn't give up. They kept fighting and made their run."
The Crusaders continued to push the tempo and kept it going with Brown nailing eight free-throw attempts in a row, Beinert banking in a 3, and Keister making a layup to cut the UMass lead to 76-72.
"Coach has been preaching to us no matter what the circumstances, we just never give up," Devin Brown said. "We knew we weren't going to get all 24 points back at one time. We just wanted to keep getting one stop and execute our offense and keep playing hard."
After Keister's basket, Gurley found Carter underneath for a layup, and at the other end Carter swatted away a shot by Beinert as he went to the hoop.
"I thought we came out with good energy and played a good 32-minute game," Kellogg said. "We didn't finish them off like we needed to. I'm not sure if I subbed a few guys or I kind of pulled back the reins trying to just come away with the win, but Holy Cross did a great job coming back."
UMass has been a strong defensive team this season. Its first five opponents averaged 58.6 points and 36 percent shooting from the field. HC shot 55 percent in the second half and 48 percent for the game, the highest by any UMass foe this year.
However, the Minutemen forced a season-high 19 turnovers by Holy Cross and converted them into 26 points.
At the 11-minute mark of the first half, UMass amped up its defense and pressed the Crusaders, leading to an 11-0 run. Riley got hot from outside, sinking back-to-back 3s, and Gurley scored consecutive baskets to help UMass to a 23-13 lead with 9 minutes left.
Junior guard Mike Cavataio, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, kept HC in it, though, following up a Devin Brown miss, then driving for a dunk. Cavataio converted a traditional 3-point play later in the half.
"(Coming back) definitely shows where our heart is," Milan Brown said. "One thing I'm not ever worried about is our guys quitting. We made some adjustments to get back in the game and once we had some positive plays happen, all of a sudden the shoe's on the other foot and they're more apprehensive and we're more aggressive.
"They're a very good team. I was very proud of the guys. I thought we took a step as a team today, for sure."
Minutemen are all the rage in the Cage
AMHERST -- Last week, Derek Kellogg mapped out his strategy for creating a culture of winning at his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts. "This is new UMass,'' said the coach, who played on four straight NCAA Tournament teams in the 1990s. "We've had the glory years. This is our new identity -- live off the history, but let's build our own history.''
Yesterday, that new building involved returning to the old building -- a Back to the Future script that saw UMass knock off Holy Cross, 83-76, at Curry Hicks Cage. It was the first game for UMass at the Cage since 1993, when Kellogg was the point guard.
"It was great to be back in the Cage,'' said Kellogg. "What a treat for the players to have a really jammed environment, to have kind of an old-school game.''
With no students on campus, many of the near-capacity crowd of 3,395 came from a generation that remembers the intense atmosphere of this quirky cauldron that housed UMass basketball for more than 60 years. A number of former players came back, including Harper Williams, Kellogg's former teammate and the Minutemen's first star player when they started getting good a generation ago.
Long ago, the Cage was laid out on a dirt floor. That meant games were occasionally delayed by a wayward squirrel, and officials had to wipe clean basketballs that went far out of bounds. Jack Leaman's regionally great teams in the '70s once held local crowds transfixed with players such as Julius Erving (known as "Julie the Jumping Jack'') and "Slick'' Rick Pitino.
Then came the dark days of the late '70s and '80s, which involved 11 straight losing seasons and an almost unfathomable 29 straight defeats at one point. In John Calipari's first game as a head coach in 1988, the scoreboard at the Cage starting smoking, and score had to be kept by flip charts.
The team began winning in torrents, though, and ultimately outgrew the old facility. The Mullins Center opened in 1993, and for years the Minutemen filled it to its 9,493-seat capacity.
But those days passed, too, and now Kellogg has returned to try to reignite the fire. After two straight losing seasons to start his head coaching career, with Mullins crowds often under 3,000, Kellogg went retro yesterday, and the results were impressive. With the Minutemen sporting throwback uniforms from 1994-97, UMass recorded its sixth straight win to start the season -- the best start since the Final Four team of 1995-96.
No one is confusing the squads, of course. That team began not just 6-0, but 26-0. Those Minutemen prided themselves on Calipari's trademark scheduling philosophy of "Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime.'' In their first half-dozen games (one played in Michigan, two in Maryland), UMass knocked off top-ranked Kentucky, No. 10 Wake Forest, and No. 19 Maryland.
This year's 6-0 squad has yet to play a game outside of Western Massachusetts, and the competition has been relatively soft. At 0-5, Holy Cross fits the bill, though the young Crusaders (led by Devin Brown's 18 points) did show lots of pluck in closing a 24-point, second-half deficit to 4 late in the game.
