AMHERST — Zach Lewis was excited when UMass coach Derek Kellogg put him in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against Harvard. But five games into his time in Amherst, he’s mostly glad to be a Minuteman as they get set to face Wagner, Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Mullins Center.
“I just look at it as a regular game whether I’m starting or coming off the bench,” said the Connecticut native who transferred from Canisius. “I still got the same minutes whether I started or came off the bench. I was just excited to be out there. Being competitive, obviously everyone wants to start. But with how we play and the way we sub in and out, ultimately we just want to win.”
Lewis left western New York partially to be closer to home, but mostly he wanted to a better basketball experience.
“It’s everything I hoped it would be. I love it here. It’s more competitive,” said Lewis, who replaced injured freshman DeJon Jarreau in the starting lineup. “There’s great guys and a great basketball culture here. I really love these guys.”
Kellogg has an occasional habit of making sports and culture references that are a bit to old for his squad of 18- to 22-year-olds. When Lewis opened the year coming off the bench, Kellogg compared him to Vinnie Johnson, the former Detroit Pistons guard who played his entire career before Lewis was born.
Johnson was the sixth man on the Pistons’ 1989 and 1990 championship teams and earned his nickname because he came in and immediately heated up the offense.
“When coach first said it to me, I had no idea who he was,” Lewis said. “But I looked him up and I like his name — The Microwave.”
It’s a role Lewis wasn’t familiar with having started throughout high school and at Canisius. But he embraced it and said he would do so again if he goes back to the bench when Jarreau returns from his foot injury.
“Having a spark off the bench helps the team, someone who can come in and make shots,” Lewis said. “That a new role, but it’s something I’d look forward to.”
Lewis, who is averaging 11.8 points per game, has been a key piece during UMass’ 5-1 start. He said the Minutemen have only begun to chip away at their potential.
“We just realize how much talent we do have, even in practice. We know everybody can play and everybody has the ability to score. It’s about getting the right shot,” he said. “It’s not about who is scoring and who’s getting there. It’s about making the right play. We have the guys to do that. Being a young team were’re going to keep getting better game-by-game, practice by practice. I don’t think we really know how good we can be yet.”
The Minutemen will try to continue their early season success against Wagner. The game could feature the debut of Brison Gresham, UMass’ freshman big man who was declared eligible by the NCAA Tuesday.
The Seahawks were the talk of college basketball on the first night of the season when they stunned then-No. 18 UConn, 67-58. For a weekend, they were thought of as a Northeast Conference favorite and a potential upset-special team in March.
That lasted three days. After that two things happened: UConn lost to Northeastern, continuing a trend that has revealed coach Kevin Ollie’s squad is far more flawed than anyone expected; Wagner lost to UMass-Lowell.
The Seahawks went from world-beaters to 2-3 with losses to Fairfield and Rider as well.
Six-foot-3 junior guard Romone Saunders leads Wagner with 15.0 points per game. With three 3-pointers on the season, he does most of his work going to the basket. Junior guard Corey Henson isn’t far behind at 14.8 points per game.
Wagner rebounds well for a low-major team. Michael Carey, a 6-foot-5 senior wing, is averaging 8.4 rebounds to go with his 13.8 points. Rhode Island transfer Mike Aaman (10.0 ppg), a 6-foot-8 senior forward, has grabbed 7.6 rebounds and 6-foot junior guard Jojo Cooper is averaging 7.2 boards to go with 11.0 points and 4.8 assists.
The coaching staffs at UMass and Wagner are connected. Head coach Bashir Mason played for former Minuteman coach Bruiser Flint at Drexel and was an assistant at Marist under former UMass assistant Chuck Martin.
Wagner assistant coach Mike Babul played for the Minutemen under Flint. He worked for Flint at Drexel, for former UMass coach John Calipari at Memphis and for former Minuteman player and assistant coach Tony Barbee at UTEP and Auburn.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage