Second-half surge lifts Hawks over UMass

WHEN IT GETS to late January and you have been practicing for 100 days and playing for 70, the basketball sometimes will look less than pretty, the end too far away to consider, the grind starting to wear even on teams that have been winning all season.

That was Saint Joseph's on Wednesday night at Hagan Arena against a Massachusetts team that had not won since its last trip to Philadelphia on Jan. 3 against La Salle. It was one of those games a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations simply has to win, no matter which way it went down.

It went down ugly for quite a long time, but the second-half Hawks mostly looked like the team that had been somewhere between solid and very good all season. SJU broke the game open coming out of the locker room, scoring 17 of the half's first 22 points and barely looked back, winning, 78-70.

On paper, this game figured to take 75 points to win as the Hawks were averaging 75.3 and UMass 77.1. It did not start out that way.

SJU (17-3, 6-1 Atlantic 10) could not make a basket for the longest time, missing 12 of its first 15 shots and nine of its first 10 threes. The Hawks stayed ahead because UMass (8-11, 1-6) was equal in shots and turnovers, never a winning stat.

Then, SJU fell behind because UMass, a 29.1 percent three-point shooting team in A-10 games, got on a three roll and got scoring from each of the nine players it used in the first half. UMass led, 30-29, at the break.

The Hawks got 49 points in the second half because they did what they have done all season - don't foul and get to the foul line. SJU attempted 40 free throws for the game to only 17 for UMass. The Hawks have now made 117 more free throws than their opponents, and that adds up over time.

"It's huge, because our shooting numbers wouldn't jump off the page at you," SJU coach Phil Martelli said. "So, it's not our shooting, but our scoring jumps off the page. We get some layups . . . The other thing that happens is the guys that foul on the other teams (impacts them) . . . Sounds funny, but the right guys are fouling for the other team."

UMass was taking fouls late, but three of its key players fouled out and two others finished with four.

The coach was not thrilled with the first-half offense.

"We were playing sideways, 12 of our 32 shots were threes," he said. "That's not a good formula for us."

In the second half, the Hawks were 3-for-5 from the arc.

"I'll take the shot discretion in the second half," Martelli said.

Zeke Miles (27 points, 12 rebounds) and DeAndre' Bemby (13 points, nine rebounds) put up numbers for the Hawks as they have all season. Each played all 40 minutes.

"Coach made it short and sweet (at halftime), (said) we were basically the better team, and better teams close the game out," said Miles, who shot 8-for-14 and had his seventh double-double.

St. Joe's has won 13 of 14. Martelli thinks it should be 14 of 14. The Hawks lost a big lead at home against VCU, missing way too many free throws.

"We gave a home game away," Martelli said.

Ever so slowly, the Hawks are moving up the hoops charts, a growing blip on the radar, at least.

"Some national attention would be good," Miles said when asked about it. "I think we definitely earned it."

Keep winning, Miles said, and the attention will follow.

Now, with 20 games down and 11 to go in the regular season, SJU is very much in NCAA position. They have five true road wins, but what they don't have are any signature wins. Still, if they win the games they will be favored to win and get a few more road wins, specifically at George Washington or Davidson next month, the Hawks will find their way into the field of 68.

On Twitter: @DickJerardi