In theory, all the Massachusetts basketball team needed was a few more possessions. In their 75-69 loss to West Virginia on Friday, the Minutemen (1-1) failed to convert late but otherwise had a relatively successful second half, outscoring their opponent by 11. On defense, blown assignments were much less frequent and Mountaineer (2-0) ball handlers were guarded tighter. On offense, what initially was a one-man show (Jaylen Curry) turned into a group effort, with players like Rahsool Diggins and Daniel Rivera finding their footing.

That made UMass’ first half offense all the more frustrating for head coach Frank Martin. The first 20 minutes of the game saw 12 turnovers from the Minutemen, which turned into 17 points for the home team. Those points were the difference at halftime, as West Virginia built up a 45-28 lead that proved insurmountable for UMass to overcome.

“We just got away from what we talked about doing,” Martin said. “We got caught standing around [with] everyone looking at the guy with the ball and nobody doing anything…we spoke about the kind of defense [West Virginia plays]. You can’t stand around against them.”

Mountaineers head coach Darian DeVries built up a physical, high-pressure defense similar to Martin’s over the offseason, and his game plan was very effective against the Minutemen. West Virginia had the most success taking the ball away from UMass, as the Mountaineers stole the ball on 16.4 percent of the Minutemen’s offensive possessions. That’s the highest mark UMass has allowed since December 2022, and 10 of its opponent’s 12 steals came before halftime.

The leader of West Virginia’s hands team was Oklahoma State transfer Javon Small, a senior guard who was expected to be more of an offensive threat pregame. Small still finished with 12 points, but left a bigger impact in his hounding of Minutemen on the perimeter.

When UMass had a breakout opportunity with just over two minutes remaining in the first half, it was Small who poked the ball out of Rivera’s hands and into his own. 52 seconds later, Rivera again fell victim to the guard, this time losing the ball at the top of the key off of a fake handoff. 29 seconds after that, Small slapped the ball away from Diggins as he tried to break down Joseph Yesufu. Small had three steals in 90 seconds, which led to eight points for the home team. A nine-point deficit for the Minutemen ballooned up to 17.

Past Small, other Mountaineer guards turned in strong defensive performances. Illinois transfer Sencire Harris had two steals while drawing the main assignment of guarding Diggins. It was a different story after halftime, but Harris held the preseason All-Atlantic 10 selection to just two points in the first half, forcing multiple misses that, if made, could have drastically changed the game down the stretch. While only playing six minutes, veteran Joseph Yesufu played tough and picked the pocket of Diggins just a couple of minutes before halftime.

“Those [guards] are battle-tested and they know what they’re doing and they’re good defensively,” Martin said. “Give them credit. Every once in a while, we’d make a mistake and they never missed when we made a mistake.”

UMass’ big men weren’t immune to coughing the ball up, either. Transfer big Malek Abdelgowad struggled to start off on the right foot, as he got the ball stolen from him and was called for a travel within the contest’s first three minutes. The Cairo, Egypt native never recovered from those two early turnovers, leading to a two-point, four-rebound performance that was a far cry from his season-opening double-double.

Over the years, Martin’s teams have been a mixed bag in preventing turnovers. With Keon Thompson and Diggins at the helm, last season’s Minutemen ranked 106th nationally in turnover percentage, the highest ranking of Martin’s career. That number was a big improvement over 2022-23, when a 311th-place finish in the stat was one of the worst showings for the veteran coach.

Next up for UMass is Louisiana Tech, a team that ranked 137th in turnover percentage last season. That game will be on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. and will be televised on MSGSN.

Dean Wendel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @DeanWende1.