AMHERST - The last time Matt Hill even attempted a free throw in a game was during the 2005-06 season when he was a senior at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut.

One Achilles heel injury kept him out of his postgraduate season at the Tilton School in New Hampshire, and the aftereffects of his rehabilitation limited him to just eight minutes as a freshman at the University of Massachusetts.

Then an injury to his other Achilles cost Hill all but three games of last season, and in those three contests he never shot a free throw.

But late in the first half of the Minutemen's 62-58 win over Quinnipiac on Wednesday night, Hill was in the game. Starting center Sean Carter was in the locker room getting his right cheek stitched and backup center Hashim "Big City" Bailey was unavailable with a groin injury, so UMass coach Derek Kellogg called on Hill.

With 2 minutes, 38 seconds remaining before halftime, Hill was fouled away from the basket and went to the line for a one-and-one. With no rust from three seasons away, he swished both. The points actually put the Minutemen ahead for good.

Just over two minutes later, Hill finished an alley-oop pass from Sampson Carter to give him a career-high four points. With two surgically repaired ankles, Hill wasn't sure he could even catch the pass and finished the play with more of a lay-up than a dunk.

"I was testing myself to see if I could get up there," Hill said.

Hill added two rebounds in nine minutes and played sparingly in the second half, as Sean Carter returned.

But the 6-foot-7 sophomore was glad to contribute.

"It was fun to be out there and nice to help the team," Hill said. "I had to step in and hold it down at least until Sean came back."

Kellogg said he was pleased with Hill's effort.

"He probably played with more toughness than a lot of people. He was in their banging people, being physical," Kellogg said. "He can give us some minutes at the big-guy spot.

"He's got pretty good hands," Kellogg added. "If we can get his lift better and his moves around the basket better, maybe he can give us some quality minutes."

BAILEY QUESTIONABLE FOR SATURDAY - Bailey aggravated his groin injury in the loss to Michigan State on Saturday and could miss this Saturday's game in Worcester.

"I probably played him way too much over the weekend. I'm not sure if he'll practice or even play Saturday," Kellogg said. "I'd rather him sit and get better."

NEXT UP - The Minutemen play Holy Cross at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the DCU Center. The Crusaders, who beat Brown 85-79 in overtime Wednesday, are 2-6, but have won their last two under new coach Sean Kearney.

MISCELLANEOUS - Kellogg abandoned the big starting lineup that he used against Michigan State. He started Ricky Harris, Anthony Gurley, Terrell Vinson, David Gibbs and Sean Carter.

The parents of Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore, a Worcester native, were in the crowd of 2,502.

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.