Morgan scored 16 points during a 23-1 UMass run in the first half.
Ohio's Ivo Baltic and UMass' Raphiael Putney battle for position under the boards during Wednesday's game.
AMHERST — Wednesday night at Mullins Center, one man captured the attention of 3,821 people.
It wasn’t one spectacular dunk or a heroic buzzer-beating effort, but a barrage of jump shots from University of Massachusetts junior guard Jesse Morgan to the tune of 35 points that brought the crowd to their feet time after time, and spurred UMass to an 85-76 victory over Ohio.
Morgan made 7 of 10 3-point attempts, but more importantly, was the centerpiece of two huge UMass runs that cemented the Minutemen’s victory.
The first came after Ohio had taken control early in the game, jumping out to an 18-6 lead in the game’s first 5:15 behind seven points by star point guard D.J. Cooper.
That lead would be short lived.
The Minutemen ripped off a 23-1 run behind 16 points from Morgan, and compounded by nine straight missed field goals and five turnovers by the Bobcats.
“At some point, I just blacked out,” Morgan said. “The shots just start falling … I just got unconscious after a while.”
But Ohio wasn’t ready to go away, and had plenty of their own prowess from long range to match Morgan’s. Ohio was 7 for 15 in the first half, paced by Walter Offutt’s 4-for-6 performance, and despite Morgan’s Mullins Center record 24 points in a half, trailed just 48-40 at the break.
That UMass lead evaporated less than five minutes into the second half, and the teams were tied 55-55 with 14:25 remaining before Morgan’s second streak.
Morgan hit three more 3-pointers to spur an 11-0 UMass run, the last of which rolled around the rim and in, much to the delight of both the crowd and Morgan.
Even more to their delight, the Minutemen never relinquished the lead they opened up, holding the Bobcats off for the victory.
The 35 points by Morgan marked the first time a UMass player scored 30 since Anthony Gurley did it on March 5, 2011 against Fordham, and were the most by a player in the Atlantic 10 this season.
Morgan fell short of Billy Tindall’s school record of 41, set back on Feb. 10, 1968 against Vermont. 41 is also the nationwide high for a player thus far this season.
Morgan has repeatedly said that playing good defense gets his offense going, and said Wednesday’s performance was no different.
“Defense will get you back into games,” Morgan said. “That’s what coach preaches all the time, so that’s what I tried to do.”
While Morgan did plenty to garner the headlines, UMass also got a solid contribution from center Cady Lalanne, who recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in his second game back from a 12-day suspension.