UMass basketball: Arizona State swarms Minutemen in second half to capture Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield

UMass sophomore guard Jaylen Curry (0) goes in for a layup during the Minutemen’s 78-62 loss to Arizona State in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at the MassMutual Center in Springfield on Saturday evening.

UMass sophomore guard Jaylen Curry (0) goes in for a layup during the Minutemen’s 78-62 loss to Arizona State in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at the MassMutual Center in Springfield on Saturday evening. PHOTO BY SETH BRADLEY/UMASS ATHLETICS

By GARRETT COTE

Staff Writer

Published: 12-21-2024 10:03 PM

SPRINGFIELD — Sometimes when a team loses, self-inflicted wounds or a poor performance stand as the reasons why. Other times, however, the opposing team is simply better.

Both were the case on Saturday evening at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, as the UMass men’s basketball team was overpowered and outmatched by a more skilled and composed Arizona State team coached by Bobby Hurley. The Sun Devils held UMass to just 29 points in the second half en route to a 78-62 victory in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, as the Minutemen went the final 6 minutes, 52 seconds of game time without a made field goal.

UMass (5-8) walked into the halftime locker room with a 33-31 lead, but Arizona State put up 47 points over the final 20 minutes, and nine second-half turnovers (after only two in the first) plagued the Minutemen throughout the frame.

“I’m really disappointed on us reverting in the second half [back] to the issues that we've had earlier in the year,” UMass head coach Frank Martin said. “We had started to get away from those things, and then play fairly well in the first half with a purpose, with a discipline, with a toughness, with a togetherness. But then, come out the second half, and from the first play of the second half, we got guys in their feelings because they're missing shots, and then you're not going to beat good teams… And defensively from the first play of the second half, I said, ‘We're in trouble.’”

Throughout the non-conference portion of the season, the Minutemen frontcourt has struggled. Going from Josh Cohen and Matt Cross – two players capable of scoring 15 points a night – to Malek Abdelgowad and Shahid Muhammad makes UMass’ team much different from a personnel standpoint. And on Saturday, playing against Jayden Quaintance and Basheer Jihad caused the Minutemen forwards even more trouble.

Quaintance put up a dominant double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Jihad scored from all three levels as he poured in a team-high 20 points and added eight rebounds.

Hurley complimented his frontcourt’s scoring ability, but also made sure to note how important their combined seven blocked shots and countless other disruptive plays at the rim were to help separate from UMass.

“Both Basheer and Jayden were very good at the offensive end, but they protected the rim very well too,” Hurley said. “Around the basket they were impacting shots, and that helps our defense quite a bit.”

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Martin’s game plan coming into Saturday was pretty simple: don’t drive to score. Quaintance leads the country in blocked shots, so getting inside to challenge him at the rim didn’t seem like a smart idea. Martin told his guys to drive and kick, or drive and pull up for mid-range shots. Rahsool Diggins, who broke out of his slump with a game-high 24 points including four 3s, did a good job of that on a number of occasions – as he knocked down a handful of floaters in the lane without bringing Quaintance’s long arms into play.

But aside from Diggins, Daniel Rivera, Marqui Worthy and others continued to go at Quaintance and Jihad. And they were met with the same result nearly every time. UMass shot a porous 8-for-27 on layups in the loss.

“Scouting report said, ‘Don't drive to score. Drive to take mid-range shots or pass,’” Martin said. “But, you know, we had guys deciding to drive to score, and as a player, if you can't understand that the biggest mistake you can make is drive when a big guy is standing in the paint; that’s how big guys block shots.”

An Abdelgowad layup and pair of Jayden Ndjigue free throws made it 62-56 in favor of Arizona State with a little over six minutes left. From there, it was all Sun Devils. They went on an 11-0 run fueled by their defense to jump ahead by 17, and UMass didn’t convert another field goal the rest of the way after Abdelgowad’s easy two.

Arizona State (9-2) guards BJ Freeman and Alston Mason combined for 20 points in the second half, controlling the tempo and pace out of halftime. Having already played Gonzaga and Florida (two teams in the AP top 10) as well as competitive games against New Mexico and Saint Mary’s (two tournament teams from a year ago), the Sun Devils felt a sense of urgency to close out the Minutemen after struggling to start the game.

“We were frustrated at the half, and I think we all realized that we weren’t playing the way we played most of the season,” Hurley said. “The [poor] shooting was one thing, we got out-worked a little bit on the glass and they made a lot of shots… We just had to play through it, kind of weather the storm, and I think our physicality in the frontcourt really helped us tonight.”

Outside of Diggins’ 24 points, nobody else scored in double figures for UMass. Rivera (nine points), Abdelgowad (eight points) and Akil Watson (seven points) chipped in while Jaylen Curry had a difficult time finding a rhythm offensively – scoring only two points on 1-for-6 shooting. The Minutemen shot 10-for-18 from the free-throw line, again to the displeasure of Martin.

The next time UMass takes the court, it will mark the start of its final season in the Atlantic 10. Conference play begins on the road with Saint Joseph’s on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m.