Mentally and physically, the Minutemen have come a long, long way.
Massachusetts forward Sean Carter (54) is fouled by Mississippi State guard Dee Bost (3) during the second half of their NIT first-round college basketball game in Starkville, Miss., Tuesday. Massachusetts won 101-96 in double overtime, with Carter playing 48 minutes. AMHERST - Every year, coach Derek Kellogg tells his players to make use of the offseason, show up in shape and stay that way.
The hard work paid its greatest dividends Tuesday night in Starkville, Miss. It is the reason this University of Massachusetts men's basketball season goes on.
"It was kind of nice to see what we've been preaching and talking and talking about, and how we've trained, come to fruition,'' Kellogg said after UMass' 101-96 double-overtime victory over Mississippi State in the National Invitation Tournament.
The first double-OT game for UMass in seven years, and only the 13th in school history, gave evidence of a team that has always shown the desire to win, and is now figuring how to do it.
"I don't know if I've ever been involved in a stretch of so many close games as in this last month,'' said Kellogg, whose team lost overtime games at Rhode Island and Temple in February.
UMass upset Temple last week in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
"Our guys are figuring out how to make winning basketball plays down the stretch,'' Kellogg said.
UMass will take a 23-11 record into its second-round game at Seton Hall (21-12), which avoided an upset with a 63-61 win over Stony Brook Tuesday night. As of early Thursday, officials had not announced when the game will be played, but ESPN reported it is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday.
Not only did UMass outlast a Southeastern Conference team on its home floor, the Minutemen did it their own way with a pressing, up-tempo style that was tested by the extra 10 minutes.
"We didn't play any zone defense. I think we pressed for about 43 of the 50 minutes,'' Kellogg said.
"With their size, I didn't think we could beat them in a halfcourt game. The only way was to press and run and take their secondary big guys out of the game.
"It helped us with our rebounding (a 56-41 UMass edge),''
Mississippi State's best player, 6-foot-11 projected lottery pick Arnett Moultrie, had 34 points but only six rebounds.
It was UMass center Sean Carter who came up big at the end.
"Sean played his best basketball in the two overtimes,'' Kellogg said.
Carter finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He played 48 of the 50 minutes.
Guards Chaz Williams and Jesse Morgan played 47 and 45 minutes, respectively. Javorn Farrell came off the bench to play 38 in a game that saw UMass essentially go with six players.
"Javorn gave us his ability to defend, go for loose balls and flash to the basket. I played him more than Maxie Esho (eight minutes), because Javorn just has more college basketball experience.''
UMass won its first-round game in the last three NIT appearances. Next comes a game at Seton Hall, which is 14-3 at home.
Success in the NIT is usually determined by which teams are excited to be in it. The crowd of 2,507 on Tuesday revealed a sense of disappointment over missing the NCAA tournament.
UMass has left no question that it wants to keep playing basketball.
"Mississippi State might have been a little down after not making the NCAAs, and they came out without a ton of fire,'' Kellogg said.
"Then they made some runs, but our guys hung tough both physically and mentally. It's nice to see our maturity develop - we're not there yet, but we're close.''