Trey Davis fills in effectively at point guard for Minutemen
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico — With Chaz Williams on the bench in foul trouble early in the second half Sunday, University of Massachusetts men’s basketball coach Derek Kellogg had a choice to make with his team down by three with just under 15 minutes left to play.
He could move Jesse Morgan, who is not a natural point guard but played there last year, or bring in freshman Trey Davis, who had just 25 minutes of collegiate action under his belt.
Kellogg opted for the rookie. Davis did not scored but he ran the offensive effectively and the Minutemen pulled ahead with him in the game.
“Trey was great. I thought we made a nice run with him in there. He’s somebody I think we can rely on at times as a backup to Chaz,” Kellogg said. “I thought we should have left him in longer with the amount of minutes Chaz had to play.
“I thought he did some good things and looked fresh,” Kellogg added. “. . . He’s fearless. He looks like a basketball player out there. I was happy for him.”
Davis said he never doubted he was capable of contributing.
“I’ve gained a lot of confidence,” he said. “I had a lot of confidence coming into the season. I still have the same confidence. I’m just doing what I’m capable of doing. I’m playing and I know I can play. It made me feel good, but that’s normal to me.
“When I got in the game, I knew I could just make something happen,” Davis added. “It felt good when I did it. I feel like it made my teammates happy, and I know I can do that.”
Williams, who has taken Davis under his wing, praised his protege.
“I’m real proud of Trey how he stepped up. He gave us good minutes off the bench,” Williams said. “That’s the type of Trey you’re going to see for the next couple of games. He’s a pretty good player. We expect good things from him. It was good to see.”
FREE-THROW WOES — UMass has sent opponents to the line 114 times, compared to just 63 trips by the Minutemen. Kellogg planned to spend part of the next 10 days determining what’s led to their being prone to fouling.
“I have to figure out why we’re fouling so much,” Kellogg said. “I want to make sure where those calls are, to make sure we rectify. We can’t win if they’re in the one-and-one with 15 minutes left in the first half or 12 minutes in the second half. That’s impossible.”
ALLEY OOP FOLLOWED BY ALLEY OOP-OOPS — Raphiael Putney won the opening tip back to Williams and then raced for the goal. Williams lobbed the ball toward the rim where Putney caught and dunked it all in one motion.
Jesse Morgan stole Trae Golden’s inbound pass and lofted another ball toward Putney. But it hit the rim, bounced up and then in.
Putney had another alley-oop from Williams to start the second half.
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 www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.
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