Explorers miss, UMass makes

YOU PREPARE for enough games, you have some expectation as to what might happen based on what has happened. And then Massachusetts-La Salle happened last night at Gola Arena.

La Salle senior Jerrell Wright, the second-most accurate shooter (56.8 percent) in school history behind Craig Conlin, shot 1-for-12. UMass, a 28 percent three-point shooting team on the season, made six of its first 10 threes.

La Salle, which had played solid defense all season, allowed George Mason to shoot 57.5 percent in a loss Saturday and UMass to shoot 51.9 percent. The Minutemen had not won a road game in four tries.

UMass led by a single point with 5 minutes left. Even with the strange numbers, everything was still on the table for La Salle. But the Minutemen won those last 5 minutes and, with it, the game, 71-65.

"We lost to a very good team, very talented, tough," La Salle coach John Giannini said. "They came out with a lot of energy. We have great kids. We're close to being a good team, but we're clearly not."

The coach pointed to a lot of little things that, when added together, become a big thing.

"It's disappointing," he said. "It's not a lack of attitude by our kids. They're battling. I have to keep myself positive and keep them positive as well because there's so much left."

Redshirt freshman point guard Amar Stukes made his first start for La Salle and was terrific with 13 points. He missed just one shot and made way more defensive plays than showed up on the stat sheet.

When he found out he would be starting, Stukes said: "I was excited. It's just another step."

Giannini pointed to metrics as the reason for starting Stukes.

"We looked at our best lineup in terms of plus-minus, and that lineup was our best plus-minus combination," he said. "What's interesting is that our second-best was four guards with Khalid [Lewis, who had started all 14 games at the point before coming off the bench last night]."

Steve Zack had 16 points and four blocks for the Explorers (8-7, 0-2 Atlantic 10). Even though his team shot just 39.1 percent, Zack pointed to defense as the issue.

"We're letting people shoot in the 50s," he said. "Start of the season when we were 4-0, people were shooting in the 30s against us."

Neither Zack nor his coach could quite imagine Wright's shooting line.

"That's once in a blue moon you see [Wright] go 1-for-12," Zack said. "It's not really a concern for us because we are still going to pound the ball in to him every time. He'll be back. We're not worried about that."

Wright scored just five points, but he did have 13 rebounds (eight offensive, many on his own misses), five assists, two blocks, a steal and a cramp in his left leg in the final minutes.

"I love him and he's a great player," Giannini said. "I'm so lucky to coach him. He's a phenomenal human being . . . But like every team, you need your best players to produce. It's hard when they struggle, but it's no lack of attitude."

La Salle's other two guards in its three-guard lineup, Cleon Roberts and Jordan Price, combined to score 29 points. Price (5-for-14, 12 points) had his second consecutive rough shooting night after going off for 103 points in the previous four games.

La Salle could do nothing with UMass big man Maxie Esho. He had 19 points (8-for-10 shooting) and 12 rebounds. Derrick Gordon had 13 and primary defensive responsibility on Price. UMass' bench outscored La Salle's, 18-2.

La Salle outscored UMass (8-7, 1-1) by 14 points in the lane, took 12 more shots from the field and four more from the foul line against an opponent that had made two more free throws than its opponents had attempted. It still was not enough.

"The reason we think we can play and beat the best teams in this league is we think we have three of the best players in the league in Jerrell, Steve and Jordan," Giannini said. "I think a lot of people would agree they have that kind of potential."

Saturday's home game against George Washington will mark the midway point of La Salle's 31-game regular season. Where exactly is this team?

"We're certainly disappointed, but I don't think we're far away," Giannini said. "We're in very close games. This league is so mental, about not making mistakes, and a few plays here and there . . . I've never invested more into a team and I've never had a bunch of guys put more into it over the long haul. And it just hasn't translated to those competitive situations. We haven't been tough enough or smart enough at crunch time. That's frustrating because I know the time and effort we put in since the end of last season."

So, the first 15 games were unsatisfying. The next 16 games should determine if there is satisfaction in the end.