UMass sets A-10 tournament record in 34-point win over St. Joe’s
St. Joe's season came to an end after a historic shooting effort by UMass.
UMass played the fewest games of Atlantic 10 Conference teams. That made the Minutemen one of the most unpredictable teams in the league, but even the biggest UMass fans may not have expected a shooting display like the one at the Robins Center on Thursday.
A day earlier, St. Joseph’s held a La Salle offense with the most three-point field goals in the A-10 to eight made. Thursday afternoon couldn’t have been any more opposite.
St. Joes allowed 15 three-pointers in a 100-66 loss. It was the first time a team has scored 100 points in an A-10 tournament game since 1999, and the 15 three-pointers was the second-most in tournament history behind St. Bonaventure’s 17 in 2002. The 34-point margin was the largest in A-10 tournament history.
The Minutemen hadn’t made more than 11 threes in a game before Thursday. They surpassed that total in the first half. UMass was 15-for-24 from three before missing its final 14 attempts.
Hawks fans will be left wondering what could have changed. But when a team is shooting like that, it just isn’t your day. St. Joe’s allowed open three-pointers early, but when UMass (8-6, 6-4 A-10) got hot, it was like target practice.
“How do you stop a transition pull-up three? How do you stop a step back three? How do you stop a jab three?’ St. Joe’s coach Billy Lange said. “Obviously, the attention to Tre Mitchell will cause some open threes, but the ones that those guys made are un-defendable.”
St. Joe’s (5-15, 2-9) limited La Salle by staying attached to its long-range shooters, but the UMass roster is built differently. The Minutemen have one of the best interior players in the A-10 in Mitchell. Staying attached to shooters would have left an undersized Taylor Funk one-on-one with Mitchell.
“Somebody sent me a screenshot of a text where [St. Joes players] were talking about how focused they were on me,” Mitchell said. “When I seen that, I was like, our guys are about to have a field day.”
UMass went on an 18-0 run early in the first half to build a 23-point lead with 10 minutes, 43 seconds remaining. The Hawks couldn’t get back to within 15 points.
Ryan Daly finished his senior season with seven points as he hobbled and appeared to be having pain in his left hand. Jordan Hall led the Hawks with 18 points. Funk and Dahmir Bishop scored 14 and 11 points, respectively, for St. Joe’s.
NCAA rules allow players an extra year of eligibility, meaning Daly could return if he chose. As Josh Verlin of CoBL reported earlier this week, Daly confirmed after Thursday’s game that he plans to pursue professional basketball opportunities.
“To play and wear St. Joe’s across my chest is a dream come true,” Daly said. “I didn’t really know anyone besides Taylor [Funk], and now I feel like I’ve got a lot of new family members.”
A four-game win streak put a positive spin on what was trending towards the worst season in program history. It’s also a reason for optimism with key cogs like Hall, Funk, Bishop, and Cameron Brown returning. Plus, the highest rated commitment since 2010, Erik Reynolds, arrives next season.
The Hawks have combined to win 11 games in the last two seasons. According to college basketball reference, 1989 was the last season in which the Hawks won fewer than 11 games, and they won just seven in 1933.
As a head coach, Lange will always choose the optimistic view. After two close losses in Fort Myers, against Auburn and Kansas, he believed the Hawks could be a top-four team in the A-10. But things never materialized.
“This team never had a chance to get started,” Lange said. “To have that ripped from them, I feel, is unfair to the group. It’s just what it is.”