Amherst, MA – Closing out the first month of the 2016-17 season, the Wagner men's basketball team will make its second trip to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as it travels to Amherst, MA to take on Atlantic 10 members, the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen at Mullins Center.
The Seahawks are looking to bounce back after suffering a 70-67 home defeat last Saturday against Rider, while the Minutemen enter play on a three-game winning streak after picking up a 70-66 home victory over Harvard last Saturday.
Wednesday's contest is the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Wagner is 10-30 against the current members of the Atlantic 10 conference, with their last meeting against an A-10 school coming a season ago, falling at George Mason (12/22/15), in Fairfax, VA, 71-60. The last Northeast Conference (NEC) opponent that UMass faced also came last season, defeating LIU Brooklyn at home, 83-79.
Series History: Wednesday's contest is the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
All-Time Against The Atlantic 10: Wagner is 10-30 against the current members of the Atlantic 10 conference, with their last meeting against an A-10 school coming a season ago, falling at George Mason (12/22/15), in Fairfax, VA, 71-60.
Scouting The Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen: Predicted to finish tenth in the 2016-17 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Poll, the Minutemen are 4-1 after picking up a 70-66 victory at Mullins Center last Saturday against Harvard. UMass has now won three games in a row since falling to Ole Miss back on Nov. 14 (90-88).
Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Third Team selection Donte Clark is one of five players averaging double-figures. Clark leads the team netting 17.6 ppg. DeJon Jarreau is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.0 ppg followed by Zach Lewis (11.8 ppg), Luwane Pipkins (11.4 ppg) and Rashaan Holloway (10.4 ppg). Clark and Holloway are both averaging 6.4 caroms a contest while Jarreau is averaging 6.0 assists per game.
As a whole, UMass is scoring 77.2 points per contest while shooting 44.0 percent from the field. On the flip side, the Minutemen are struggling to find their range from the outside, converting just 29.8 percent.
Homecoming For Associate Head Coach Mike Babul: For Associate Head Coach
Mike Babul, Wednesday marks the first time as a Seahawk coach that he returns to his alma mater, UMass. A four-year letterwinner and three-year starter for the Minutemen from 1996-2000, Babul led UMass to a NCAA First Round appearance back in 1998 when the Minutemen squared off against Saint Louis. In his senior season, UMass finished 17-16 with an appearance in the NIT Tournament, facing off against Siena in the First Round. Babul was team captain and named to three Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team and All-Academic squads.
#NECPRIMEPERFORMER: Nearly averaging a double-double with 11.0 ppg and 9.5 rpg in a split for the Seahawks, redshirt senior forward
Mike Aaman (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan [University of Rhode Island]) shot 50.0 percent from the floor and also averaged 2.5 bpg while posting his fifth career double-double with 13 points and 10 boards against Rider on Saturday.
Up Next For Wagner: Wagner opens up the month of December as they welcome its third MAAC member of the year, the Monmouth University Hawks on December 6
th. Tipoff is set for 7:00 pm live on NEC Front Row, the online digital network of Wagner Athletics and the Northeast Conference.
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