Riley scored 14 against the Pirates for the second straight season.
UMass senior guard Freddie Riley, pictured here defending Harvard's Laurent Rivard in the season opener, had his best game of the season Saturday.
AMHERST – When he entered Saturday’s postgame press conference, University of Massachusetts guard Freddie Riley looked down at the stat sheet and smiled.
That’s not something he’s been able to do often, if at all, this season. After starting the first three games, Riley was replaced in the lineup by Jesse Morgan, and was averaging just 2.4 points per game entering Saturday.
With a season-high 14 points – including a 4-of-7 performance from 3-point range in 27 minutes off the bench in UMass’ 88-81 win over East Carolina– Riley can most certainly smile.
For UMass coach Derek Kellogg, though, Riley’s play Saturday started with defense.
“I thought his defense today was fantastic. He really was locked in,” Kellogg said. “When you start worrying about those things instead of worrying about scoring, you score. It was nice to see Freddie put a good game together for us.”
Furthering Kellogg’s point, Riley’s most important contribution might have been a defensive rebound he pulled down with 1:45 left as the Pirates were attempting to make it a one-possession game.
It was the second straight year Riley scored 14 against the Pirates, having done so in UMass’ 63-58 win Dec. 6, 2011.
Riley was especially happy to break out against a couple of high school friends from Florida in East Carolina forward Ty Armstrong and point guard Miguel Paul.
“It felt good to play well against them,” Riley said.
Riley’s playing time, and in turn his confidence, has been boosted by being a member of a lineup that has proven very successful for the Minutemen.
Riley, along with Chaz Williams, Jesse Morgan, Maxie Esho and Cady Lalanne, was on the floor for big runs against Elon and Ohio. The unit finished Saturday’s game plus-9.
“I’m just happy to be a part of the runs because it’s a way for me to make a case for more playing time,” Riley said. “I’m just happy we make runs when I’m in the game.”
DAVIS MISSES GAME WITH ANKLE INJURY
Freshman point guard Trey Davis, who played his best game Wednesday against Ohio, was forced to sit out of Saturday’s win because he tweaked his left ankle in practice Friday.
Davis did not dress, but Kellogg said the injury was nothing to be worried about.
“He’ll be ready to go for our next game,” Kellogg said. “I’m not a trainer, but it didn’t look that bad.”
MORGAN GOOD ON D AGAIN
Morgan wasn’t able to duplicate his 35-point performance from Wednesday, scoring 15 against the Pirates, but he played an important role in the Minutemen's defense Saturday. Matched up against the talented Paul, Morgan held him to just seven points, well below his average of 12.9.
In addition, Paul had just two assists against five turnovers.
“Jesse did a nice job defensively really for the second straight game,” Kellogg said. “We kind of slid him over to the point-guard spot a little bit.”
VINSON FALLS JUST SHORT
Terrell Vinson entered needing 16 points to become the 44th player in UMass history to score 1,000 points.
Unfortunately, he fell one point short.
Vinson said after the game he wasn’t aware of the total on the court.