AMHERST — Most of the time, UMass coach Matt McCall likes who Rashaan Holloway is.
McCall has said on numerous occasions that he wants good kids with good character and Holloway fits. But sometimes he’d like his big man to be at least a little feistier.
“He’s an unbelievable kid, almost too nice sometimes,” McCall said. “He’s such a good person, you have to wind him up sometimes to get him to be more aggressive and make him mad. Say something to upset him, maybe about his hair or something. We have to continue to work with him on that.”
McCall has praised Holloway’s leadership, especially during the offseason coaching change and subsequent transition, and his willingness to embrace added work on his body. But there’s a piece missing.
“I just think Rashaan has to be more tenacious with everything he’s doing. Grabbing rebounds, posting up. Demanding post position in the lane, not being denied. Scoring at will down there,” McCall said. “We’re running a lot of actions for him to get the ball because of how good he is. With that comes responsibility to make really aggressive moves to take care of the ball when he’s down there.
“He’s got to continue to work hard for position and not get frustrated when he is missed,” McCall said.
Holloway said even when opponents have built a game plan around taking him out of the game, he has to stay aggressive.
“We’re a team. We have multiple heads on the snake. If you take away the middle, it’s up to our guards to step up and make shots. A lot of teams are going to do that this year. We have to be prepared for that a lot,” he said. “They’re going to look to slow me down and Malik (Hines) down and try to take us out of the game. You always have to be aggressive to open spots for the guards.
“I have to post up hard or I’m not going to get anyone else open,” he continued. “I have to expand my role and go out and rebound more and make plays for my team.”
Holloway, who is averaging 11.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, will be by far the biggest player on the floor Tuesday when UMass hosts Western Carolina at 7 p.m. The Catamounts have just one player taller than 6-foot-8 and nobody taller than 6-foot-7 plays more than 10 minutes per game.
McCall warns not to be fooled by WCU’s lack of size. He expects a physical game.
He’d know. McCall’s UT-Chattanooga teams were Southern Conference rivals of WCU. They played five times in McCall’s two-year Tennessee tenure. His Mocs won four of the five meetings, including one in the conference tournament en route to UTC’s 2015 Southern title and NCAA Tournament bid.
“Sometimes teams don’t have any idea or any feel until you get out on the floor. We’re trying to convey to our players, ‘Don’t be shocked at how physical this game is,’” McCall said. “You’re going to get fouled, you’re going to get hit, you’re going to get bumped. Don’t even look at the referee. Keep playing the game.”
Physical or not, the Catamounts (1-3) have had their hands full. The win came against Hiwasse College, a non-Division I foe, while their three losses have all come vs. Power Five opponents and all three — Clemson (85-57), Cincinnati (102-51) and Minnesota (92-64) — have been blowouts.
Like Niagara, the game is an on campus part of the Barclays Center Classic, which moves to Brooklyn, New York, Friday and Saturday.
Matt Halvorsen, a 6-1 freshman guard, leads WCU with 11.5 points per game and is their top 3-point shooter at 42.9 percent. He’s the only double-digit scorer so far.
The Catamounts also feature senior Haboubacar Mutombo, the nephew of finger-wagging basketball Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo. Unlike his famous uncle, Haboubacar is a 6-5 guard and has no blocked shots this season.
He’s averaging just 5.5 points per game so far, but he averaged 11.7 last year and could be due for a breakout.
PIPKINS HONORED — On the strength of his 34 points Sunday, UMass sophomore guard Luwane Pipkins was named Atlantic 10 co-Player of the Week along with Davidson’s Peyton Aldridge, who had 37 against UNC-Wilmington.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage