1

JERREY ROBERTS

Javorn Farrell of the University of Massachusetts, right, strips the ball from Brad Redford of Xavier Tuesday at the Mullins Center.

2

JERREY ROBERTS

Sean Carter of the University of Massachusetts dunks beside Andre Walker of Xavier Tuesday at the Mullins Center.

3

JERREY ROBERTS

Raphiael Putney of the University of Massachusetts dunks against Xavier Tuesday at the Mullins Center.

AMHERST - Tuesday's 80-73 win over Xavier pushed the University of Massachusetts right back into the chase for a bye in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

The top four teams get byes in the conference tournament, which begins next month in Atlantic City, N.J.

The win improved UMass to 8-5 in league play and put them in a tied for third with Xavier and Saint Joseph's.

It also gives the Minutemen the tiebreaker over Xavier if they finish with the same record.

NEXT UP - UMass will head to Dayton to play the Flyers on Saturday at 6 p.m. Dayton is 16-10 overall, 6-6 in the Atlantic 10 before playing Duquesne tonight in Pittsburgh. The Flyers are 11-4 this season at UD Arena.

MISCELLANEOUS - The win snapped UMass' six-game losing streak against the Musketeers and their two-game losing streak overall.

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.