The Minutemen were disappointed to be left out of the Big Dance, but will settle for another shot at the NIT.
AMHERST – For the second consecutive season, the University of Massachusetts basketball team is headed to the National Invitation Tournament.
The Minutemen lost out on an NCAA at-large bid after a 21-11 season, but will play on as a No. 2 seed in the NIT, hosting seventh-seeded Stony Brook (24-7) at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Mullins Center.
The team gathered at coach Derek Kellogg’s home Sunday evening to watch the NCAA Selection Show. After UMass’ name wasn't called, seniors Terrell Vinson and Freddie Riley were disappointed knowing their careers will end without an NCAA appearance.
“We obviously wanted to go to the tournament. The season is kind of looked at as a failure because we didn’t go there,” Riley said.
Kellogg said he kept his expectations tempered, especially with UMass’ RPI at 55 entering the day – well behind Middle Tennessee State, Saint Mary’s, Boise State and La Salle, the last four at-large teams in the field of 68.
“I was optimistic but also realistic that they can only take so many teams and somebody is going to be left out,” Kellogg said. “It was a long shot to a certain extent because of where we were in the RPI.”
Vinson said being left out was much harder to swallow than it was a year ago.
“Last year, I kind of felt after we lost to St. Bonnie’s and they won the (Atlantic 10) Championship that we wouldn’t get in, and I was kind of sure about that,” he said. “I think we really got robbed this year … I felt we deserved to get in.”
The inclusion of La Salle, whom the Minutemen beat 61-60 in Philadelphia Jan. 30, was especially hard to swallow for some UMass fans who felt their team’s résumé was at least as good as – if not better than – the Explorers'.
Based on what selection committee chairman Mike Bobinski said in his CBS interview, Tennessee was the first team to be left out of the field. Other teams that had their bubbles burst included NIT No. 1 seeds Kentucky, Virginia, Southern Mississippi and Alabama.
Though, as Vinson indicated, the Minutemen are more stung by their exclusion from the NCAA tournament, Kellogg was confident his team would bounce back and start preparing in earnest for another NIT run after reaching the semifinals last season.
“You can feel bad, feel mad, whatever, but by the same token, you’ve got to move on and move forward," Kellogg said. "I think the guys will be OK come tomorrow. We’ll try to have a fun day of practice tomorrow.”
The NIT berth is UMass’ fifth since its last NCAA appearance in 1998, and marks the first time the Minutemen have advanced to the postseason in consecutive years since 2007 and '08.
UMass hosts a Stony Brook team that earned an automatic bid by winning the regular-season title in the America East with a 14-2 record. In non-conference play, the Seawolves fell to Connecticut, Maryland and Seton Hall, with their best win coming over Canisius Nov. 24.
“I think getting a home game first is good and gives us an opportunity to play at least one more time in front of our fans,” Kellogg said. “That’s going to be a good matchup for us. It should be an entertaining game because they get up the floor and score a little bit.”
Although the Minutemen finished Sunday disappointed, Kellogg disputed the fact the season was a disappointment and said he expects to be in this situation again soon.
“That we’re even in contention and consideration, people are excited. They feel like the program is headed in the right direction,” Kellogg said. “Honestly, we’ll probably be in a lot of these situations unless you win your conference tournament, just because of your league affiliation and some different things. I actually hope we’re in a situation like this every year because it means we got 20 wins and guys are playing well.”