AMHERST - After a while Monday night, the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team stopped even trying to go inside as it proved fruitless throughout the loss to Seton Hall.

Among the Minutemen's many issues in the 86-68 defeat were that their true inside players - Sean Carter, Hashim "Big City" Bailey and Matt Hill - were all held scoreless.

Freshman Terrell Vinson, who is more of a combo forward, had 12 points, but six came on 3-pointers.

"It hurts because they stayed attached to a couple guys (Ricky Harris and Anthony Gurley) on our team tonight. When we did get the ball inside our team didn't finish," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "It's a little bit demoralizing when you get the ball two feet from the bucket and the ball doesn't go in."

The defense had a lot to do with the Minutemen's struggles because the Pirate blocked 10 shots. Center John Garcia had four blocks.

Seton Hall rotated five players 6-foot-7 or taller through its lineup, wearing down the Minutemen's thin frontcourt.

"It hurt us a lot. We're not that deep inside," Harris said. "They were good inside and our guys wore down."

Bailey agreed.

"It was real tough. We were real small in there," Bailey said.. "They had a lot of guys 6-foot-8 or above."

HARRIS MILESTONES - Harris became the 10th player at UMass to pass 1,500 points in his career. His 15 points gave him 1,506 in his career, passing Mike Pyatt (1,503) to move into No. 9 on the all-time list. Next up is Harper Williams, who scored 1,534 from 1989-1993.

TECHS - Kellogg was whistled for his first technical foul of the season less than a minute into the second half. Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez was called for one in the first half and Jeremy Hazell of the Pirates got one for trash-talking to Gurley after a dunk with 14 minutes, one second remaining.

UNDERSIZED CITY - There are many times when Bailey guards a bigger opponent. But in the first half, the 6-foot, 275-pound Bailey found himself paired off against Melvyn Oliver who is listed a 6-foot-10, 340 pounds, which makes him heavier than former Minuteman Jeff "Big Deli Salovski.

At one point midway through the first half, Bailey tried to back in on Oliver and bounced off him.

Oddly enough, Gary Correia, the shortest regular for UMass at 6-foot-1, blocked a shot by Oliver in the second half but was called for the foul on the play.

RUNNING TIME - Late in the first half, 21 seconds ran off the game clock during free throws and nobody noticed.

NEXT UP - The Minutemen return home to host Grambling at 8 p.m. Friday at the Mullins Center.

The Tigers are 1-4 with their lone win coming against Paul Quinn, a non-Division I opponent.

MISCELLANEOUS - Monday's game was the first half of a home-and-home series between the two schools. Seton Hall will visit UMass next year.

Freshmen Terrell Vinson and Javorn Farrell both fouled out.

Freshman Raphiael Putney, who is expected to redshirt this season, did not make the trip to New Jersey, staying behind to catch up on academics.

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.