AMHERST — In the first half, the UMass men’s basketball team looked like it thought Thursday was going to be an easy win and struggled.

In the second half, the Minutemen came out like they had a fight on their hands and then cruised to that easy win.

UMass nearly doubled up Pacific after halftime and rolled to a 72-48 win in the Gotham Classic at the Mullins Center.

“I was pretty happy in the second half with the way our team responded,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “We just played the game the right way for longer stretches. Our effort and hopefully our selflessness are all coming around.”

The Minutemen (6-2), who practiced in the Mullins Center instead of the Champions Center on Tuesday in hopes of ending their shooting struggles, made 14 3-pointers in the game. Eight players made at least one from the outside. Luwane Pipkins hit a 3-pointer from the left corner for UMass’ first basket 1 minute, 18 seconds into the game to set the tone.

In the first half, 22 of the Minutemen’s 30 shot attempts came from the outside, including 8 of 12 made shots.

Donte Clark (12 points) had two of the 3-pointers and was the only UMass player to score in double figures. The Minutemen spread their scoring around with 12 players making at least one basket. Luwane Pipkins, who had struggled shooting recently, made 3 of 9 3-pointers and finished with nine points, three assists and three steals.

DeJon Jarreau led UMass in minutes in his second game back from injury. He had six points, six rebounds, eight assists and didn’t turn the ball over.

“I felt good. I just have to work on getting my wind back,” Jarreau said. “I just have to keep working.”

His final assist was his first that led to a Brison Gresham basket. The close friends from New Orleans had only played limited minutes together before Thursday as Gresham missed time waiting for the NCAA to declare him eligible and Jarreau missed time with a foot injury.

Starting at the 3-point line with just under a minute left in the game, Jarreau crossed over driving toward the hoop and lofted the ball toward the left side of the backboard. Gresham shot up and dunked the ball. The two grinned at each other as they raced back down the court.

“I was just trying to get that spark back,” Jarreau said. “I’m getting connections with all the big men which is good.”

The Minutemen lacked some intensity in several spots in the first half. After a Zach Lewis 3-pointer gave UMass a 20-17 lead with 7:43 left, Ray Bowles (11 points) had six points in an 8-0 run by Pacific that put the Tigers up 25-20. Kellogg called timeout and changed his lineup, putting Ty Flowers, Malik Hines and Jarreau back in the game.

The shake-up seemed to spark something. UMass closed the half on a 12-2 surge that included six points by Malik Hines, giving the Minuteman a 32-27 intermission advantage.

The momentum carried into the second half as they came out on a 13-2 run that essentially put the game away. UMass’ lead swelled as high as 26 points when walk-on Rayshawn Miller buried a 3-pointer with 2:12 left to make it 70-44.

With a big lead, Kellogg limited the minutes of most of his regulars to keep them rested as the Minutemen will play Providence, Saturday at noon.

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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