AMHERST - When University of Massachusetts reserve center Cady Lalanne went down with a foot injury following a win over Central Connecticut on Dec. 30, starting center Sean Carter's scoring figured to go up with his minutes.

But the scoring bump has been dramatic.

Carter scored in double figures just twice before Lalanne's injury, but he's done it now twice in the past two games. He followed Sunday's career-high 18 points with 15 in Wednesday's 85-75 win over Charlotte at the Mullins Center.

"He's playing well. He's a fifth-year senior. I think he's very mature physically, which gives him a chance to score down low," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. "With the numbers we have and the style we're playing, he's going to actually have to touch the ball in the post and put the ball in the basket some for us to be successful. I think he's taken on the challenge of being the lone five-man and doing a pretty nice job with it."

Carter said he's feeling more confident on offense.

The coaches have been "talking to me about being more aggressive in the post and posting up and calling for the ball, because a lot of teams have been pushing early up on our guards and take our dribble-drive away. They told me that they need me to catch the ball and relieve pressure so the guards can cut freely," Carter said. "I'm just trying to put more pressure on the other team's big men inside so I can kick out for the open shot and even drop off open layups."

HOME RECORD - UMass (13-4, 2-1 Atlantic 10) improved to 9-0 in true home games this season and 10-0 including a win at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The Minutemen are undefeated in Massachusetts at 11-0, which also includes a win at Boston College.

"It's home. This is the way it should be. The fans are starting to come and support the team. I'm expecting a great crowd on Saturday," Kellogg said. "The kids actually deserve to have a good home-court advantage and have a good crowd. They're competing at a high level, they're playing a fun style, they're giving everything they have, and we don't have that many bodies, so an extra boost from the crowd is fantastic."

Carter said the players have taken pride in their home record.

"Playing at home has been a real big thing for us. We've won a lot of home games this year, as you can tell, and we're just trying to protect our home court," he said. "It helps us with the fans because the fans are more into it, more people come to the games. It's just a good thing to try to protect your home court every time you step onto it to play."

NEXT UP - UMass will host Saint Joseph's at 4 p.m. Saturday.  The Hawks (12-5, 2-1 A-10) beat Fordham 80-62 Wednesday in Philadelphia.

MISCELLANEOUS - Charlotte's loss combined with Dayton's loss at St. Bonaventure left La Salle, which didn't play Wednesday, as the Atlantic 10's only undefeated team in conference. ... Former Minuteman Luke Bonner was in the crowd of 2,760.

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.