AMHERST — On two separate occasions this winter, Mullins Center staff spilled onto Jack Leaman Court as soon as the final horn sounded to end a UMass men’s basketball game. They aren’t typically in a huge rush to break down equipment, especially if the next event to take place in the arena is another basketball game, but the Minutemen hockey team had a game about five hours later – they needed to change the hardwood to the ice in time for warm-ups.

UMass Associate Athletic Director for Facilities, Operations and Events Anthony Rosati, who helps oversee the court-to-ice changeovers, said a normal operation takes about seven hours and requires a staff of 20 to 25 people. Yet on Feb. 15 and March 8, Mullins Center staff needed to finish in three hours (the UMass hockey team was set to host Boston College and Maine, respectively), and with the assistance of UMass’ events staff, that staff of 20 people tripled to 60 to help expedite the process.

“It’s all order of operations,” Rosati said. “It’s making sure you have a good plan in place, good staffing. A normal changeover is about 20 or 25 people, but something like this we have 50 to 60 because you’re just trying to do it faster. Normal changeovers take six or seven hours, but for doubleheaders, they’ll do it in about two and a half or three hours. So yeah, you want to make sure you have a big enough staff, but everyone needs to know exactly what they’re doing.”

The ice gets put down at the beginning of the year and stays there until the hockey season is over. It always rests under a number of floor boards throughout the winter. The changeover process begins with the simple stuff first – breaking down the chairs, risers and disconnecting everything around the scorer’s tables before removing those as well.

Next, the hardwood comes up, and as that process unfolds the boards and glass begin to go up. It’s essential to do everything in a particular order.

Luckily for Rosati, he hasn’t experienced any major mishaps since joining the UMass staff in 2019. Prior to arriving in Amherst, Rosati was in charge of similar changeovers at the XL Center in Hartford for UConn. During an operation, he once witnessed a power cable generate so much heat that it melted a corner section of the ice, and they had to build it back up before the game began.

“Knock on wood nothing like that has happened here yet,” Rosati said. “We’ve had a couple of issues with the dasher boards, because those are the last boards you’re putting in – it’s kind of like a bunch of puzzle pieces. So if they don’t fit right, you may have to go back and change a few of the other boards. A few years ago, we opened the gates to let people in, but had to hold them in the concourse because we were still finishing up the changeover.”

When doubleheaders are scheduled at UMass, the start of the games are almost always seven hours apart. The men’s basketball tipped off against St. Bonaventure at noon about a month ago, followed by puck drop at 7 p.m. as the Minutemen hosted top-ranked Boston College. Last weekend, men’s hoop started at 12:30 p.m. for its senior day against Loyola Chicago. In response, when Greg Carvel sent out his starting line for UMass’ matchup with Maine, it was 7:30 p.m.

Rosati said there is certainly pressure on the staff to finish the job in a timely and efficient manner – while doing it flawlessly. He also mentioned that they will find creative ways to save time. For example, UMass didn’t sell any basketball tickets in the section where the visiting hockey team’s bench goes when the Minutemen played the Bonnies, so they pulled those tickets off the website and installed it beforehand.

“Tickets are sold and people are coming whether something goes wrong or not,” Rosati said. “When the basketball team shows up, they expect their court. When the hockey teams arrives, they expect their rink. So there’s certainly a pressure to it. On the fly sometimes you have to figure stuff out, cutting some corners to save time but also making sure you’re still doing right. If you have a good plan in place and the staff is here, you can make it happen.”

One thing that won’t likely happen is a doubleheader in which the hockey team plays first. It is more than possible, but laying down the court and transitioning from hockey to basketball takes much longer.

Because of that, UMass has steered clear of any ice-to-court transitions.

“You could get halfway through and be like, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to work.’ And then you have to start all over again,” Rosati said. “If it’s wrong three rows over, you can’t get to it without breaking it all back down. You certainly could [have hockey play first], but it’s much more risky and it takes a lot longer. And with the court being a lot smaller than the ice, you have to build all those seating sections out. It definitely takes longer and if one thing goes wrong, it could delay the start of the game.”

UMass fans that attended the doubleheaders this season likely went home or grabbed a bite to eat and enjoyed a beverage or two in between games before coming back to watch the night cap on a clean sheet of ice. That was only possible as about 60 unsung heroes were hard at work to ensure each Minutemen team could perform to the best of their abilities.