AMHERST – Questions lingered about how the UMass men’s basketball team would respond to its devastating overtime loss against Harvard in front of the biggest Mullins Center crowd since before COVID-19.

The Minutemen, a team filled with young freshmen who may not be used to handling such losses in an adult manner, responded with their best all-around performance of the young season with a 89-60 drubbing of Central Connecticut State University on Wednesday afternoon in their last game before a nine-day break from competition. 

Senior forwards Matt Cross (31 points) and Josh Cohen (26 points) nearly outscored the Blue Devils by themselves as UMass dominated down low with 48 points in the paint. Alongside the two bigs, Keon Thompson and Rahsool Diggins made sure their team was focused on taking care of business before heading home for Thanksgiving.

“I’m really proud of our four most experienced players,” UMass head coach Frank Martin said. “Coming off the Harvard game, we were all disappointed. They came in with the right mindset, and then knowing that as soon as this game ends, we’ve got people flying to the airport. I was a little worked up for the last couple days because we let one get away, and knowing the environment of these games when guys are ready to go home, and they took care of their responsibility.”

Cross has had some strong performances in UMass’ first three games, but he had yet to put together a complete 40 minutes of basketball. He challenged himself to be better, and he didn’t disappoint himself nor the Minutemen fans.

After burying his first two jump shots from the outside not even two minutes into the game, it was evident Cross had it going. He made his first eight shots in a row and finished 11-for-13 from the field (a perfect 3-for-3 behind the arc). CCSU had no answer.

“You never know, because lately I can’t put two halves together, so I wasn’t thinking anything yet,” Cross joked, touching on his two early buckets. “But it was finally good to see a three-ball go in a little bit, as I’ve been cold the first three games, which is usually an asset of my game.”

Cohen was just as efficient, dropping in 10 of his 11 attempts – most coming from inside the key. He also went an encouraging 5-for-6 from the charity stripe after a rough 3-for-10 outing against the Crimson.

Coming in, the Minutemen were aware of the clear size disparity down low, but they didn’t think it would be as easy as it was feeding them the rock. Credit that to Diggins (team-high six assists), Thompson (five assists), and the rest of the backcourt for finding the bigs in threatening spots on the floor while clearing out to give them space to work.

“We knew we could attack them at the basket, and it happened early, killing them at the rim down low,” Cross said. “We kept riding with it, and our guards kept finding us on post ups. When they do that, and they clear the space and the area, it just makes it easier for us… They gave us the free will to getting us in the positions we want to be… We liked our matchup down low.”

Diggins’ six assists were a new season high for him. The junior simplified the game for not just him, but his teammates as well. UMass turned the ball over only eight times, continuing on with a positive theme in that department thus far.

“I [try to] make the game easy. I knew they couldn’t guard Matt or Josh, they were too physical,” Diggins added. “So I was looking to feed them the ball and let them make plays.”

Only 12 points (39-27) separated the two teams at the start of the second half. The Minutemen’s defense took over from that point on. UMass erupted on a 23-3 run in the first five minutes of the second – the most important stretch of games to many coaches. 

A lot of it had to do with the swarming defense that held CCSU to just 34 percent from the field. The Minutemen ran in transition during this spurt thanks to their defense forcing four of the Blue Devils’ 15 turnovers. What Martin expects from his defense every play was highlighted on the run that put the game out of reach.

“Our rotations on the back side were much better,” Martin said. “We still make some mistakes on lack of communication when somebody drives the ball, you don’t need two other guys helping… Then we’re out-numbered on the back side by too many. We gotta get better there. But our close-outs were better, guys were flying to the ball, [but] their guards are smaller… I was much happier with our defense today.”

Freshman Jayden Ndjigue was at one point a plus-38 on the floor late in the game, and finished plus-35 (Thompson led the way with plus-36 margin). Ndjigue’s intangibles are through the roof, and that’s why he’s played more minutes than any freshman through four games.

What he does may not always show up in the box score, but his maturity and basketball IQ – along with an unmatched desire to hustle – are unteachable qualities that stick out to Martin. Ndjigue finished Wednesday’s game with two points, two rebounds, five assists, and one block while logging 26 minutes – second on the team behind only Cross.

“We live in an era where we over-celebrate the flamboyance, whether it be points, or dunks, or whatever it may be. And he’s a winner, and that’s what I celebrate,” Martin said of Ndjigue. “He knows everybody’s responsibility on the court, he knows his responsibility. He’s constantly in communication with me, so that he can articulate that with his teammates. He’s rock-solid, man.”

UMass (3-1) won’t play again until Dec. 2 against South Florida for its final of five straight home bouts to open up the 2023-24 campaign. Even though the Minutemen are completely off from practice for the next three days, their appetite for more wins isn’t disappearing.

“Go home, refresh the mind away from the game a little bit with family, and come back and just be hungry for the next game,” Cross said. “And don’t even worry about any of these past games that already happened. It’s 0-0 [coming out of] the break.”