1/30 | UMass Minutemen | 6:30PM (CBSSN)

[ElmCityRhody]

all i know is that i was sitting comfortably on my couch w/ about 2 mins left just waiting for the game to end and then the last 2 mins happened

whatever.. we got the win.. onto VCU

i am more worried about our D and rebounding than that we only won by 2 points

i would never throw away a W

good job rhody

let's re-focus for VCU now !

[Seawrightspostgame]

We need a much better effort vs VCU and real good games from both EC and Jared. When is the last time they played great together? As a matter of fact we will need everyone's A game. The VCU crowd will be a major factor.

Last time they both played really well was 10 days ago in our win at Dayton, so...it isn't like its been years or something. But, agreed it would be good to see another installment of that series Friday night.

I'm definitely understanding of the feeling that some people have that things are trending in a direction where that VCU feels like a loss - VCU seems to be trending up, they are still a top-of-the-league team even thought they (and the league) are down, their place is always a tough place to play, we seem to be flirting with blowing one of these games at some point and haven't put together a full 40 minutes for a few games.

My counterpoint to that, I guess, is that possibly this team right now needs a game like at VCU to get itself focused and geared up to play the way they can when all the pistons are firing. The last "good" game they played was at Dayton, a similar scenario to this VCU game, although VCU is better this year. The Fordham game they did have last year's meltdown to keep them somewhat focused and while that effort wasn't bad, it was far from perfect. But Duquesne game and a game in front of 426 people against a UMass team you just walloped a couple weeks ago might not get your juices flowing. Not making an excuse, because you have to get yourself up for every opponent and you see what happens when you don't. It is human nature though to have your focus wax and wane a little based on the level of threat you're facing.

I think they both played good. Jared had over 20 points and was getting chewed out. First half EC made tons of hustle plays and scored his 10. Got us back in the lead. EC took a back seat to minutes of others and Dowtin really coming on strong in second half. If EC makes that open dunk then he has 12.

[SmartyBarrett]

Ace seems to be implying that Sage portrays himself one way here while in reality he hates Hurley and us......am I getting that, Ace?

A quick scroll through Sage's timeline answers that question rather quickly.

[Running Ram]

Good catch ace,
What a jealous dick this guy is, DH makes a funny comment which actually relates back to the refs calling a decent game, he otherwise gives "Pip" praise as one of the best guards in the A10, yet this butt-hurt CurryHicksSage decides to remind us how much UAss fans suck. I hope we beat UMass every game we play them for the next decade! Somebody twitter punch this guy please...

[SmartyBarrett]

These are the same people that call URI fans classless, too. That's my favorite.

[Obadiah]

Sage is a typical UMass phony. And I lived in Western Mass for many years to know. He comes here and tries to give a little props and then makes a big deal out of a little comment that had no real offense and loses all sense of decency in a rant that was vulgarity at its best. This guy is no sage but he does resemble the dirt floor that once graced the dump called Curry Hicks cage.

[rhodysurf]

Full game replay

[TruePoint]

Ace seems to be implying that Sage portrays himself one way here while in reality he hates Hurley and us......am I getting that, Ace?

A quick scroll through Sage's timeline answers that question rather quickly.

Beyond that, he also just outed himself as being a dumb a humorless person. What did Hurley say or do that would cause a sane person to be upset, nevermind publicly lose their mind? I thought Dan's comments were so great and good naturedly funny that I specifically posted them here. I thought they showed a sense of humor that makes him super relateable (note the reaction of his players, who clearly got a kick out of it). Not to mention he has the ultimate defense - he was 100% right about what he said. That's not personal against Pipkins, it's just reality.

[ramster]

UMass fan here.

No other way to say it: we are in as precarious predicament as any UMass team I've ever seen (been watching them for 25 seasons now). We started the year with 9 scholarship players and a new coach. About a month before the year started, Jaylen Brantley, a fifth year senior transfer from Maryland who was absolutely going to be our starting PG, was ruled out for life due to a previously undetected heart condition. Rashaan Holloway, our center with all conference talent (if not always all conference effort) was then out all preseason with a broken thumb. He returned and did his usual 10 and 5 thing but never really dominated in the way we had hoped. Then he had academic issues and stopped playing by the third game of conference play. Initially the team rallied in his absence, winning three straight in shocking fashion (double digit comebacks in all three). Eventually our lack of size and depth was going to wear on us and it did, as we've now lost four straight--all in ugly fashion. Making matters worse is that Holloway is now done for the year, having been ruled academically ineligible. Unclear if he returns next season. And for the second straight game we are without Chris Baldwin. Baldwin has been something of a jekyll and hyde act all year. He was highly recruited out of HS and spurned a West Virginia offer to come be a part of last year's decorated, top 30 recruiting class (a class which basically all transferred when Kellogg left) but has never really gotten his shit together on both ends. Still he's an athletic big who shoots 35 or 38 percent from 3 and losing him will hurt. We have four guys sitting out (three of whom could be starters next year) and two talented recruits coming in so the fan base was always viewing this as a bridge year. Then, shockingly, McCall was masterful in the early going, somehow getting ten wins out of this frankly not talented roster. People got overly excited prematurely and now things have come crashing back to earth. Truth is I had always predicted 10 wins this year and we may end the year with 14 straight losses and ten wins total. It's simply that dire right now.

