AMHERST — Matt McCall had that gut feeling about his team when he entered the locker room Sunday afternoon.
The UMass coach knew something was off when he saw his players and feared it could spiral out of control early. So he was prepared for a mass substitution if the worst-case scenario played out. Three turnovers on three possessions in the opening minute was all the validation he needed to send in five new players so early in the game.
“I was nervous going into the game, I didn’t like the look on our guys’ faces in the locker room,” McCall said. “We’re trying to stress how big this game was. There’s a lot we’re playing for. … These guys just kind of looked lethargic and I knew to start the game, if that starting five didn’t bring it effortwise, I was going to sub five guys right away. I did that and then those starting five when they got back in, they responded the right way.”
It was the type of wake-up call the Minutemen needed in that moment against a foe that has had their number recently. George Mason might have entered the game 2-7 in Atlantic 10 play, but one of those wins was against UMass earlier this season, and the Patriots had won eight straight games against the Minutemen. So a slow start at home was less than ideal for a team trying to avoid a Wednesday afternoon game in the conference tournament next month.
As soon as McCall sent the five new players to the scorer’s table, the message was understood by the five starters walking off the court. The deficit was only at four when the starters began being substituted back in, and it grew to as many as 10 before things started to turn around for the Minutemen, but McCall’s decision paid dividends by the end of the game.
“He didn’t really say anything, but everybody knows at the end of the day, you have to find five guys that want to play,” freshman starter Tre Mitchell said. “Regardless of minutes or who starts or whatever, you have to put five dudes on the court who want to compete. If the first five don’t show up how we did that first minute, he did what he was supposed to do. He yanked all of us, set us all straight then we came back in and did what we were supposed to do.”
DJ ON THE OFFENSIVE — Djery Baptiste isn’t known for his offense and he wasn’t even recruited to UMass for his skills with the ball. He tends to score when he’s inserted into games that are blowouts and plays extended minutes. Baptiste scored just 29 combined points in the first 19 games of this season while seeing his playing time fluctuate around Mitchell’s performance.
Recently though, Baptiste has found some rhythm around the basket. He’s scored 26 points combined in the last five games, including a UMass career-high 10 in Sunday’s win over George Mason. He’s gone from shooting 37.9 percent (11 of 29) from the floor in those first 19 games to 72.2 percent (13 of 18) in the past five contests. McCall said the difference has been Baptiste’s mentality during games when he gets around the rim.
“It’s just his approach, Djery puts a lot of pressure on himself,” McCall said. “Coach (Tony) Bergeron talks a lot about not doing that. He’s in the gym working with him and working on his jump hooks and doing those type of things, (and Bergeron says) stop putting so much pressure on yourself.”
EMBRACE PAST — McCall has not been shy this season on speaking with his team about the little milestones UMass has been able to set this year. The Minutemen embraced being 5-0 for the first time in six years when they started the season on that winning streak, and they’re embracing changing the culture again in conference play with the challenge in front of them now.
Sunday’s win was critical for UMass (4-7 Atlantic 10) to put some distance between itself and George Mason (2-8) in the battle to avoid playing in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament next month. The Minutemen have played the first game of the conference tournament in each of the past three seasons as one of four worst teams in the league, and are currently tied for ninth place with George Washington, making them the final two teams to avoid playing those opening games.
UMass also hasn’t won more than five league games in the past three seasons, an attainable goal with two more games left against teams below it in the conference standings. McCall said he wants his team to focus on those smaller goals in order to build momentum for the program heading into next season.
“We’re playing for something here,” McCall said. “We talked a lot at the beginning of the season, no team at UMass has started 5-0 in a long time, start leaving your mark on the program to have some positivity as we move forward to get the program moving in the right direction, the direction everybody wants it to. There’s a lot we’re playing for right now, we haven’t had a bye in four years, we haven’t had more than five wins in four years, so there’s a lot to play for and we need to practice that way, we need to approach every day like that and we need to get better.”
OFF WEEK TIMING — UMass doesn’t play again until it hosts No. 6 Dayton on Saturday, giving the team five days off before the next game. The Minutemen won’t practice Monday or Tuesday before turning their attention to the Flyers.
The timing, though, couldn’t be better for the Minutemen, who are nursing some nagging injuries. McCall said Mitchell collided with a teammate in practice Saturday and there are several other players in need of some rest to heal some nagging injuries after the grind of the first 11 conference games.