AMHERST — The UMass men’s basketball team’s considerable interior size advantage wasn’t enough to give it control of the glass.
In Wednesday’s 80-72 overtime loss to George Mason, the Patriots outrebounded UMass 49-39 and turned 18 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.
“The game was lost on the backboard,” UMass coach Matt McCall said. “They had 18 offensive rebounds. That’s just too many. When you shoot like we did from behind the arc (5-for-27) and give up that many offensive rebounds, it’s hard to win.”
The Minutemen’s starting big men were effective on the glass. Rashaan Holloway had 10 rebounds, including six on offense, to go with his 13 points, while Malik Hines had nine. But the rest of the Minutemen had just 20 combined boards.
“The guards have to get in there and scoop up the loose change,” McCall said. “Our guards have to do a better job rebounding.”
MCLEAN A BRIGHT SPOT — Unique McLean had six points and two blocked shots, both in overtime. He played 25 minutes, his most since November, and was on the floor throughout crunch time. McCall’s desire to play a smaller lineup against the perimeter-oriented Patriots gave him an opportunity and he took advantage.
“Unique has been good. He’s been good in practice. He’s had the right mindset,” McCall said. “He’s given us great minutes the last two games. He was really good defensively. I’m proud of Unique. He’s had a great attitude.”
TURNER-MORRIS OUT — The flu bug that’s been prevalent every where lately bit the Minutemen, as UMass was without Khalea Turner-Morris.
The seldom used freshman big man stayed in his dorm room to prevent exposure to his teammates.
MISCELLANEOUS — George Mason has won three straight in the series, including back-to-back games in the Mullins Center. … C.J. Anderson’s shooting slump continued. The senior guard is now 8 for his last 39 from the field (20.5 percent). He was 6-for-6 from the line and finished with 10 points.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage