GAME NOTES: Still in search of their first Atlantic 10 Conference victory of the season, the Fordham Rams play host to the Massachusetts Minutemen on Wednesday night at Rose Hill Gym.

UMass is coming off last Saturday's 60-56 triumph at Saint Louis. That contest kicked off a stretch that will see the team play five of its next seven games on the road. The Minutemen have won two straight and three of their last four contests overall.

Fordham has lost eight straight since opening its league schedule. Most recently, the Rams were on the wrong end of a 101-77 final at Dayton on Sunday. The 101 points were the most they have given up in a game this season.

UMass holds a 27-12 series lead over Fordham, although four of the last five meetings have been decided by four points or less.

Senior center Cady Lalanne headlined the Minutemen's road win over Saint Louis with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor to go with a game-high 10 rebounds and three blocks. It was Lalanne's 10th double-double of the season and 26th of his career. UMass led by as many as nine with 10 minutes to play before holding off a late Billikens' charge to preserve the win. The Minutemen also held a 36-31 rebounding advantage in the game, marking the sixth consecutive contest they have outrebounded their opponent.

Lalanne (12.3 ppg) leads the way in rebounding (9.2 rpg) and is one of four players averaging double figures for UMass this season. Maxie Esho (12.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Trey Davis (10.7 ppg) and Derrick Gordon (10.0 ppg) are the others, and each member of that foursome has started all 21 games this season.

Fordham ranks 11th in the A-10 and 274th nationally in scoring offense (63.2 ppg), and the Rams are also 11th in the conference in scoring defense (69.7 ppg). Eric Paschall ranks second in the A-10 and fourth among Division I freshman with 17.1 ppg, and he is also averaging 5.5 rpg. Mandell Thomas (12.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and Chris Sengfelder (10.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg) round out the team's double-digit scorers.

Against Dayton on Sunday, the Rams notched their second-highest scoring total of the season with 77 points. Unfortunately, they also allowed the Flyers to shoot 62 percent en route to eclipsing 100 points in a game for the first time since 1999. Paschall paced Fordham with 19 points, while Jon Severe tacked on 17 off the bench.

UMass is simply the better team at both ends of the floor and should be able to win this one, although recent head-to-head matchups between these teams have been close.