Despite its 87-80 loss to Temple, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team fought the deficit all game and even cut it to a one-possession game in the final minutes of the first half. The late surge can be credited to the contributions of the bench.

A 16-3 run for UMass (1-4) was the standout performance of the game, which was orchestrated by a lineup of mostly bench players. This run spanned nearly five minutes and ended in a one-point game, with the Owls (4-2) leading 35-34 at the time.

This spark on the court started when head coach Frank Martin was forced to dip into his bench as the starters started to rack up fouls. Rahsool Diggins, Daniel Rivera and Jaylen Curry all amassed two fouls with plenty of time left in the first half. 

In hopes of avoiding future foul trouble, Jayden Ndjigue, Marqui Worthy and Nate Guerengomba came off the bench to join Daniel Hankins-Sanford and Shahid Muhammad on the court. Each of those players picked up valuable minutes throughout the game as Martin continued to rely on them. 

The run was ignited by Ndjigue with just under seven minutes left in the first half. The sophomore was fouled and sent to the free throw line, where he made each of his shots. 

This set up the four-minute run in which the Minutemen played with strong press defense and continued to drive to the hoop to create contact. Throughout the run, UMass was sent to the free throw line 14 times during that span, where they made 11 of them. 

Throughout the run, the Minutemen’s bench continued to create opportunities to cut into the Temple lead. The press defense UMass played with created a shot clock violation against the Owls and forced turnovers that continuously gave the Minutemen possession and chances to score.

The successful run was capped off by a 3-pointer by Diggins at the 2:30 mark with the scoreboard showing a slim Owls lead of 35-34.

Diggins returned to the lineup, as did most of the other starters with only two minutes left in the first half. The starters found their way back onto the floor, but could not replicate the same success as the bench.

As the run wrapped up, Martin decided to make quick substitutions following a second-chance layup by Temple. 

“I did that because of foul trouble, because we couldn’t guard the ball and the guys that I was taking out defensively Temple were just driving us,” Martin said. “I didn’t want them to pick up a third foul in the first half so I can supplement in and out for offensive defense in the second half.”

Martin subbed his key defenders in off the bench and his offensive scorers four separate times in the final two minutes, but the Owls adjusted and only grew their lead.

The bench players for UMass scored 27 points on the night. The Minutemen’s most productive non-starting player was Ndjigue, who shot 3-of-5 on field goals and 5-of-8 at the line, good for 11 points. With 19 minutes of action, the sophomore also had three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.

“I’m happy [Ndjigue] finally made a free throw today,” Martin said. “I mean that, he works at it really hard. He’s a really good kid.”

Guerengomba totaled 20 minutes on the court, his most all season, with seven points, three rebounds, one steal and one block. The freshman shot 2-of-5, along with one 3-pointer and two free throws. 

Worthy had four points, all from the free throw line, during his seven minutes of play. Tarique Foster also saw seven minutes, in which he scored five points, plus three rebounds and two blocks. 

With the bench entered the game, it created a spark on defense that stopped Temple’s offense, which was shooting close to 60 percent in the first half. 

The run was a strong momentum builder that put UMass back in the game as the team headed into halftime. But, Martin went back to his starters for the most of the second half as the Owls ran away with the lead.

As UMass adds another loss to its season, its younger players on the bench have a chance to continue to make strong impacts throughout the rest of the season. When starters start to miss shots, having a reliable set of players on the bench will be key for the Minutemen. 

Samantha Sands can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @samantha_sands_.