AMHERST — Starting Monday and for most of next week, the UMass men’s basketball team will practice. With four games in 10 days, the Minutemen have barely tweaked things between themselves.
There’s a handful of things coach Derek Kellogg is eager for his team to work on. But before it gets there, the Minutemen will try to finish the busy early stretch with a victory.
The Minutemen (2-1) will face Holy Cross (0-2) at the DCU Center in Worcester, Sunday at 1 p.m.
“You really can’t do much until after that fourth game,” Kellogg said. “There won’t be much adding. We just have to try to improve on the things we’re not doing well right now.”
Kellogg liked the way his team bounced back Thursday after losing Monday. He hoped it would react as well to winning as it did to losing.
“There’s a delicate balance, not getting too low when you lose or too high when you win,” he said.
Kellogg’s rotation and lineup combinations have been different in each of the three games. Some of that was affected by foul trouble and Seth Berger’s one-game injury absence. But overall Kellogg is still learning what works.
“Some guys have nestled in to a certain amount of playing time. There’s a group of three or four guys where it depends on matchups, flow of the game or the feel of the coach,” he said. “I’d like to make sure freshmen like Ty Flowers and Chris Baldwin are coming along by getting some minutes in games.
“Every possession in a game that’s going to come down to the end is crucial. A mistake or two can be costly,” he continued. “I’m conscious in making sure we get better and get the young guys up to speed and acclimated, but at the same time not risk a loss to do that.”
The Crusaders head into Sunday’s game after getting blown out on the road by a pair of Power 5 schools — South Carolina (81-49) and Syracuse (90-46).
Holy Cross was a darling of March last year. The Crusaders entered the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 9 seed at 10-19, 5-13 in conference. But they won four straight games to win the tournament and then beat Southern in the NCAA First Four. They eventually fell to No. 1 seed Oregon.
HC was picked fourth in the Patriot League preseason poll. Robert Champion leads the Crusaders with 13.0 points per game. Senior forward Malachi Alexander is averaging 11.5 points to go with his team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.
Holy Cross has some size for a low-major program. Senior Matt Husek is 6-foot-11, 240 pounds, while freshman Jack Stevens is 6-foot-10, 240 pounds. Neither starts, but both could be asked to match up with UMass center Rashaan Holloway (6-foot-11, 310 pounds).
GRESHAMSTILL IN LIMBO — Kellogg said there’s no update on the eligibility status of freshman big man Brison Gresham. Kellogg said UMass has sent the NCAA all the academic paperwork it needs to make a ruling.
PIPKINS STEALS — UMass freshman Luwane Pipkins had just two steals in Thursday’s win, the lowest total of this three-game career. It was still enough to make him the nation’s leader after all Thursday action was completed. He’s averaging 4.7 per game.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage