AMHERST — The last five minutes of the UMass men’s basketball team’s win at South Florida frustrated coach Frank Martin more than the Minutemen’s only loss against Towson.
“Good teams when they have a lead on the road, they tighten the screws even tighter. They don’t loosen them up, and we did,” Martin said. “We just kind of took a step back and got away from who we’re asking our guys to be, and that’s that’s where the disappointment came.”
But it came in UMass’ fourth straight win and taught the Minutemen an important lesson ahead of another visit to a hostile environment at Harvard (7 p.m. Friday, ESPN+). The Crimson (6-2) have won five of their past six games, including knocking of Atlantic 10 newcomer Loyola Chicago.
“Older, defensive minded team. They have continuity on the roster,” Martin said. “We’ve got our hands full, but that’s the great thing of the schedule we have is that we’re playing some quality opponents that are making us live in reality. Sometimes we live in fantasy land and we start thinking that what we’re doing is right even though technically it’s not. The teams we’re playing against make us live in reality, which means we better stay true to who we are, because there’s we’re not tricking anybody into a win.”
Northfield Mount Hermon product Chris Ledlum, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, leads the Crimson averaging 18.6 points and 7.1 points per game. He’s also Harvard’s No. 1 steals producer (16), and his eight blocks rank second on the team.
“The thing with him is that it’s not complicated. Some guys are complicated, where they’re going to be what kind of stuff they’re going to do. It’s not complicated when you know where he’s at and those are the guys that are good. The ones that you know where they’re at, and they still perform,”Martin said.
The Minutemen will utilize their depth and different options to show Ledlum different looks. They’ll also try to make him defend to wear him down and make the game difficult.
Harvard normally tries to make its opponents lives challenging with its high pressure, but it will be a familiar sight for UMass (5-1). The Minutemen constrain opponents at the point of attack, as well, and subject their own point guards to it in practice.
“It’s what we face in practice every single day. I’m not saying that we’ll have that riddle figured out, but we work really hard at disrupting and wearing people down defensively, especially your point guard, ” Martin said. “The thing that goes a little unsaid about Harvard is their perimeter’s really big. Are (our guards) going to be able to pass? Everyone worries about shooting, but you can’t shoot unless you can pass, and when people are big on the perimeter, it makes passing more complicated.”
UMass should have its full stable of guards available after freshman Keon Thompson missed the previous game against the Bulls. That depth has carried the Minutemen during their strong start. Seven players have scored in double figures for the Minutemen, and four players have led the team in scoring. They rank 16th in the nation averaging 34.43 bench points per game.
“I believe in depth. I believe in, you know, my top three, four guys might not be as good as that team’s top three or four guys. But if I can get their player number 7-8-9 plane, I think my 7-8-9 guys are pretty good because we prepare them to be good,” Martin said. “It’s the way my crazy brain’s connected.”
The Minutemen are in store for a unique environment, as well. Harvard announced its 1,636-seat Lavietes Pavilion is sold out for the in-state clash. UMass has won the last four meetings in the series, and fans made a large push to purchase tickets for a home away from home advantage.
“Every time we take the court, we’re representing every corner, crack, crevice of the state of Massachusetts. That’s the way I view it. Now, the fact that we have 300,000 alums living in the eastern part of the state, east of 495 that’s why these games are important. We get to take our team in that uniform, that name into an area where we have such an alumni base and play a game near them,” Martin said. “I’ve always heard that the Harvard games are well attended by Massachusetts fans, then that’s what our guys deserve is to see how many people actually care about that.”
It means extra for Matt Cross and the four other Massachusetts natives on the Minutemen’s roster. They’re connected with many of the Harvard players, seven of whom either played or attended prep school in the commonwealth.
“All of us in state guys are everyday trying to find more tickets because of all the people we know that are going. Being in state and playing an away game even though it’s actually closer to most of our houses because most of us are from that side of the state, it just means a lot because, not even nothing to do with the Harvard guys but just that being able to talk (trash) I guess and have that under your belt when you’re in your home state is good feeling.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.