FAIRFAX, Va. — In an effort to shake up his team after Friday’s loss to St. Bonaventure, UMass coach Derek Kellogg changed his starting lineup Wednesday, replacing junior forward Seth Berger with freshman Brison Gresham, who made his first career start against George Mason.

Gresham got into some early foul trouble and finished with two points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal in 16 minutes.

“I thought he did pretty well. He got into early foul trouble, which is expected out of a young freshman,” Kellogg said. “I like his athleticism. I think overtime that can be a good lineup for us.”

Starting the 6-foot-9 Gresham at the four gives the Minutemen a bigger lineup without sacrificing that much athleticism. It also was a signal of Kellogg’s increased commitment to his freshmen. In addition to Luwane Pipkins and DeJon Jarreau, who have played major minutes all year, Gresham and Ty Flowers (six points, three blocked shots) each saw a lot of crunch time minutes at power forward.

Berger and fellow junior Zach Coleman each played three minutes, all in the first half.

“I’m going to have to manage who is going to play more and who is going to play less, which is becoming something that’s tough to deal with,” Kellogg said.

It was the first time UMass started three freshmen in a game since the 2010 Atlantic 10 Tournament when Terrell Vinson, Freddie Riley and Javorn Farrell, a Virginia native who was at Wednesday’s game, were all on the floor at tipoff.

HINES SITS — Kellogg had hoped Malik Hines might have been able to go after spraining his ankle Friday. But the sophomore big man spent the game in street clothes. His status for Saturday’s game at VCU hasn’t been determined.

FOULS/FREE THROWS — Not getting to the free-throw line and sending their opponents there continued to be a problem for the Minutemen. Mason attempted four times as many free throws (28-7) and the Minutemen were whistled for twice as many fouls (22-11).

UMass didn’t shoot a free throw until the second half.

“We made a concerted effort to get the ball inside to Rashaan (Holloway) and he went to the free-throw line once. We need to keep grinding and see if we can get there a few more times,” Kellogg said. “I have to get our guys to play hard without fouling and somehow get out guys to get to the free-throw line.”

MISCELLENAOUS — The loss was UMass’ first at EagleBank Arena (formerly the Patriot Center) since George Mason joined the conference in 2013-14 season. UMass won the first two games. ... Donte Clark’s 15 points gave him 1,055 in his career moving him into 39th place on the school’s career scoring list. ... Holloway was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim after a first-half dunk. He also scored in double figures for the fifth straight time, the longest streak of his career. ... Zach Lewis’ 12 points were the most he’s scored since reach double figures in three of the first five games of the season.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage

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