AMHERST — On paper, it’s a pretty daunting task. UMass is at its lowest point with a thin roster and no momentum coming off of four straight blowouts.
Rhode Island, on the other hand, is rolling. The No. 22-ranked Rams (17-3) haven’t lost since Dec. 6, a streak of 12 consecutive victories that have them 9-0 in the Atlantic 10 when they arrive at the Mullins Center for Tuesday’s 6:30 p.m. tipoff on CBS Sports Network.
UMass’ losing streak and Rhody’s winning streak both include the 73-51 URI win over the Minutemen less than two weeks ago.
While UMass (10-12, 3-6 Atlantic 10) gets the benefit of being at home this time, it’ll be without sophomore big man Chris Baldwin, who remains out with a knee injury.
Minuteman coach Matt McCall sees an opportunity. His team was unexpected short-handed and played one of the best games of its season at Dayton on Jan. 6.
“Go cut it loose. Go play and enjoy competing,” McCall said. “It’s not very often you get a top-25 team in your building.”
UMass hasn’t beaten a ranked team since 2013 (New Mexico at the Charleston Classic) and hasn’t beaten a ranked team at the Mullins Center in just over 10 years when the Minutemen beat No. 14 Dayton on Jan. 16 2008.
McCall said in the midst of his team’s struggles, he’s changed up practice hoping to raise his team’s competitiveness. Instead of using the four transfers sitting out as a scout team, he mixed everybody together to compete head to head.
“When you get into the season you’re so consumed with scouting. But we’ve spent an enormous amount of time competing the past two days,” he said. “This is about building and getting better every day. Hopefully it will make us play better too.”
He said he’s challenged his team to get in the right frame of mind.
“I think we can play better. Our talent level is not going to change,” he said. “All I’ve talked about the past couple days is being committed. We have to play with passion.”
NO BALDWIN UPDATE YET — McCall said Baldwin had a doctor’s appointment scheduled Tuesday that could clarify his status going forward.
“He’s been doing treatment,” McCall said. “I don’t know exactly what the diagnosis is.”
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage