Strong first half propels UMass men's basketball to win over Saint Louis
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AMHERST - When the final seconds ticked off the clock Saturday afternoon, Jesse Morgan raised his arms in the air in celebration as the biggest Mullins Center crowd in nearly five years took to its feet to give the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team an ovation.
The Minutemen survived some anxious moments in the second half but sent the 8,399 fans home happy with a 72-59 win over Saint Louis.
"I'm really happy and proud of the team today. I thought they battled even when Saint Louis was making a big run there in the second half," UMass coach Derek Kellogg said.
"Before the game, I thought Saint Louis, watching them on tape, was probably the best team we would have played to this point all year," he added. "... They're a team that I thought was going to garner top-25 consideration after (beating) Xavier the other night. For our team to come out and play this well, especially in spurts, I was proud of them."
The Minutemen (16-5, 5-2 Atlantic 10) could not have been much sharper in the first half as they fed off the energy of the crowd and shot 19-for-29 (65.5 percent).
The Billikens (16-5, 4-3 A-10) had no early answer for Raphiael Putney. The sophomore forward had just nine points in the previous two games as foul trouble bottled him up. But uncorked for this game, Putney played like he was making up for lost time and scored 17 of his career-high 22 points in the first half. He finished with 10 rebounds, matching his previous best, and a career-high five steals.
"I think it was the best game I've played so far," Putney said. "These last couple of games, I've been in foul trouble, so I couldn't be on the floor with my teammates."
With UMass trailing 11-8 early, sophomore point guard Chaz Williams banged his knee in a midcourt collision and had to be helped off. But with Williams on the bench, the Minutemen went on a 12-3 run to take a 20-14 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the half.
When Williams returned, he was better than before the injury as he scored all 10 of his first half-points after the collision and led UMass to a 45-26 halftime lead.
"At the time, I was just hoping it wasn't too serious and just hoping I was able to play at the end," Williams said. "I've banged this knee before but it was just a little bang, just a little bruise."
The 45 points was the most Saint Louis has given up in the first half of any game this year.
Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus said he was frustrated at his team's lack of first-half effort.
The Minutemen "came out ready to play and we didn't. It was that simple," he said. "I told them if you got half a scholarship or half a sandwich you'd be upset.
"Even if you don't like the game you should come out ready to play," Majerus added. "UMass on the other hand came out 100 percent."
But the Minutemen seemed a little too content with their first-half edge and the Billikens responded to their coach's intermission prodding and gradually chipped away at the lead in the second half. UMass struggled to take care of the ball, committing 13 turnovers after intermission.
Saint Louis cut the lead to 52-44, but Terrell Vinson backed his defender in for a layup, then stole the ball at the other end and made two free throws to stretch the Minutemen's lead back to 12. But Vinson picked up his fourth foul shortly after and the Minutemen missed him as the Billikens scored seven straight points to get within 56-51 with 5 minutes, 32 seconds left.
Saint Louis dug in defensively and forced UMass deep into the shot clock, but Williams drew a foul by Kwamain Mitchell behind the 3-point line. Williams made all three to give the Minutemen some breathing room.
After Jordair Jett made just one of two free throws for the Billikens, Vinson faked a 3-pointer and then drove in for a leaner in the lane that extended the lead to 61-52 with 4:32 left.
After that the Minutemen put the ball in Williams' hands and he sealed the win at the free throw line. He entered the game with 32 straight made free throws before a first-half miss. But he started another streak by making his next 10, including all nine in the last five minutes.
Williams finished with 19 points, seven assists, seven turnovers and six rebounds.
"Coach always tells us that it's not about how you get hit, it's about how you respond if you get hit," Williams said. "We were just trying to stay positive throughout the whole stretch. They were storming and making runs, and we just wanted to win."
Vinson said UMass stayed confident even when Saint Louis cut into the lead.
"We don't want to get comfortable doing that, though," Vinson said. "We might be on the road some time and road games are a little tougher because their crowd is going to be into it. But we feel confident being in late-game situations like that."
The Billikens were just 8-for-19 from the line which helped thwart their comeback hopes.
The Minutemen improved to 11-0 in Amherst, maintained their share of first place in the conference and guaranteed a winning season. They are on the road for the next two games, starting with Rhode Island at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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.
