UMass basketball is back. Yes, I know the UMass basketball faithful has pleaded this before, but this time, they have a legitimate reason to believe so. UMass won the Myrtle Beach Invitational Tournament by defeating the University of Charlotte 60-54 on Sunday, November 20th. This is the first time UMass has won an in-season tournament since 2013. 
While the weekend was successful for UMass, it did not come without a high level of stress for Minutemen fans. With 6:37 left in the second half, Isaac Kante fouled Jacobi Wood, and Wood would convert both free throws to make the lead for Murray State 61-51. UMass refused to back down from the Racers. A 12-2 run following the made free throws over the next 4 minutes tied the game with 2:50 to go. TJ Weeks Jr. Made a deep three with 1:31 left to give the minutemen a 68-65 lead. Jamari Smith would respond with a mid-range jumper to cut the lead back to one. With UMass up one with 17 seconds left, Murray State would call a timeout with the ball. Murray State wanted to get to the basket and drew up a play for their start player Jacobi Wood to get a mismatch on a big man. With 7 seconds left, Matt Cross fouled the driving Jacobi Wood, who had only missed one free throw of the 10 attempts during the game. Wood knocked down both free throws to give Murray State a one-point lead.
Noah Fernandes has now entered the chat. Fernandes hit a game-winner last year against Rutgers in Amherst for an 85-83 win. With 7 seconds left, and a Myrtle Beach Invitational championship berth on the line, Frank Martin called a timeout, and drew up a play to get the ball into his senior leader’s hands. Fernades caught the ball near the other free throw line and was doubled-teamed with a Murray State defender in front, and behind him. Fernades put his head down and dribbled up the ball near the sideline up the court Fernandes found himself near the UMass bench and realized there was not much time left. Fernandes put up a one-legged fadeaway three-point shot falling away into the UMass bench and drilled it with 0.7 seconds left in the game.
UMass would go onto beat Charlotte 2 days later and win the MBI. Noah Fernandes was named tournament MVP averaging 15 points, over 3 assists, and commanding this strong UMass defense. The minutemen’s defense was their strong point throughout the tournament holding their opponents to 62 points per game. While the offense struggled at times, individual offensive performances helped lift the Minutemen. RJ Luis, a freshman from Miami, Florida, had 18 points in 18 minutes off the bench in their Quarterfinal win over Colorado. Matt Cross added 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a dramatic win over Murray State.
The Minutemen are now 4-1 and have a 9-day break until traveling down to the University of South Florida for their first true road game this season. UMass had also reached Andy Katz’s “Power 35” at number 35, and the hype around UMass basketball is real.
While the weekend was successful for UMass, it did not come without a high level of stress for Minutemen fans. With 6:37 left in the second half, Isaac Kante fouled Jacobi Wood, and Wood would convert both free throws to make the lead for Murray State 61-51. UMass refused to back down from the Racers. A 12-2 run following the made free throws over the next 4 minutes tied the game with 2:50 to go. TJ Weeks Jr. Made a deep three with 1:31 left to give the minutemen a 68-65 lead. Jamari Smith would respond with a mid-range jumper to cut the lead back to one. With UMass up one with 17 seconds left, Murray State would call a timeout with the ball. Murray State wanted to get to the basket and drew up a play for their start player Jacobi Wood to get a mismatch on a big man. With 7 seconds left, Matt Cross fouled the driving Jacobi Wood, who had only missed one free throw of the 10 attempts during the game. Wood knocked down both free throws to give Murray State a one-point lead.
Noah Fernandes has now entered the chat. Fernandes hit a game-winner last year against Rutgers in Amherst for an 85-83 win. With 7 seconds left, and a Myrtle Beach Invitational championship berth on the line, Frank Martin called a timeout, and drew up a play to get the ball into his senior leader’s hands. Fernades caught the ball near the other free throw line and was doubled-teamed with a Murray State defender in front, and behind him. Fernades put his head down and dribbled up the ball near the sideline up the court Fernandes found himself near the UMass bench and realized there was not much time left. Fernandes put up a one-legged fadeaway three-point shot falling away into the UMass bench and drilled it with 0.7 seconds left in the game.
UMass would go onto beat Charlotte 2 days later and win the MBI. Noah Fernandes was named tournament MVP averaging 15 points, over 3 assists, and commanding this strong UMass defense. The minutemen’s defense was their strong point throughout the tournament holding their opponents to 62 points per game. While the offense struggled at times, individual offensive performances helped lift the Minutemen. RJ Luis, a freshman from Miami, Florida, had 18 points in 18 minutes off the bench in their Quarterfinal win over Colorado. Matt Cross added 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a dramatic win over Murray State.
The Minutemen are now 4-1 and have a 9-day break until traveling down to the University of South Florida for their first true road game this season. UMass had also reached Andy Katz’s “Power 35” at number 35, and the hype around UMass basketball is real.
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