AMHERST — Malik Hines looked surprised when public address announcer Matt Goldstein called his name.
The sophomore big man was selected as the most outstanding player in the Gotham Classic after finishing with eight points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. The surprise was not that he won, but that the honor had already been determined with three Gotham games still to go.
Originally there was supposed to be a game between UMass and a Power Five school at Madison Square Garden in New York. But that team, rumored to be an SEC school, withdrew, leaving the event with UMass, Pacific, Rider, Kennesaw State and North Carolina A&T.
The Gazelle Group, which runs the event, chose Thursday’s 72-48 UMass win over Pacific as the showcase game. That designation meant the most outstanding player would be chosen even though UMass had three Gotham games still to play.
Hines’ primary claim to the honor came for his play at the end of the first half. With UMass down 27-22, he had six points, four rebounds and a blocked shot in the Minutemen’s 12-2 half-closing run that swung the game in their favor.
“Malik’s been playing good these last couple of game,” junior wing Donte Clark said. “He’s given us a lot of energy.”
WALK-ONS — Sophomore Rayshawn Miller had the first basket of the season by a walk-on as the Boston native drained an open 3-pointer in the second half. He played four minutes, while senior Zach Turcotte played two. Turcotte had a chance to shoot late, but chose to dribble the clock out.
It was both players’ second appearance this year.
STARTERS — With DeJon Jarreau healthy again, Kellogg returned him to the starting lineup and used the same combination that he did for the first four games of the season as Jarreau joined Luwane Pipkins, Donte Clark, Seth Berger and Rashaan Holloway in the starting lineup.
FREE THROWS — After shooting 2-for-9 from the free-throw line in Saturday’s loss to Central Florida, UMass appeared to be headed for similar struggles when it went 0-for-3 in the first half. Seth Berger missed two free throws and Rashaan Holloway missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Holloway missed the first two of the second half before UMass found the range. The Minutemen made 8 of their last 9 to close out the game.
MISCELLANEOUS — Pacific coach Damon Stoudamire was called for a technical foul in the second half, the first by a UMass opponent this season. The Minutemen are now 1-1 this season against coaches who have played in the NBA. Stoudamire followed UCF coach Johnny Dawkins, who played nine seasons for three teams.
There were 3,171 fans in attendance. State Senate President Stan Rosenberg was part of a pregame presentation.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage