Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

UMass ‘big four’ neutralized by Notre Dame in 81-68 loss

Photo by Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian
Photo by Cade Belisle/Daily Collegian

UNCASVILLE, Conn— On most nights, the Massachusetts basketball team’s big four — Trey Davis, Derrick Gordon, Maxie Esho, and Cady Lalanne — can go toe-to-to against any opponent on the schedule.

On Saturday afternoon Notre Dame brought its own quartet, and for the first time all season, the Minutemen went up against a group that they couldn’t contain.

The Fighting Irish’s big four—Pat Connaughton, Zach Auguste, Demetrius Jackson, and Jerian Grant—combined for 69 points in Notre Dame’s 81-68 win against the Minutemen.

Grant led the charge for the Irish finishing with 24 points and eight assists on 10-for-13 shooting, gashing the UMass defense with his ability to not only drive-and-kick, but on the pick-and-roll game as well.

“He’s great, especially on the pick-and-rolls,” UMass guard Derrick Gordon said.

“That’s one of the hardest things to cover in all of basketball and he uses it really well, which makes him a special player. I could have done a lot better job on my assignment and he broke out with points and assists. He wasn’t just scoring, he was getting his teammates involved as well.”

“He really just picked us apart on the pick and roll. That’s how he got us. He found his guys, got them open for shots and he attacked when he could. He just looked good out there today,” Trey Davis echoed.

On the pick-and-rolls, Grant used Auguste to his advantage, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Lalanne picked up his fourth foul with 11 minutes, 41 seconds remaining, forcing him to back off defensively in order to prevent from fouling out, which opened up looks for Auguste inside.

When the pick-and-roll game wasn’t open, the Irish dished to sharpshooter and Massachusetts native Connaughton, who finished with 18 points, including four 3-pointers that took the steam out of UMass’ attempt to climb back into the game in the second half.

The biggest shot of the day for Connaughton—and biggest play of the game—came with 2:31 remaining with the Minutemen trailing 70-63 when he buried a corner 3-pointer in front of the Notre Dame bench giving the Irish a double-digit lead. On the play Gordon was covering Connaughton, however when Gordon had to help on the driving Grant, he was late to rotate over and didn’t get a hand up on the shot.

“I saw that corner 3 quite a few times,” UMass coach Derrick Kellogg said. “He played big. When you’re having to tag or help on that roll, that closeout on that corner 3 is the tough one. I thought he did a nice job of rising up quite a few times. His 18 points and 4 for 7 from 3 were huge baskets.”

“I just told him, ‘man you got a cannon,’” Gordon said. “We left the corners too easily because we were trying to help way too much on Grant. All Grant was doing was penetrating and kicking. He was doing that the whole game and we just kept falling into it and he was knocking his shots down.”

Jackson finished with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting and used his speed and quickness to be a secondary scorer for Notre Dame. Defensively, Jackson had five steals, as the Minutemen had 18 turnovers to just four assists.

“They’re a very good, efficient offensive team with a very good backcourt. We didn’t take advantage of some opportunities out there,” Kellogg said.

The Minutemen’s big four finished with 52 total points as Gordon (18), Lalanne (16), Esho (9) and Davis (9) were simply outmatched.

UMass shot just 42.9 percent from the field to Notre Dame’s 58.5 percent, and finished 6-of-17 from behind the 3-point arc.

Andrew Cyr can be reached at [email protected], and can be followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.

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