NEW YORK — UMass’ second opponent in the Atlantic 10 Tournament won’t look much like its first one and Minuteman coach Derek Kellogg said his team’s second game with VCU won’t be much like the Minutemen’s 69-63 win over the Rams on Feb. 11 at the Mullins Center.
After playing a Rhode Island team that prefers to grind things out, UMass will play a VCU team that’s more up-tempo and aggressive, Friday at 6 p.m. at the Barclays Center.
Kellogg said the Rams have adjusted since their previous meeting.
“They’re actually playing quite a bit different than they were at that time,” Kellogg said. “Us having a home game gave us an advantage. This is a whole different set of circumstances.”
Kellogg said he wanted his team to stay focused on itself.
“I think our guys are confident in how we’re playing and what we’re trying to do,” he said. “I think we have a chance to hopefully make a good game of it and come away with a win.”
LOCAL INSPIRATION – UMass senior guard Jabarie Hinds said Holy Cross’ run to the Patriot League championship as a No. 9 seed caught the attention of the Minutemen, who are trying to make a similar run.
“They won their conference, I think they didn’t win a (road) game in the conference or something like that. We’re not Holy Cross, but I’m saying we can make a run,” Hinds said. “We’re good enough, we’ve just got to play smart and listen to the coaches’ game plan throughout the whole game and play for 40 minutes, and we can make something happen.”
Kellogg agreed.
“I followed what they were able to do. It’s great to see a local team be able to make a run,” Kellogg said. “We’ve been inspired ourselves trying to make a run like this for a while. To see what Holy Cross, a team that wasn’t able to get over the hump in conference, make a run, is kind of inspiring.”
HOLLOWAY vs. BERRY III — The third battle of the Atlantic 10’s two biggest players turned out to be a walkover.
In the previous two meetings, every time UMass sent 6-foot-11, 335-pound freshman center Rashaan Holloway into the game, URI coach Danny Hurley countered with Andre Berry, who is 6-7, 285 pounds.
On Thursday, Berry was weakened by strep throat and had one point and two rebounds in five minutes, leaving smaller teammates to handle Holloway.
Holloway gave the Minutemen another strong performance with 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots off the bench.
“He’s cleaning up space down there. He’s moving bodies. He’s scoring the basketball,” said Kellogg, who wanted more. “He missed probably two or three point-blank ones that if he can put those in it’s a complete game.”
Holloway, who has three double-figure scoring games in his last four didn’t look nervous in his first postseason game.
“I felt very comfortable. I was telling my teammates that I felt like I should have been nervous out there, but I just went out there and played it like it was any other game,” he said. “I had a lot of confidence coming into this game, and I knew what I had to do for us to win.”
LAST TIME VS. HURLEY? — Long before Rutgers coach Eddie Jordan was even fired, Hurley was rumored to be his potential successor.
Hurley is a Jersey City native and the son of legendary New Jersey high school coach Bob Hurley. After the game Hurley didn’t end those rumors.
“I’m not going to dishonor a group of guys or myself or my staff that have battled through an incredible season by responding to some social media speculation that’s out there,” Hurley told N.J.com. “It dishonors the efforts of too many people and the things we accomplished this year.”
MISCELLANEOUS — The loss snapped UMass two-game A-10 Tournament losing streak. The Minutemen improved to 4-3 in seven A-10 Tournament games at the Barclays Center. They are 6-2 vs. Rhode Island in conference postseason play. Kellogg is 7-7 in the event as a head coach, while UMass is 36-34 all time.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage