UMass forward Maxie Esho came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points, but the Minutemen were ousted by George Washington in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic-10 tournament, 85-77, on Friday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
UMass (24-8), which rallied to beat Rhode Island, 65-61, in Thursday’s second round despite shooting a season-low 31 percent from the field, will await Sunday’s NCAA tournament announcement to determine its fate.
“I feel tremendously confident about it,” guard Chaz Williams told reporters of UMass’ tourney hopes.
Williams had 19 points (16 in the second half) and seven assists for the sixth-seeded Minutemen, who fell behind by nine points at the break. The margin was 16 midway through the second period when UMass embarked on a 10-2 run over the next two minutes to get within 56-48. However, GW used an 8-0 run to regain control.
Patrico Garino scored 15 points for the third-seeded Colonials (24-7), who play 23rd-ranked VCU, the tourney’s second seed, in Saturday’s semifinals.