When Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg signed on with the team in 2008, he inherited a shell of the team that went 25-11 the previous season and bested Syracuse and Florida on its way to the National Invitational Tournament final.
The Minutemen went 12-18 in his first season, held steady in his second and improved by only three in his third. A new, faster offense was instituted in season No. 4, which resulted in a vast improvement. UMass won 25 games under the revamped system, including two in the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the first time since 2001.
Ohio, which boarded a flight bound for Amherst, Mass. Tuesday, will look to bounce back from its one-point loss to Winthrop over the weekend when it takes the court against the Minutemen (5-3) Wednesday.
The Bobcats (7-3) have their work cut out for them, as the Minutemen return four of their five starters from last season — three of which average more than 13 points per game.
Junior Chaz Williams, UMass’ go-to guard, fits Kellogg’s uptempo system to a T, as he is listed as only 5-foot-9 and describes his game as being modeled after Chicago Bulls guard Nate Robinson, who is of similar stature.
Williams averages 16 points and dishes seven assists per contest.
Backcourt mate Jesse Morgan, a junior, and senior forward Terrell Vinson are the main benefactors of Williams’ distribution, as they each average more than 13 points per game.
Ohio and UMass' offenses are designed similarly, as they both turn to sound rebounding to spark movement down the court.
The Minutemen average 39 rebounds per game, and five players routinely pull down five or more in an outing.
Only Ohio senior forward Ivo Baltic fits that bill, as the Bobcats have struggled on the glass this season, trailing their opponents by almost two rebounds per game, on average.
Baltic became the Bobcats’ first player to grab more than 10 rebounds in a game this season when he got his hands on 11 against Winthrop. No other Ohio player had more than four.
“If we had some guys step up and rebound the ball, they’d understand that they’d get a lot more minutes,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said last week.
Despite the offensive production from their top three, the Minutemen shoot only 35 percent from the field and have yet to pull together a signature win — falling to North Carolina State and Tennessee by a combined 32 points in back-to-back games in mid-November. It also lost to Miami by 13 points on Dec. 1.
Ohio junior guard Nick Kellogg made it clear after Saturday’s loss that the Bobcats weren’t hitting the panic button, but there is a sense of urgency to put a better foot forward Wednesday against the Minutemen.
“It’s 10 games into the season,” he said after the game. “If people want to count us out, that’s fine. We know that we’re a talented group and can turn this around.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
