AMHERST — UMass’ regulation comeback was erased by its struggles in overtime.
The Minutemen turned the ball over five times and allowed five offensive rebounds in the extra session as George Mason pulled away for an 80-72 win, Wednesday at the Mullins Center.
The Patriots had a two-point lead and the ball with 38.5 seconds left in regulation, but Jaire Grayer traveled. Goanar Mar fouled C.J. Anderson at the other end. With 31.9 seconds left, Anderson made both free throws to tie the game at 66-66.
GMU point guard Otis Livingston held the ball until just under 10 seconds left, but his driving shot was off the mark. UMass got the rebound and hurried it up the court. Grayer atoned for his travel by blocking Luwane Pipkins’ 3-point try at the buzzer to force overtime.
With just over a minute left in overtime and Mason up 73-72, UMass thought it had the ball after the initial out-of-bounds call pointed UMass’ way. But video review gave the Patriots possession. After Unique McLean blocked Grayer’s 3-pointer in the right corner, GMU had just two seconds on the shot clock.
Livingston’s hurried 3-pointer was off the mark, but the shot’s low trajectory caused it to skip off the rim long and to the left, where Ian Boyd hauled it in with 58 seconds left giving the visitors a fresh shot clock.
After running 26 more seconds down, Livingston got into the lane, hit the layup and was fouled. He made the free throw to make it 76-72 with 32 seconds left.
“That was a complete microcosm of the game itself,” McCall said. “The shot goes up and we don’t come down with it. They get it and Livingston comes down the lane with an and-one.”
Pipkins hurried the ball into traffic, but amid contact went out of bounds as McCall shouted for a foul. After that UMass was forced to foul and Livingston made free throws to pull away.
UMass (7-8) has lost three of its last four games, including two at home, and fell to 0-2 in the Atlantic 10. The Minutemen, who are winless on the road this season, are at Dayton, Saturday at noon. UMass and GMU play again on Feb. 24.
Livingston led Mason (7-8, 1-1 A-10) with 33 points, nine assists and six rebounds, while Grayer had 20 points and five rebounds.
“Livingston controlled the whole game,” McCall said. “He was in the lane. He made the right plays. That was two straight games where we got completely outplayed by a guard.
Pipkins had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists but turned the ball over seven times. Rashaan Holloway had 13 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six blocks.
Mason led most of the first half on the strength of a complete effort by Livingston. The 5-foot-11 junior had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists as the Patriots led 32-25.
A 3-pointer by Carl Pierre (10 points) sparked a 9-4 half-closing run as UMass closed to 36-34.
UMass trailed 55-45 in the second half, but a 16-5 run gave it a brief lead at 61-60 with 3:49 left and set up a back-and-forth game down the stretch.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage