Harris moves up Minuteman scoring list
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AMHERST - University of Massachusetts senior guard Ricky Harris will not pass the Minuteman legend who was in the building Wednesday night, but he put the two most famous former UMass stars behind him on the school's career scoring chart.
Jim McCoy, the Minutemen's all-time leading scorer with 2.374 points, was among the 3,482 fans in the Mullins Center crowd.
He watched Harris scored 26 point and pass both NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving (1,370) and current NBA standout Marcus Camby (1,387) on the career scoring list. Harris, who now has 1,388 career points, also passed Clarence Hill (1,369).
It was the ninth career game for Harris with more than 25 points. He's at No. 12 on the all-time UMass list, five behind Edwin Green (1,393).
McCOY HONORED - There are a few more gray hairs and a few more pounds on McCoy, but not many. Otherwise he looks a lot like he did when he was leading the Minutemen to the 1992 Sweet Sixteen.
During last year's celebration of 100 Seasons of UMass Basketball, a knee injury resulted in McCoy's missing 1990s day when many of his former Minuteman teammates were honored.
So UMass invited him back for his own recognition during halftime of Wednesday's game. McCoy got a kick out of seeing Derek Kellogg, his former teammate, coaching the Minutemen.
"It's always good to be back," said McCoy, who works for AT&T in Boston. "It's fun to see Derek coaching. I somewhat think of him as a little brother. He was a freshman when I was a senior. I'm really happy he got the job."
STILL GOING TO SEMIFINALS - While the game is part of the Legends Classic, the result does not affect advancement in the tournament.
Despite the loss, UMass is still headed to the semifinals to play Rutgers on Nov. 27 in Atlantic City, while Cornell goes to Philadelphia for a three-game round robin.
GROEBE RETURNS - Former Minuteman Max Groebe returned to the Mullins Center in his second game for Cornell. Groebe had six points on two 3-pointers in six minutes. His 3-pointer with 11:50 left in the first half put Cornell up for good at 12-9 as the Big Red led the rest of the way.
"It was good seeing Max," Harris said. "I wish we still had him."
Groebe enjoyed coming back.
"It was a little weird being on the opposite side. It feels like ages ago," Groebe said. "I enjoyed it. It was nice to get in and contribute to the team."
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.
