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UMASS (4-4) at SETON HALL (6-0)
Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 • 7 p.m.
Prudential Center (18,500) • Newark, N.J.
Live Audio: UMassAthletics.com
Radio: WRNX (100.9 FM - Flagship)
WBIX (1060 AM), WCRN (830 AM)

UMass Gets Another Big Test at Seton Hall On Monday
• UMass will seek to extend its winning streak to three games on Monday as the Minutemen travel to New Jersey to take on Seton Hall at the Prudential Center. The Minutemen played their best game of the season on Saturday, knocking off in-state foe Holy Cross, 84-63, in Worcester. That win evened UMass at 4-4 overall. The team will look to break a pattern of consecutive losses followed by consecutive wins through eight games. Seton Hall is a perfect 6-0, including winning each of its last three games by at least 29 points. The Pirates ripped Hartford, 89-56 last Thursday.

• UMass played its best all-around game of the season in knocking off Holy Cross on Saturday. Senior Ricky Harris had his second game in a row with exactly 19 points, six assists and three rebounds. Anthony Gurley added 18 points and five rebounds while Freddie Riley netted 12 points. The Minutemen shot 50 percent from the field, 46 percent from 3-point range and 83 percent from the foul line as well as outrebounding the Crusaders, 41-32. UMass also received contributions from Hashim "Big City" Bailey, who had career-highs with eight rebounds and three blocks along with his first field goals of the season. David Gibbs played his best all-around game according to coach Derek Kellogg with seven points, five rebounds and four assists. Gary Correia also added six points and three helpers.

• The UMass Sports Network with Josh Maurer and Tim Kenney will cover the game on WRNX 100.9 FM in Western Mass as well as WCRN 830 AM in Central Mass and 1060 AM in Boston. The pregame begin 30 minutes prior to tip-off. Harris Named A-10 Player of Week

• Senior guard Ricky Harris was named the A-10 Co-Player of the Week on Sunday after he led UMass to a 2-0 week. The Minuteman shared the award with George Washington's Damian Hollis. Harris had exactly 19 points, six assists and three rebounds in each UMass win last week (vs. Quinnipiac and at Holy Cross. The Baltimore native shot a blistering 68 percent from the floor (13-of-19) and made a stellar 7-of-13 3-point field goals.

Harris & Gurley Leading The Way
• UMass is the only team in the Atlantic 10 with two scorers in the league's Top 10. Senior Ricky Harris stands third with an 18.0 average and junior Anthony Gurley is fourth with a 17.8 mark.

• Harris continues to move up the UMass career scoring charts with his 18.0 average this season. He is now 10th with 1,491 points and closing in on No. 9 Mike Pyatt (1,503). He has scored in double-figures in 19 games in a row, in 72 of his 106 career games and in 69 of his last 74 games dating to his sophomore season. Harris passed the two legends of UMass basketball on the career scoring list this season. Harris moved by Julius Erving (1,370) and Marcus Camby (1,387) in the game against Cornell. He has 19 in points in each of the last two games -- both wins vs. Quinnipiac (12/2) and at Holy Cross (12/5).

• Gurley has also scored in double-figures in every game this season, with the first five off the bench and the last three as a starter. He is second on UMass in scoring with a 17.8 points per game average. He is also the top shooter with a 53 percent mark from the floor. He has at least 13 points in every game this season. He had 18 points at Holy Cross (12/5) and 15 points in the win over Quinnipiac (12/2). Against No. 2 Michigan State (11/28), he tied his career-high with 24 points. That came on the heels of 19 vs. Rutgers (11/27). He had 21 points vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith (11/21).

• Right behind the two veterans on the scoring list are freshmen Freddie Riley (9.9) and Terrell Vinson (7.6). Riley has four games in double-figures including 12 at Holy Cross (12/5) last Saturday. Vinson had three in a row from Nov. 18-24.

UMass-Seton Hall Series
• Monday's game is the start of a home-and-home between UMass and Seton Hall. The teams will play next winter at the Mullins Center in Amherst.

• UMass and Seton Hall have played twice before with the maroon and white winning both times. The Minutemen won the last meeting, 73-60 on Nov. 29, 1997 in the Great Alaska Shootout Third Place Game. Lari Ketner led UMass with 21 points.

• Back in 1977, the team met for the first time in the NIT Quarterfinals as the Minutemen defeated the Pirates, 86-85 at the Springfield (Mass.) Civic Center. Mark Donaghue led UMass with 26 points and nine rebounds. It was UMass' second-ever postseason win. The first was the 1973 NIT Quarterfinals vs. Missouri.

Big City Returns Home
• With UMass playing in Newark at the Prudential Center, junior bigman Hashim Bailey will be playing just minutes from his hometown of Paterson, N.J., where he attended Passaic County Tech. He averaged 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks as a senior and was named All-Area first team and All-New Jersey third team. "Big City" as he is known by his teammates had his best all-around game in the Minutemen's most recent game at Holy Cross. He had career-highs with eight rebounds and three blocks along with his first two baskets of the season.

