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Atlantic 10 Basketball: Richmond, Saint Louis on top in opening weeks

By Benjamin Zacher

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: The Atlantic-10 logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the George Washington Colonials andthe Dayton Flyers at the Smith Center on January 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: The Atlantic-10 logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the George Washington Colonials andthe Dayton Flyers at the Smith Center on January 9, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Atlantic 10 Basketball
Atlantic 10 Basketball Massachusetts Minutemen Tre Mitchell David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /

13. UMass Minutemen

  • 2020-21 record: 0-0; N/A until Dec. 9

The Minutemen are in a similar boat, where a positive COVID-19 test sidelined the team’s plans to go to Bubbleville at Mohegan Sun to start the season.  Now, the team will be forced to begin their season on Dec. 9 – in their A-10 opener against La Salle.

When the Minutemen are able to return to play, Matt McCall’s crew should be in a position to compete – again – as a middle-of-the-pack A-10 team.  They finished eighth last season with a 14-17 overall record and 8-10 conference mark, and have been picked to replicate that placement in the preseason A-10 poll.

Luckily, for UMass, they return one of the best players in the conference in center Tre Mitchell.  The reigning A-10 Rookie of the Year enters this season having been named to the Preseason All-Conference First Team after averaging 17.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists for the Minutemen in his freshman campaign.

UMass picked up some solid victories last year, including out of conference over Northeastern and Rider, as well as in A-10 play – including Duquesne, Saint Louis, and VCU.  They will need to replace some notable production from last year’s team, however, as they return 53.9% of the minutes played and 63.9% of the scoring from the 2019-20 roster.

They will have to improve on some of their average team statistics, as well – they ranked 255th in scoring offense and 228th in scoring defense last season.  With some new faces on the team, there is a good opportunity for McCall and his crew to fix those issues.

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