College kids usually love to travel, but for the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team, the road hasn't been much fun.
Tonight in Philadelphia, against Saint Joseph's, the Minutemen will try to make their intersession road trip a lot more enjoyable.
"It will be interesting," coach Steve Lappas said as UMass (7-5, 1-1 Atlantic 10) plays its first game away from home in exactly one month, and only its third this season. "Going down to Saint Joe's is always tough.
"They beat a much-improved Fordham team on the road," Lappas said. "Dwayne Jones is one of the leading rebounders in the country, and Pat Carroll and Chet Stachitis are two of the better perimeter shooters there are."
The Hawks (5-6, 2-0) are not nearly what they were last year, when they captured the nation's imagination, finished 30-2 and reached the Elite Eight on the wings of sensational guards Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.
Both backcourt stars are gone, and the Hawks count on defense more than ever, so this game has the makings of a low-scoring affair.
UMass is hardly a scoring machine, either. Even Saturday's triple-overtime, 90-86 win over Xavier, which saw UMass shoot 54.5 percent in regulation, was a modest 60-60 after 40 minutes.
The 6-foot-11 Jones is averaging 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots for Saint Joseph's. Carroll and Stachitis are a combined 50 for 125 on 3-point shots.
Tonight opens a difficult two-game road trip that concludes Saturday at No. 21-ranked George Washington (10-2, 2-0), which has been the class of the Atlantic 10 so far.
A 1-1 road trip, which would produce a 2-2 start to A-10 play, would seem most acceptable at this point. But it won't be easy, for on the road, there's no kind way to put it: the Minutemen have been awful lately.
They were 2-11 away from home last season, and 0-2 this year. The average margin of defeat in those 13 losses was 15.8 points, and six were by more than 20. In Lappas' 3? seasons, they're 8-31 on the road.
UMass has just finished a six-game homestand, the school's longest in 74 years. Ten of its 12 games have been at home.
There's no way to know how the Minutemen respond tonight, since this season's only road results are a respectable 68-57 defeat to Gonzaga, and an 80-53 blowout at Miami Dec. 12.
The Miami loss came on the heels of a memorable upset win over Connecticut. This follows a similarly thrilling victory, and the Minutemen are more banged up than they were a month ago.
Forward Jeff Viggiano is out with an ankle injury. Another forward, Stephane Lasme, suffered an ankle sprain Saturday and may not be 100 percent, but is expected to play.
The emergence of freshman Jeff "Big Deli" Salovski, though, provides no small measure of comfort. Salovski had nine rebounds in last week's loss to Temple, and followed that up with 21 points and nine boards against Xavier.
He played 10 of his career-high 27 minutes in the overtimes, and dominated the third OT. When Salovski wasn't chosen as the A-10 rookie of the week, Lappas couldn't believe it.
"I don't know what they're looking for," Lappas said. "There must be some really good freshmen, playing out there, if he didn't make it.
The accolade went to Fordham guard Marcus Stout, who averaged 17.5 points in two games.
Tonight in Philadelphia, against Saint Joseph's, the Minutemen will try to make their intersession road trip a lot more enjoyable.
"It will be interesting," coach Steve Lappas said as UMass (7-5, 1-1 Atlantic 10) plays its first game away from home in exactly one month, and only its third this season. "Going down to Saint Joe's is always tough.
"They beat a much-improved Fordham team on the road," Lappas said. "Dwayne Jones is one of the leading rebounders in the country, and Pat Carroll and Chet Stachitis are two of the better perimeter shooters there are."
The Hawks (5-6, 2-0) are not nearly what they were last year, when they captured the nation's imagination, finished 30-2 and reached the Elite Eight on the wings of sensational guards Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.
Both backcourt stars are gone, and the Hawks count on defense more than ever, so this game has the makings of a low-scoring affair.
UMass is hardly a scoring machine, either. Even Saturday's triple-overtime, 90-86 win over Xavier, which saw UMass shoot 54.5 percent in regulation, was a modest 60-60 after 40 minutes.
The 6-foot-11 Jones is averaging 10.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots for Saint Joseph's. Carroll and Stachitis are a combined 50 for 125 on 3-point shots.
Tonight opens a difficult two-game road trip that concludes Saturday at No. 21-ranked George Washington (10-2, 2-0), which has been the class of the Atlantic 10 so far.
A 1-1 road trip, which would produce a 2-2 start to A-10 play, would seem most acceptable at this point. But it won't be easy, for on the road, there's no kind way to put it: the Minutemen have been awful lately.
They were 2-11 away from home last season, and 0-2 this year. The average margin of defeat in those 13 losses was 15.8 points, and six were by more than 20. In Lappas' 3? seasons, they're 8-31 on the road.
UMass has just finished a six-game homestand, the school's longest in 74 years. Ten of its 12 games have been at home.
There's no way to know how the Minutemen respond tonight, since this season's only road results are a respectable 68-57 defeat to Gonzaga, and an 80-53 blowout at Miami Dec. 12.
The Miami loss came on the heels of a memorable upset win over Connecticut. This follows a similarly thrilling victory, and the Minutemen are more banged up than they were a month ago.
Forward Jeff Viggiano is out with an ankle injury. Another forward, Stephane Lasme, suffered an ankle sprain Saturday and may not be 100 percent, but is expected to play.
The emergence of freshman Jeff "Big Deli" Salovski, though, provides no small measure of comfort. Salovski had nine rebounds in last week's loss to Temple, and followed that up with 21 points and nine boards against Xavier.
He played 10 of his career-high 27 minutes in the overtimes, and dominated the third OT. When Salovski wasn't chosen as the A-10 rookie of the week, Lappas couldn't believe it.
"I don't know what they're looking for," Lappas said. "There must be some really good freshmen, playing out there, if he didn't make it.
The accolade went to Fordham guard Marcus Stout, who averaged 17.5 points in two games.
