Massachusetts Minutemen Will Shine When the Time is Right

The Massachusetts Minutemen are flying under the radar early on in the college basketball season, but the Minutemen will get respect when it counts the most. Massachusetts defeated the Brigham Young Cougars Saturday in a high scoring affair. The Minutemen were led to a 105-96 win by Chaz Williams‘ sensational play. Williams had 32 points and 15 assists in the win, and this game was just a foreshadowing of what might happen in the NCAA tournament.

The Minutemen are led by Chaz Williams and Cady Lalanne, but three other players average at least 11 points a game. Massachusetts is 8-0 and average over 81 points a game, so why is this dark-horse team not getting much attention? The leaders in the Atlantic 10 conference have the playmaking ability and experience to make a deep run in March, and there is not a team playing better than the Minutemen at the moment.

In the tournament, teams must find a way to win multiple ways against various styles, and Massachusetts has proven capable of that early on in the season. The Minutemen have won low scoring dogfights and have also managed to win high scoring contests. Not only does Massachusetts score points in bunches, but the Minutemen also bang on the boards with the best. The Minutemen are eleventh in the country in rebounds per game with 43.4, but does early season success relate to tournament success?

Sure, several teams have fallen off their pedestal, but this team is a legit title contender. The balance in scoring and ability to rebound give the Minutemen two of the necessary keys for tournament success. Don’t be surprised if the Minutemen are around on the last weekend of the college basketball season because this team is going to bust some brackets.

Greg Douglas is a College Basketball writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @thegpd93 or add him to your Google network.