Memphis Connections
• Both UMass and Seton Hall have connections to the Memphis. Minuteman head coach Derek Kellogg spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis under John Calipari. Two members of Kellogg's staff Andy Allison and Shyrone Chatman were on the staff with the Tigers. Freshman forward Sampson Carter played high school basketball in Memphis at Ridgeway and was named the Memphis City Player of the Year as a senior in 2008. Hashim Bailey also began his career with the Memphis Tigers before transferring to UMass in 2008.

• Seton Hall's staff features Scott Adubato, who served as an assistant coach and scout with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies where he became close to Kellogg. SHU also has a transfer from Memphis is Jeff Robinson, who will debut for the Pirates on Dec. 19 after sitting out due to transfer rules. Freshman forward Ferrakohn Hall is from Memphis and played against Sampson Carter while at White Station H.S.

Garden State Troubles
• UMass has lost its last five games in the state of New Jersey. The Minutemen will be seeking their first win in the Garden State since 2004 when they won in Trenton, N.J., at the Soverign Bank Arena against Rider, 74-61.

• All five losses have been in Atlantic City at Boardwalk Hall. This season, UMass lost a pair of games at the Legends Classic to Rutgers and Michigan State in A.C. In each of the last three seasons, UMass has lost an Atlantic 10 Tournament game, all played in Atlantic City.

Shooting Tells The Story
• With UMass' record squared at 4-4, the difference has been shooting percentage both on offense and defense. Derek Kellogg has been preaching to his Minutemen to use better shot selection. When they have this season, they have won. When the Minutemen have shot poorly and played poor defense they have lost.

• In UMass' four wins, the Minutemen are shooting 49.8 from the floor overall and 40.7 from 3-point range. In the four losses UMass is a dreadful 36.6 on all field goals and 30.2 from beyond the arc.

• On defense, in the four victories, UMass is holding foes to 39.7 overall and 31.6 from 3-point land. In the four defeats, opponents are shooting 53.0 percent overall and an amazing 53.6 from trifecta land.

• It has translated to a scoring margin of 80.8 to 63.5 in the wins and a deficit of 86.8 to 67.8 in the losses.

Harris Shoots Up 1,000-Point List
• 2009-10 Atlantic 10 Preseason First-Team guard Ricky Harris is rising up the all-time UMass scoring list. Harris, who played his 100th college game against Cornell, currently stands 10th with 1,491. He passed Horace Neysmith with his 22 points vs. Rutgers (11/27) in the Legends Classic. Next on the list are No. 9 Mike Pyatt (1,503) and No. 8 Harper Williams (1,534).

• In the Cornell (11/18) game he passed three players on the all-time list including the two greatest stars in UMass history in Julius Erving (1,370) and Marcus Camby (1,387). He also went by Clarence Hill (1,369).

• Against UAFS, he went by Edwin Green (1,393) with 18 points.

• He is the 40th player to score 1,000 points in his career.

• Harris has scored in double-figures in 72 of his 106 career games including 69 of the last 74 dating to his sophomore year.

• With a similar season to his previous two, where he averaged 18.2 points per game, Harris would finish with right around 2,000 points. That would place him third behind Jim McCoy (2,374) and Monty Mack (2,183). Among the players he could pass are No. 6 Tony Barbee (1,643), No. 4 Rashaun Freeman (1,744) and No. 3 Lou Roe (1,905).

• Harris has continued to be prolific scorer in his career at UMass. In 2009, he was named a Third-Team All-Conference selection. In 2008, he was named the A-10 Chris Daniels Most Improved player.

• Harris is leading returning scorer in the Atlantic 10 with a 18.2 scoring average and led the team in scoring in 18 of 30 games in 2008-09. He scored 20 or more in 10 games. Harris was fourth in the Atlantic 10. He dropped a season and career-high 35 points on BC (12/6/08). The 35 points were good for the 13th most in school history and only six behind the school record of 41 held by Billy Tindall on Feb. 10, 1968 vs. Vermont. It was also Harris' second ever 30+ point scoring effort.

Harris Rises on 3-Point Charts
• Ricky Harris has continued to blister from 3-point range in 2008-09. He shot 38.7 from beyond the new extended-distance arc last season. He made 87-of-225 from 3-point range in 2008-09.

• Harris, who is tied Carmelo Travieso for the single-season mark for made treys with 104 (in 2007-08), is rising on the career charts. Harris stands fourth in career made 3-pointers with 231 and fourth in career attempts with 628. Among the players he passed last season was his current head coach Derek Kellogg (138). Next on both lists is Carmelo Travieso (245 of 666).

• On the attempts list, Harris is fourth, passing Kellogg (362) early in 2008-09.

• Harris' 87 made 3-pointers last season finished tied with James Life for sixth-most in a single-season.

• On the single-season list of most 3-pointers attempted, Harris' 225 stands seventh-most in a season.

UMass Quick Hits For 2009-10
• Ricky Harris leads UMass into action as the lone scholarship senior on the team in 2000-10. The Baltimore native is the Atlantic 10's leading returning scorer in 2009-10 with an 18.2 average. He was named to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10 team by the coach and media. He has been named to the same team by most publications and has been dubbed the A-10's "Most Entertaining Player" by one annual.