But make no mistake, lots of UMass teams of recent vintage would not be close to undefeated against this slate.
"I just hope they're not getting overconfident,'' said Kellogg. "I think we're an OK basketball team to a good basketball team. We're not anywhere near where we need to be or could be.''
Yesterday, UMass was led by Anthony Gurley with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The senior, who has led UMass in scoring every game this season, enjoyed playing at the Cage.
"It was a great atmosphere,'' he said. "I had a lot of fun. It actually reminded of my high school days at Newton North.''
UMass also got big contributions from Freddie Riley (17 points in just 17 minutes, including 5-of-9 shooting from behind the arc), Sampson Carter (14 points, five assists), and the unrelated Sean Carter (12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks).
"It was a big thing for us [playing here],'' said Sean Carter. "I know there is a lot of history here. A lot of the community came out, which I appreciated . . . People are starting to realize that we're putting a lot of hard work in now. We're winning games and working hard.''
UMass will get a better sense of itself this week, traveling to take on a solid Quinnipiac team Wednesday, then heading to TD Garden to face Boston College Saturday.
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UMass will take it
Not satisfied
Sunday, November 28, 2010 -
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ShareAMHERST - That UMass can now quibble with the nature of its wins is a sign of the progress the program has made.
The Minutemen improved to 6-0 yesterday with an 83-76 win over Holy Cross, but were left with a somewhat bitter taste after nearly squandering a 24-point second-half lead.
"I thought our guys came out with some good energy and played a pretty good 32-minute game," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "I don't think we finished them off the way we needed to, but it was great to see the Cage rocking and rolling. Everything worked out pretty nicely."
After a pair of Sean Carter dunks, the Minutemen led 70-46 with 8:18 left, sending some of the 3,395 fans at the Curry Hicks Cage to the exits assuming a victory was assured.
But Holy Cross answered with a 26-6 run over the next seven minutes to close the gap to 76-72, thanks largely to leading scorer Devin Brown (18 points).
UMass avoided a complete collapse thanks to a drive and dish from Anthony Gurley to Sampson Carter (14 points) for a layup with 1:05 remaining. The Minutemen then made 5-of-7 free throws in the final minute to hold off the Crusaders (0-5).
The Minutemen are off to the best start since the 1995-96 team advanced to the Final Four.
"It was important that we get off to a good start because it's been a struggle since I've been here as far as who we've played early and how those games have gone," Kellogg said. "To play some games that we can be competitive and have a chance to win, it was nice and it's fantastic to be 6-0."
Though the present and future are the focus, yesterday was nostalgic.
The Minutemen played their first game since 1993 at the Cage, which served as their home from 1931-93. The close confines of the old gym provided a homecourt advantage that has been absent at the Mullins Center recently.
"It was a great atmosphere," Gurley said. "I had a lot of fun out there today. It actually reminded me of high school. The gym is small and it reminded me of my high school days playing back at Newton North."
As he has every game this season, Gurley led UMass in scoring with 24 points. The senior guard got support from reserves Carter and Freddie Riley.
Carter provided his typical defensive presence (seven points, three blocks), but also was a force offensively with 12 points.
"That may have been the best game he's played since he's been here," Kellogg said. "I thought Sean was great."
Riley poured in 17 points, using his lightning-quick release to knock down 5-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc.
"He hit outside shots, ran the floor and got layups," Gurley said. "He was definitely a big boost for us."
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UMass returns to Curry Hicks Cage -- for single game
It seems a little odd for officials with a Division I basketball program to be asked whether they're considering a move to a arena seating less than 4,000, but UMass basketball need a shot in the arm -- which may have came when the Minutemen hosted Holy Cross at Curry Hicks Cage.
Curry Hicks Cage opened in 1932 and originally sported a dirt floor, upon which a wood court would be laid for a basketball game or other special event. It's not very large -- a crowd of 3,395 pretty much filled the place Saturday -- but it certainly is historic, and it certainly is old. There are some who would like to see UMass basketball move back to Curry Hicks Cage, as the program has been in decline at the box office. (Indeed, the Curry Hicks Cage crowd was the second-largest of the season so far.)
But it's highly unlikely the Minutemen will retun to Curry Hicks Cage anytime soon, according to athletic director John McCutcheon: Mullins Center was built because the Minutemen outgrew Curry Hicks Cage in the mid-1990s, and when the program rebounds they'll need that arena's capacity. Still, it's fun to see college basketball still being played at such a historic old arena like Curry Hicks Cage.
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