NCAA Basketball: Takeaways from UMass Myrtle Beach Invitational title
Charlotte 49ers (2nd Place): Defense and depth make the 49ers interesting in CUSA
After a couple of years of underachieving and losing its best player (Jahmir Young) to the transfer portal, the expectations for the 49ers were low coming into the Myrtle Invitational. Yet they were minutes away from winning the entire event, being competitive with the Minutemen.
This is the best they’ve looked defensively in the Ron Sanchez era and while they don’t have an elite scorer like Young was for them, the team does have seven players averaging between 6-11 ppg. They’ll have to grind it out the rest of the season to continue winning but it’s clear that they won’t be a bottom-feeder in Conference USA.
UMass Minutemen (1st Place): Coach Frank Martin’s rebuild has gone quickly
Once all the underdogs advanced on Day 1, it was clear that the Minutemen had a great chance at succeeding in this event. In the end, they played three close games and could’ve easily lost all three of them but the poise of the veterans, both the returners and experienced transfers, was what they needed.
I would say that there was a clear star of the team but that’s not how UMass is built this season. They’re currently playing 11-12 players each game, with no one playing more than 28 mpg. It’s hurt the stats of leading scorer Noah Fernandes compared to a year ago but he’s still been effective, just like the rest of the large rotation.
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Coach Martin is using the capable depth of the Minutemen to outlast opponents and it worked this weekend. Maybe the rotation will shorten by the time Atlantic 10 play starts but what they have right now is working. And if that continues, they’ll be fighting for a top-tier spot in the conference in a couple of months.