 "Photo: Brian Tedder, Collegian")
NEW YORK - In a season that was about exceeding expectations for the Massachusetts men's basketball team, the Minutemen fell just short of winning a championship in 2007-08. Ultimately, the team's season and run through the National Invitation Tournament ended Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. UMass (25-11) fell in the NIT finals, 92-85, to Ohio State (23-13).
"It's been a great year; it's been a fun year," UMass coach Travis Ford said. "I thought it took one of Ohio State's best efforts to beat us. I'm just disappointed that there's no practice tomorrow. It's no coincidence that when you have great kids, success follows."
The Maroon and White found itself with an uncharacteristic five-point lead at halftime and the team outrebounded Ohio State. But it was the team's failure to defend the frontcourt against the Buckeyes and make open shots that led to its final loss.
In fact that rebounding edge (49-37) allowed UMass to disguise its poor shooting performance. Senior forward Gary Forbes struggled through a 6-for-21 night, including seven missed 3-point attempts. Junior point guard Chris Lowe shot an abysmal 1-for-12 despite registering 10 assists.
The scoring ability of sophomore guard Ricky Harris kept UMass within reach during the second half. He led all scorers with 27 points and earned himself a spot on the NIT All-Tournament team along with senior center Dante Milligan and Forbes.
Though both teams made the same number of field goals, it took UMass 30 more attempts to reach that figure. Without the Maroon and White's 30 offensive rebounds, the margin of victory would have been much greater for Ohio State.
"Our plan was to let UMass get every offensive rebound and just guard them the second time," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said in jest after the game.
Yet UMass's success on the glass did not translate into excellent low-post defense. In the first half, Milligan (14 points, nine rebounds) successfully adapted the physical play dictated by the officials, holding Buckeye forward Kosta Koufos to one made field goal.
Koufos erupted for 21 points in the second half, earning 2008 NIT Most Outstanding Player honors. Milligan collected his fourth foul with 12 minutes remaining and sat on the bench for the majority of the period. Koufos then took over the game against an overmatched Luke Bonner and a slightly hobbled Tony Gaffney.
"Dante was playing good basketball and it really could have helped us more having him in there down the stretch," Ford said.
UMass scored the most first-half points (41) of any Ohio State opponent this season. However, the Maroon and White scored nine through the first eight minutes of the second. The scoring drought to begin the second half allowed Ohio State to build a nine-point lead by the 10-minute mark.
The Buckeye's halftime adjustments focused on slowing the game down to minimize needless turnovers and look for the best option on offense. On many possessions, Buckeye players found themselves either left wide-open on the wing or with no Minuteman impeding their path to the basket.
Yet it was the team's ability to penetrate into the frontcourt that opened multiple options for Ohio State.
"In the first half, we were very timid inside," Matta said. "We wanted to get on the attack mode. When you play a team like this that takes a lot of chances, the one thing we felt we had to do was drive to the basket."
Defensively, the Minutemen were determined to dictate the tempo of the game from the beginning. UMass hoped to wear down the Buckeyes with an aggressive full-court press, while quickly moving the ball up-court on offense. The Minutemen made 12 3-pointers, but allowed Ohio State to shoot 53 percent from beyond the arc.
Once the Minutemen tied the game at 68 with 6:19 remaining, they looked to be executing the plan to perfection. However, Koufos scored OSU's next seven points to permanently put the Buckeyes in the lead.
"They withstood a lot of the pressure that we caused on both ends of the court," Ford said. "I thought we gave up too many easy lay-ups that allowed them to rest for a second. We made enough 3s to win the game; we just gave up too many late to allow our style of play to fatigue them."
After another Ohio State run, the Minutemen cut the deficit to five points with 1:44 left. Milligan's reentry into the game was not enough to spark the UMass offense, as the Buckeyes slipped away with the victory.
Michael King can be reached at mking@dailycollegian.com.
Be the first to comment on this article!