All 15 Atlantic 10 Conference men’s basketball teams are facing the same pressure this week at the Barclays Center: win the conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament, or lose and go home.

UMass, seeded 13th, has a longer road than most. The Minutemen will open the A-10 tourney against No. 12 Richmond at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the first game of the day and the only college basketball game on TV at that time (ESPN-Plus).

“We've played them all. They all know they're good enough to beat us, and they all know that we're good enough to beat them. I know our record doesn't indicate that, but I think the teams in the league understand that we're more than capable, and I think our players understand that,” UMass coach Frank Martin said. “But with that said, we're humble enough to know what our record is, that if we don't handle things the right way, we can go down at any second.”

They need five wins in six days.

“You can’t worry about winning five in a row. If you worry about winning five in a row, Wednesday will be gone before you know it,” Martin said.

The Minutemen (15-15, 6-12 A-10) defeated the Spiders 85-76 on Jan. 25 in Amherst.

Neither team has fared well since. The Minutemen are 3-7, and the Spiders are 3-8. Richmond (14-17, 7-11) is the defending conference tournament champion after winning last year as the No. 6 seed.

“These last couple games we’ve been waiting for the tournament so we can lock in,” said UMass forward Matt Cross, who returned from an MCL sprain in the regular season finale against Saint Bonaventure on Saturday. “You look at it differently. You go in every game on edge knowing you have to play at your best. Usually in March the most disciplined team wins.”

Longtime Richmond coach Chris Mooney stepped away from the team Feb. 17 due to heart surgery to address an aneurysm in his ascending aorta. Assistant and former player Peter Thomas took over for the last four games on an interim basis and is 1-3.

Richmond forward Tyler Burton ranks third in the A-10 scoring 18.6 points per game and sixth in rebounding (7.5 per game). He’s reached double-digit scoring in every game this season and has put up at least 20 points 13 times.

UMass, meanwhile, will bring the league’s second-best rebounding squad at 38.1 boards per game. The Minutemen lead the A-10 pulling down 12.9 offensive rebounds per contest.

The Spiders are 14th out of 15 teams in rebounding.

UMass has won a game and reached the quarterfinals of the past two conference tournaments. The Minutemen haven’t played on the event’s opening day since 2019, when they fell against George Washington.

The Minutemen will have everyone available except point guard Noah Fernandes, who hasn’t played since Jan. 11 against La Salle due to complications from an ankle injury suffered earlier in the season.

“Coming into the tournament’s a refresh button,” UMass forward Dyondre Dominguez said. “Us getting a chance to get back to close to 100 percent, I feel like we can focus on making a good run and making history.”

TRIPLE THREAT – UMass guard RJ Luis was named the A-10 Freshman of the Week for the third time Monday.

He averaged 18.5 points and eight rebounds per game, as the Minutemen split two games to end the regular season.

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>