The catalysts were the UMass guards. Chaz Williams had a career-high 29 points along with 9 assists to lead the Minutemen - on offense, at least. Backcourt mates Jesse Morgan and Freddie Riley contributed clamp-down defense to stifle Tu Holloway, the Atlantic 10’s second-leading scorer, who had a quiet 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting.
“That was a big-time game for us,’’ said UMass coach Derek Kellogg, whose team plays at Dayton Saturday, then at league-leading Temple next Wednesday. “I thought our guys came in and had a big game for us, especially on defense.’’
UMass (19-8, 8-5) signaled there would be no surrender right from the start, defending with postseason-style intensity. Over the game’s first four minutes, Xavier’s key numbers were 2 and 10 - as in, two shots and 10 turnovers. The Musketeers had 3 points, all from the free-throw line.
The UMass offense, however, was doing not a whole lot better. The Minutemen were getting their shots off, but the key word was “off.’’ They hit just 2 of their first 8, including 0 of 4 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Once Xavier (17-10, 8-5) stopped throwing the ball away, it started putting it in the basket, grabbing a 5-point lead just past the midway point of the half. But UMass found the hole as well, especially from beyond the arc. After starting 2 of 10, the Minutemen hit four of their next five 3-pointers. The final one came after Williams idly dribbled away much of the half’s last 30 seconds near midcourt, then calmly stepped up to the arc and nailed a trey to send the Minutemen into the locker room with a 41-29 lead.
Williams and Riley each had a 3-pointer as UMass pushed its lead to 20 with 11:59 left, and the crowd was on its feet and dancing like the students who competed in the halftime salsa contest judged by former Minuteman receiver Victor Cruz.
But Xavier wasn’t ready to sit this one out. A Justin Martin follow and a pair of 3-pointers by Brad Redford provided an 8-0 run, and the Musketeers continued to chip away, pulling within 8 on a Mark Lyons hoop with 7:30 left.
