UMass
Traveling – A College Basketball Journey – Game 28
Home Team: UMass Minutemen
Away Team: Harvard Crimson
Final Score: Harvard def. UMass, 78-75 (OT)
Venue: Mullins Center, Amherst, MA
Date: November 17, 2023
Time: 7:00 P.M.
When I planned to see UMass play, it was lost on me the route I would have to take to get to the game. Sure, that little stretch of Interstate 91 north of Hartford is a bit bare. After Springfield, the highway lights end. However, it is a large building in Springfield that made me think deeply, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. As I passed the greenish-blue glowing sphere I couldn’t help but feel an appreciation for the inventor of the sport. Without Naismith, I wouldn’t be driving to UMass and there would not be March Madness. There would not be any basketball. All levels, all around the world would cease to exist. The complete scale was for a minute incomprehensible. 130 years of history all lead back to that one man, and as I drove by I felt thankful. A short drive later, I arrived in Amherst.
The Mullins Center is one of the few arenas I have been to before, although not for a college basketball game, or any sporting event for that matter. Ten years ago, as a Junior in high school, I toured the UMass campus, which included a small orientation in the arena. I wish I could say I remembered it, but truthfully I felt no familiarity as I parked. And for all those wondering, parking was free.
The Mullins Center is a large oval shaped brick building that is evidently from the outside meant for hosting athletic events. As a lot of the schools I have been to in the Northeast are either too small to have a standalone arena, or do not have on campus arenas big enough to accommodate all of their games (such as St. Johns) it has actually been a rarity to see a game in a standalone arena. The entrance to the arena is reminiscent of another Massachusetts venue, Fenway, with large brick pillars flanking a shade of green roof very similar to the Green Monster.
Inside the entrance is a small merchandise area. Attendees that arrived early, such as myself, were handed a rally towel reading “Let’s Go Minutemen.” To each side is a different direction of the concourse, which encircles the whole arena. The concourse is filled with an excessive amount of food options, and they were all open. Don’t get me wrong, the more options the better, but based on the expected turnout for a week before Thanksgiving game, it definitely seemed unnecessary.
The inside of the arena is spacious, and has a bowl shaped layout. In addition to the large center video scoreboard, two large scoreboards are on each side of the arena. On one side of the arena above the scoreboard is a luxury box. Press boxes are on the same end with three on each side of the luxury box. Maroon seats occupy the whole arena, with no bleacher seating.
On the side opposite to the luxury box hang both men and women’s basketball accolades. To be a UMass fan in the 90’s, when they reached 7 of their 9 ever tournaments. Many of which were under the leadership of John Calipari while Marcus Camby dominated on the floor. However, the arena is also home to their hockey team, and the banners on that side definitely show that currently hockey reigns supreme in Amherst. The 2021 National Championship banner stands in front of the others.
I will give the UMass fans some slack based on the time of the year of the game. What I’ve realized on my journey is that it is hard to judge any arena for a non-conference game. Even for the smaller conferences, the conference games tend to bring many more fans and heighten the feel. In addition, being the week before Thanksgiving probably did not help with the student turnout either. That being said, the environment was lacking for an A-10 school. At many times, the announcer was louder than the crowd noise. While the home team did end up blowing the lead, experiencing OT is always great. Who can complain about free basketball?
Team Conference and State Statistics
This is the second A-10 arena I’ve been to. Fordham is the first. This is also overall the second A-10 team I’ve seen at all.
This is the 2nd D1 program I have seen in Massachusetts. Boston U is the first.
UMass and Harvard become the third and fourth teams from MA I have seen home or away. Besides Boston U, I have also seen Merrimack away