Thankfully we still have Pipkins, who has emerged as a sure-thing first team all league guy this year and has single handedly willed us to three or four wins this year. Stop him and we're pretty much done. The other two reliable guys this year have been Carl Pierre, a smooth shooting LIGHTS OUT three point shooter who didn't have a single D1 offer until April when McCall swooped in and offered. He's averaging almost 12 a game and could be remembered as a Jaylen Adams type in that he truly slipped through the cracks. He's still a true freshman though and isn't always up to par on the defensive end just yet. And without a true PG on this team (Pip is better off the ball) UMass has a ton of trouble getting into sets or forcing teams to rotate on D. That's even more pronounced when Baldwin is out since he's a three point threat. Without him, Pip and Pierre are the only threats from deep so teams can overplay them and back WAY off our other guards, none of whom can shoot at all. Malik Hines, our center, has been totally solid all year but probably won't go nuts offensively. He's an 8 and 6 type of guy pretty consistently. The other rotation guys include Unique McLean (a freakishly athletic freshman who is maybe the greatest leaper I've ever seen but literally can't hit the broad side of a barn from anywhere beyond 3 feet), Khaleah Turner Morris (a huge freshman who plays 5 minutes a game tops), and CJ Anderson (a senior guard who can get into the lane and score sometimes but shouldn't have ever been asked to be anything more than a 6th or 7th man glue guy). Ray Miller, a former manager, gets 25 or more minutes a game now. He'll occasionally hit a corner three but against good opponents, he understandably is a step or two behind. McLean and Anderson are DK recruits and can't really shoot or take people off the bounce, two prized characteristics in McCall's offense.

All of this is to say I am STUNNED that ya'll are only 10.5 point favorites. Frankly, if it's within 10 it's because UMass has gone bonkers from deep and if UMass gets that hot they may just win. But let's be real. Our fan base is very much focused on next year and it's a weeknight in Amherst, meaning our fans (a huge portion of whom live 90 minutes or more from campus) won't be there. Maybe you'll see a late push to bring in some students (ya'll are ranked after all) but the place will more than likely be morgue-like and we haven't had a margin under 13 in the last four. That includes a 13 point loss to Fordham and a 19 point home loss to St Louis. We were favored in both games. I do expect UMass to play loose and if Pierre and Pipkins can get hot there's a chance this one's close, but if Rhody turns us over early this could be a 75-45 type of affair very quickly. Frankly you didn't even play brilliantly at the Ryan Center and you still beat us with ease.

I desperately hope we stun you but it'd be a catastrophic setback to your seeding hopes if we did. Next year, however, this rivalry will be great again. I expect five of the six guys coming in to be regular rotation players and Pip and Pierre are underclassmen so UMass has a lot to look forward to. It's just really, really dire right now.

Interesting that this curryhickssage has this derogatory tweet and spends the time to write a long message on our Keaney Blue Message board but I see nothing from him on the UMASS Message Board. Seems he was just out to cause trouble from the get go

Here is the link to the UMASS Board and they act nothing like this guy.
http://www.umasshoops.com/newboard/view ... 4&start=60

[NYGFan_Section208]

As we were leaving last night, there was a guy in the concourse screaming at the top of his lungs..."URI, you all suck!!! What a f'n rip off tonite...you all suck and your refs, too!" Was probably this Curry Powder guy.... Other UMass fans around us looked embarrassed and one even said, 'what an embarrassment...you want people to come here, enjoy themselves...and then they have to put up with this clown"

[reef]

Jeez these UMass fans need to get a life

Enjoy the bottom half of the league !!

[Rhode_Island_Red]

There's a reason that "Masshole" is in the dictionary. https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/ ... dictionary

[RF1]

You can read more about the behavior of those associated with UMass here:
http://keaneyblue.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=7335