AMHERST — UMass’ biggest player and its smallest player proved to be too much for UMass-Lowell to handle when the game was in doubt.
The Minutemen didn’t shoot well and turned the ball over more than coach Derek Kellogg would have liked, but the flagship was far more athletic and skilled than the branch campus as the Minutemen coasted in the second half en route to a 90-76 win in their season opener.
“We had more good basketball than we did in our scrimmages, but we were a long way from where we need to be to compete at the top of our conference,” Kellogg said. “There’s obviously some things to work on, but this is a fun spirited group.”
Lowell had no answer for Rashaan Holloway, who matched his career high of 18 points moments into the second half. The 6-foot-11, 320-pound sophomore finished with 21 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots, totals that might have been higher if foul trouble hadn’t limited his second-half minutes.
“That’s exactly the kind of player I want to be,” said Holloway, who was 9-for-14 from the free-throw line. “Except I want to make all my free throws.”
Lowell coach Pat Duquette said there wasn’t much his team could do.
“For us it was more emotional saying ‘What can we do against this guy? He’s so much bigger than us,’” Duquette said.
Luwane Pipkins was the most polished of UMass’ five newcomers who saw action. He had 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and a school-record eight steals. His early defensive pressure seemed to knock Lowell out of rhythm. He picked pockets and tapped balls free all night as well as drew offensive fouls on the River Hawks.
Lowell (0-1) finished with 28 turnovers. The Minutemen won despite turning the ball over 21 times and allowing the much-smaller River Hawks to match them on the glass (40-40). UMass shot just 5-for-25 from 3-point range.
“I think we have some huge steps to take,” Kellogg said. “The rebounding is somewhat of a concern. We’ll have to get to work on that as much as we can with four games in 10 days.”
Junior Donte Clark (14 points, nine rebounds) and freshman Ty Flowers (11 points) also cracked double figures for UMass.
Jahad Thomas had 15 points and eight rebounds for Lowell, but turned the ball over eight times.
Lowell hung around in the first half and was within one when Matt Harris (16 points) hit a 3-pointer with 6:22 left to make it 31-30. Holloway had five points and Clark had four in a 12-0 run that put the game out or reach.
UMass’ lead never got below 11 the rest of the game. It reached 26 points midway through the second half before the Minutemen let up a little.
UMass (1-0) will face what’s expected to be a much tougher task next. It will travel south for a 7 p.m. game at Ole Miss on Monday. Ole Miss beat Tennessee Martin 86-83 in its opener on Friday.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage