GAME NOTES: The Iona Gaels and Massachusetts Minutemen hook up Tuesday night at the Mullins Center in what will be the final non-conference test for both teams.

UMass opens Atlantic 10 play on Saturday against St. Bonaventure, while Iona continues Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action against Siena next Sunday.

These programs have not met since the opener of the 2000-01 season, and UMass has won nine of the previous 13 meetings.

The Gaels have rolled to two straight wire-to-wire wins, the last an 81-62 drubbing at Drexel on Sunday, which gave head coach Tim Cluess his 100th victory at the school.

A.J. English once again led the way with 19 points, David Laury posted 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Schadrac Casimir chipped in 16 points with five assists in the resounding win. Kelvin Amayo scored all 14 of his points in the second half, which was highlighted by a 10-0 run that helped Iona cruise to the finish line.

Iona shot 53.8 percent from the field en route to an 11-point halftime lead and held Drexel to 34.4 percent shooting to win going away. The Gaels held a 38-18 advantage in the paint and owned a 41-34 rebounding edge.

They also made 10 3-pointers, a staple for them in the early going as they average 11.3 makes from behind the arc per game at an exceptional 42.9 percent clip. English, Casimir and Isaiah Williams are all capable of lighting it up from the outside, as the trio has combined to hit 111 3-pointers already.

English is near the top of the NCAA scoring list with 23.0 ppg on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 82.6 shooting from the foul line. Casimir and Williams are contributing 16.5 and 13.3 ppg, respectively, while Laury, who has five double-doubles in his last seven games, is putting up 18.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

The Minutemen have dropped to .500 after a promising 5-1 start to the season. They lost a 77-71 heartbreaker in overtime to BYU last Tuesday and had a chance to pull off a huge road win late in regulation. Maxie Esho, though, only made 1-of-2 free throws with 2.4 seconds left, and UMass settled for an extra five minutes. UMass led 68-65 early in overtime, but the Cougars ran off 10 straight points to secure the win. Esho finished with a team-high 16 points with nine rebounds, while Cady Lalanne added 11 points and 10 boards in the setback.

The Minutemen lost despite holding the nation's leading scorer, Tyler Haws, to four points. It was a rare stout defensive effort for UMass, which had allowed its opponents to score 80-plus points in its previous three losses. The team gives up 73.5 ppg but offsets that with a balanced scoring attack.

Five players average over 9.5 ppg, with Esho leading to way at 14.2. Lalanne is nearly averaging a double-double with 13.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, while Derrick Gordon rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.5 ppg. Trey Davis (9.8 ppg) and Donte Clark (9.5) are just under that mark.

If the Minutemen are to stop their current skid, they'll need to shut down another prolific scorer in English. Even that might not be enough, since the Gaels, much like BYU, have other reliable options on the offensive end. If they can come through, look for Iona to pull out a significant road win.