AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts was in so deep a rut that it had to work overtime to dig itself out.
The Minutemen, who skidded onto the home hardwood mired in the worst run of the Derek Kellogg era, overcame an early double-digit deficit and built one of their own, then found themselves dragged into overtime before pulling away from an undermanned University of Rhode Island, 61-56, to end a seven-game losing streak before a small but vocal crowd of 2,423 at the Mullins Center.
“It feels good to get a win,’’ said Kellogg. “We’d put ourselves in decent position in recent weeks and hadn’t capitalized.’’
UMass (9-12, 2-7 Atlantic 10) almost didn’t capitalize on this night. After expanding a 6-point halftime lead to 10 with just under 16 minutes to go, the home team saw the advantage quickly shrink to just 2 with 11:28 left in the game. But Jabarie Hinds scored the next 7 points (he had just 9 for the game) and the Minutemen were back up by 9 with 8:09 left. It was looking good for them.
Not so fast. URI (12-10, 4-5) scored 5 points in a row, and the game remained close from then on. The visitors pulled within 2 on a pair of free throws by Four McGlynn with 1:20 left, and after Trey Davis missed a couple of off-balance 3-pointers for UMass, McGlynn hit one for the Rams with 10 seconds to go to give them the lead.
Davis had a chance to redeem himself when he was sent to the line with three seconds left, and he did so in part. He hit one of two free throws to send the game into overtime.
From there, UMass quickly pulled away. Davis had a pair of baskets and C.J. Anderson had one to make it a 6-point game with 1:38 left. Anderson hit four straight free throws as the Minutemen expanded their bulge to 8 before some final, futile points by URI.
“Disappointed in the loss,’’ said Rams coach Dan Hurley, “but certainly proud of what we did with the group we had today.’’
That group was missing a pair of starters. Point guard Jarvis Garrett and forward Kuran Iverson both sat out after being injured in Saturday’s game against Saint Joseph’s. A team that has been without its leader, injured E.C. Matthews, since the season opener was severely undermanned, playing just seven men.
The early action had the look of a matchup of overwhelmed vs. undermanned. Walking violations on the way to sure baskets. Crosscourt bullet passes landing in the second row of courtside seats. Baseline drives taken too literally — with the ballhandler stepping on the line. Alley-oop misconnections because of not enough oop.
There was everything but baskets. The game was nearly nine minutes old and UMass had one field goal, URI two. The Rams were lighting up the scoreboard from the free-throw line, though, and when Hassan Martin scored underneath with 11:17 to go before halftime the visitors had a 14-4 lead.
UMass then showed some life, with defensive pressure generating a few turnovers and getting the Rams out of rhythm. URI looked ugly on offense and even at the line, coming up empty on three 1-and-1 opportunities. A 13-2 spurt by UMass put the home team in the lead with 5:45 to go in the half.
Davis led UMass with 20 points and Donte Clark had 17. Jared Terrell scored 23 to lead URI, which lost for the third time in its last four games.