• UMass has one of the youngest teams in the country as UMass features the top recruiting class in the Atlantic 10 with five freshmen. The Minutemen are also welcoming two transfers who will be eligible this season in Sean Carter from Oregon State and Hashim "Big City" Bailey from Memphis. Sophomore Trey Lang also returns to the team after not playing in 2008-09, giving UMass eight newcomers for this season's roster

• UMass returns just 36.1 average points. In looking at it by percentages, UMass returns 49.1 percent of its scoring with Harris leading the way. UMass lost nearly all of its rebounding with the graduation of 2009 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year Tony Gaffney, the final cut of the NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers. UMass has just 24.3 percent of its rebounding returning as Gaffney grabbed 10.2 per game.

Visiting The Commonwealth
• When Derek Kellogg was hired, he made a priority of playing games throughout all of Massachusetts. This season, the Minutemen will be playing games in all areas with games in five different locations in the commonwealth. In addition to home games in Amherst at the Mullins Center, UMass will play "home" games in Springfield (at the MassMutual Center) on Jan. 10 against La Salle; Boston *at the TD Garden) against Memphis on Dec. 19. UMass will also take on Holy Cross in the DCU Center in Worcester on Dec. 5 and play at Boston College in Chestnut Hill on Dec. 23.

• UMass will be playing at Garden for the first time since 1999, when the Minutemen took on Boston College in the Commonwealth Classic. It is the second year in a row that UMass is playing a game in Springfield.

UMass Alum Leading UMass
• Derek Kellogg, in his second season, is the first UMass alum to serve as the head coach of his alma mater since Tom McLaughlin, who coached the Minutemen from 1981-83. Kellogg graduated from UMass in 1995 where he was an All-Atlantic 10 selection in 1995. McLaughlin graduated from UMass in 1973 where he was one of three future head coaches on the team. He was joined by current Boston College head coach Al Skinner and Louisville coach Rick Pitino. Kellogg is not the only current head coach from the UMass rosters in the mid-90s as Tony Barbee is in his fourth year as the head coach at Texas-El Paso.

• Prior to McLaughlin, the last UMass alum to lead his alma mater was Lorin Ball (Class of 1921), who coached the team from 1945-52.

Harris, Riley, Vinson Earn Preseason Honors
• The Atlantic 10 Conference released its preseason All-Conference teams on Oct. 22, with UMass senior Ricky Harris highlighting the Alll-Conference First Team. Two of head coach Derek Kellogg's freshman class of five, Freddie Riley and Terrell Vinson, were both named to the preseason All-Rookie Team. The A-10's preseason poll was also released with the Minutemen coming in ninth.

• In the first preseason men's basketball magazine, Lindy's, UMass men's basketball is being praised for the A-10's top recruiting class. Senior guard Ricky Harris is also gaining honors as he was named to the A-10's First Team and the league's "Most Entertaining" player.

• Lindy's picks UMass to finish fifth in the A-10 behind Dayton, Xavier, Richmond and La Salle. The magazine mentions: "Ricky Harris is an absolute scoring machine and coach Derek Kellogg has a killer group of newcomers." It finishes with UMass "Will get better as the season progresses and will be a team nobody wants to draw in the A-10 Tourney."

• Lindy's calls UMass' incoming class the "Best group of recruits" in the league. "Massachusetts coach Derek Kellogg made a name for himself as a recruiter under John Calipari at Memphis, and he proved that he could do it on his own at his alma mater in Amherst. He scored a key early pledge from Freddie Riley, and in the late signing period nabbed a big-time combo forward in Terrell Vinson. Aside from those two, Kellogg got pledges from a pair of small forwards in Sampson Carter and Javorn Farrell, as well as a super athletic power forward Raphiael Putney."

• In the UMass team profile, Lindy's cites Anthony Gurley under "Keep An Eye On." The mag says: "Gurley will display his all-around talents in the backcourt, largely because he has to as the Minutemen do not have a true point guard with experience."

Bud Light Radio Show Hits Road In 2009-10
• The Bud Light UMass Basketball Radio Show With Derek Kellogg is coming to a town near you in Western Massachusetts this season. It started with the Nov. 11 show at Arizona Pizza Company in Hadley, the weekly radio show will be visiting more than a dozen locations during the 2009-10 campaign.

• The show continues to air on WRNX 100.9 in Western Massachusetts and on UMassAthletics.com at 7 p.m. "Voice of the Minutemen" Josh Maurer will host the show for the second year in a row.

• The show returns to its normal Thursday night time slot with the second show on Dec. 3 at Theodore's in Springfield. The Dec. 10 show airs live from Charlie's in Amherst and the following week on Dec. 17, the show moves to Paddy's in Springfield. After a short break for the winter holidays, the show resumes from Stackers in Amherst on Jan. 7.

• Other locations scheduled to host shows include: Whip City in Westfield, Samuels in Springfield, Rafters in Amherst, Rumbleseat in Chicopee, The Harp in North Amherst, 350 Grill in Springfield, McCaffreys in Springfield and The Hangar in Amherst.in 2002.