Regular season starts with Division II foe

CARBONDALE, Ill. - From the first press conference to Klub Kellogg to last week's exhibition game, the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team has had no shortage of "start to the Derek Kellogg era" events since the Springfield native was named head coach in April.

But the first one that actually counts is tonight when the Minutemen opens the season at 6 p.m. against Division II Arkansas-Monticello in the first round of the 2K Sports Classic, which benefits Coaches vs. Cancer.

California (Pa.), another Division II school, and host Southern Illinois play in tonight's other semifinal. The losers play in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, while the winners will play for the championship at 8 p.m.

Kellogg, a former UMass point guard, said he had some natural nervousness going into his first game as a head coach.

"Obviously you're going to have some first-game jitters," Kellogg said. "But it's kind of like being a player, once the game starts those will go away."

Two of Kellogg's former bosses - John Calipari and Bruiser Flint - also opened their UMass coaching careers against Division II foes. Calipari's Minutemen beat Southern Connecticut 84-61 at the Cage in 1988, while Flint's squad held off Chaminade 59-48 in Maui.

Normally opening against a Division II school allows a team to ease into its season, but the Boll Weevils could be a scary foe for the Minutemen. UMass is coming off a 91-87 exhibition win over a Division II Dowling team which finished under .500 last year.

That game "was a wake-up a call," Minuteman senior point guard Chris Lowe said. "We bounced back and responded very well. We worked on defense and rebounding and we're ready to get back on the floor."

Kellogg said he hopes his defense would show the most improvement.

"If you're going to pull away from a team and create a gap at some time, you're going to have to stop them on the defensive end of the floor," Kellogg said. "They're saying the right things and practicing the right way, but we'll see."

Arkansas-Monticello figures to be considerably better than Dowling. The Boll Weevils were 17-12 last year and they have a veteran roster with six seniors and four double-figure scorers returning. They received votes in the Division II top 25 poll.

Arkansas-Monticello also has more size than most Division II teams, including 6-foot-9 senior big man Raymond Wright who averaged 16 points and 9.4 rebounds last year.

Kellogg said UMass has not seen much tape on the Boll Weevils.

"It's been more word of mouth," Kellogg said.

The Minutemen installed their dribble-drive motion offense during the preseason. They spent considerable time working on zone offense after struggling against Dowling's zone at times Wednesday. Tonight will also be the regular-season playing debut for UMass freshmen Tyrell Lynch, David Gibbs and Travon Wilcher, as well as Anthony Gurley, who transferred from Wake Forest.

Gurley will start and will be counted on to be a consistent scorer both from 3-point range as well as driving to the basket. He will be part of a three-guard lineup alongside Lowe and Ricky Harris, who both started 33 games a year ago.

Gibbs and sophomore Gary Correia will both see plenty of minutes off the bench, while sophomore Matt Glass could earn playing time. Up front, UMass is counting on two seniors who were role players last season to become reliable contributors.

Luke Bonner, who was in and out of the Minuteman starting lineup last year, will start inside while also getting the chance to shoot 3-pointers.

Tony Gaffney, who was an energetic presence off the bench a year ago, will be asked to play a key role both in interior defense and rebounding.

The coaching staff is excited about Lynch, who could challenge for minutes as a starter if he continues to develop. Be he's expected to be limited by his stamina early after sitting out last season.

And Wilcher, who has not developed his game as much as Lynch, will likely get chances to play in a thin UMass frontcourt.

NOTES: UMass is 13-2 in its last 15 season openers.

The last five Minuteman coaches have each won their debut at UMass. The last coach to lose his first game with the Minutemen was Tom McLaughlin in 1981. Coincidentally, he was the last alumnus to coach UMass.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.