AMHERST - Three days after defeating Quinnipiac despite getting dominated on the glass, the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team will face another difficult rebounding challenge against Holy Cross.

The teams play at 3:30 p.m., Saturday at the DCU Center in Worcester.

UMass coach Derek Kellogg said rebounding has been a focus since the 62-58 win over Quinnipiac on Wednesday, but practice has been limited.

"With not a lot of practice time, you can talk about it and mentally focus, but we haven't been able to get as much time practicing it as we'd like," he said. "I think our guys understand for us to be a better team we must rebound the basketball better. You can play great defense and do everything you're supposed to do, but if you don't get the rebound, it's all for naught."

Sophomore big man Sean Carter leads the Minutemen (3-4) in rebounding at 6.4 per game. He expects a challenge Saturday.

"We better all get in there and box out. We've all been boxing out, but now we've got to come away with the balls. The few big men we have, have to come up with more rebounds," he said.

Carter, who is still building stamina after sitting out last year as a transfer, added, "I'm in decent shape, but I could still get in better shape. My body is still adapting to playing in the games. I've been sore, but I'm getting through it."

Kellogg said he has high expectations for Carter, but he needs help. "He's around the basket most of the time. We really need 8-10 rebounds from him, but the place we can really improve is our guards," Kellogg said. "They have to get their nose in there, tough it out and get some boards. We need Terrell (Vinson) to rebound better and Sampson (Carter) to rebound better."

Holy Cross has decent size for a Patriot League team and presents some potential problems for the Minutemen, who are thin up front.

Andrew Keister, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, leads the Crusaders (2-6) with 8.6 rebounds per game to go with his 11.6 points, and 6-foot-8 center Eric Meister is averaging 5.3 boards.

Even 6-foot-4 sophomore forward Mike Cavataio (6.9 rebounds) and 6-foot-3 sophomore guard R.J. Evans (five rebounds) have been effective on the glass. Cavataio, a transfer from St. John's, leads Holy Cross with 13.3 points per game.

The Minutemen could be helped by the return of junior big man Hashim "Big City" Bailey, who is expected to some playing time against the Crusaders after missing Wednesday's game with a nagging groin injury.

The Crusaders, who were picked to win the Patriot League in the conference's preseason poll, stumbled at the start of the season under new coach Sean Kearney. They lost their first six games to Harvard, Saint Joseph's, Loyola, Rhode Island, UNLV and Western Michigan before bouncing back to beat Marist and Brown.

"They're still working some kinks out with a new coach," Kellogg said. "They've been in just about every game and have played a tough schedule."

NOTES: Holy Cross is 12-7 against the Atlantic 10 over the last 10 years.

The Crusaders are 6-13 all-time at the DCU Center, formerly the Worcester Centrum.

The Minutemen are 8-1 at the building, with the only loss 78-65 to Holy Cross on Nov. 25, 2000. That is the last time that UMass played there.

Kellogg was 5-0 as a player in the DCU Center, which was then called the Centrum.

Saturday's game is part of a two-for-one series that began last year. The Crusaders came to the Mullins Center in 2008 and will be back next season.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.