Early second-half dominance propels UMass men's basketball over Quinnipiac
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AMHERST - In what's becoming a familiar script for the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team, the Minutemen built a big lead early in the second half Saturday night, but had to battle through a few anxious moments late before escaping with a win over Quinnipiac.
Despite the late charge by the Bobcats, UMass held on for its third straight win, 72-67, before 2,890 fans at the Mullins Center.
Minuteman coach Derek Kellogg said he was pleased with the result, but not his team's inability to put an opponent away.
"I told them 'That was a nice win but you have to have a little more killer going out there and trying to really win the basketball game,'" Kellogg said.
Trailing 40-36 at halftime, UMass (9-3) surged out of intermission on an 18-0 run that knocked Quinnipiac on its heels. The lead reached 16 before the Bobcats (5-5) started chipping way.
The Minutemen did not make a field goal in the final 6 minutes, 22 seconds as Quinnipiac slashed an 11-point deficit to three capped by Ike Azotam's putback with 58.5 seconds left.
A turnover by Chaz Williams gave the Bobcats a chance to tie the game with 19 seconds left. But James Johnson drove the baseline and missed his shot. The rebound pinballed off a couple of legs and skidded toward the Quinnipiac bench. Javorn Farrell dove on the loose ball and called time-out to save possession for UMass with 17.5 seconds left.
Williams, who made key free throws at the end of the Dec. 9 win over Siena, went to the line Saturday and missed both shots when one would have stretched the Minutemen's lead to four. But Sean Carter tapped the rebound out to Raphiael Putney who was fouled with eight seconds left. The sophomore, who had 12 points, made both free throws to complete the win.
"I was just thinking, 'knock down the free throws,'" Putney said. "I had the opportunity to come to the line and seal the game for my teammates."
Williams, who is Putney's roommate, was pleased to have his teammate pick him up.
"I was real excited. That's my roommate," Williams said. "Tonight he went out there and sealed the deal. It was a great feeling. We needed those."
Williams led UMass with 14 points and seven assists. Terrell Vinson added 13 points and eight rebounds. Five of his points and three of his rebounds came in the second-half opening run.
The Minutemen will host Davidson at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Bobcats coach Tom Moore, a Worcester native, shook his head at the early second-half run from which his team never recovered.
"We outscored them for 35 minutes by 17 and got outscored in five minutes by 22," Moore said. "I expected a couple runs, but I didn't think it would be that big."
Quinnipiac entered the game as the nation's leading rebounding team, but UMass stayed with the Bobcats on the glass early in the first half. But once Quinnipiac started controlling the rebounds, it pulled ahead.
With the Minutemen leading 19-15, the Bobcats scored seven straight points which swelled into a 12-2 run that put them ahead 27-21.
James Johnson had 14 of his 22 points in the first half. Azotam had 12 points and six rebounds before intermission and finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Williams helped keep UMass in the game with eight of its last 12 points of the first half, including a runner with 5.9 seconds left that brought the Minutemen within four at halftime.
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.
