By Matthias Gausz, QBSN Co-Director
The Bobcats men’s basketball team (5-4) travels to Amherst, Mass. to take on the University of Massachusetts Minutemen (8-3) at the Mullins Center on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:00 p.m. The game will also be televised in New England on NESN.
Quinnipiac has won three straight after dropping three straight, including a big 62-58 win at Vermont on Sunday. Jamee Jackson (Newark, N.J.) led the way with 20 points and added seven rebounds. Ousmane Drame (Boston, Mass.) came off the bench and grabbed 14 rebounds in only 19 minutes, and James Johnson (Queens, N.Y.) chipped in 14 points. The free throw shooting improved as down the stretch they were able to make them to extend the lead.
UMass comes in with wins in three of their last four games over Towson, East Carolina, and Siena. All three of their losses have come away from home, so they have protected home court well, going 5-0. They are led by sophomore guard Chaz Williams, a Hofstra transfer. The point guard is averaging 15 points and over six assists this season. The Minutemen are also a great rebounding team as they average over 40 boards a game, good for 12th in the nation; QU is first with just over 44 a game.
The Minutemen are a very balanced team, as outside of Williams, they have eight players averaging between five and 10 points per game. They are a bigger team then Quinnipiac as they sport nine players 6 feet 7 inches or taller. But with their height, comes struggle on defending the boards. Their rebound margin is plus-three, as Quinnipiac attacks and defends well with a plus-eleven margin. The battle up front will be the difference in the game, as well as the matchup of scoring guards.
Key for the Bobcats:
Quinnipiac needs to hit the boards hard and make the Minutemen take smart shots, like they have over the past week. The rotation has started to dwindle to only seven players playing more than 10 minutes a game. The Bobcats they have gotten good guard play with both Johnsons, and Jackson is starting to come into his own. Staying out of foul trouble and hitting big shots should propel QU to the upset victory.
Key for the Minutemen:
The Minutemen are going to play multiple players which will allow them to run more often as they are both big and balanced. With having multiple scorers, it poses as a matchup threat as scoring will come from everywhere, something that QU hasn’t faced yet. If they can continue to have balanced scoring and limit the Bobcats on second chance opportunities, they should keep home court advantage.
Last Meeting: December 1, 2010 in Hamden. Quinnipiac lost 66-64, as the Bobcats were called for goaltending as time expired. Quinnipiac erased a 17-point halftime deficit to tie it down the stretch as Justin Rutty had 21 points and 13 rebounds. Javorn Farrell led the Minutemen with 25 points off the bench. Massachusetts leads the all-time series 2-0, as this will be the third meeting in as many years.
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