UNCASVILLE, CT- The Massachusetts basketball team suffered its biggest loss in nearly two years on Sunday to the Florida State Seminoles, falling 92-59 in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off from the Mohegan Sun Arena.
The 33-point loss is the widest margin of defeat that the Minutemen (1-5) have suffered since their 71-38 loss to Richmond in the first round of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Tournament. UMass struggled in all facets of the game, only holding the lead once with 4:22 left in the first half.
“For our team to go out there and play and represent our school the way they did [Sunday], that’s embarrassing,” head coach Frank Martin said.
“I didn’t prepare the team to play [Sunday]… We obviously had no interest in competing.”
The Minutemen struggled from behind the arc all game, shooting 3-of-24 (12.5 percent) from three. Rahsool Diggins leads the team in made threes on the year but had an off night on Sunday, missing all eight of his attempts from deep.
UMass found itself down 10 points at the end of the first half, struggling but not letting the game get out of hand. In the second half, Florida State (6-1) got in a groove, eventually building up to a 36-point lead and having success scoring and defending at a high level.
The Seminoles seemingly couldn’t miss in the latter 20 minutes of the game, shooting 21-of-30 (70 percent) from the field. They also were consistent from three-point range, shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc.
“We didn’t necessarily make any adjustments at halftime, we just emphasized, ‘Let’s do what we’ve been practicing all year,’” Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said.
One bright spot for the Minutemen came in rebounding, where they tallied 38 boards compared to just 34 for the Seminoles. UMass got a big chunk of its boards (17) on the offensive side.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford excelled on the glass, tying a career-high with 13 total rebounds. The junior helped the Minutemen out-rebound an opponent for the first time since their season opener against New Hampshire.
UMass struggled with its defense early, attempting to switch things up by going to a smaller lineup without any stereotypical big men in the game. Shahid Muhammad and Malek Abdelgowad played a combined 15 minutes with freshman Luka Damjanac getting in for three of his own.
“I thought [the small lineup] was extremely effective in the first half,” Hamilton said. “We looked confused as to how to attack the zone defense. Once we settled down… we were a lot sharper in the second half.”
The Seminoles moved the ball well to generate open looks, finishing with 25 assists on the night compared to just eight for the Minutemen. UMass only scored 18 times from the field and made just 31 percent of its shots on the night.
Defensive pressure from Florida State created problems for the Minutemen’s offense throughout the game. UMass finished with 17 turnovers and the Seminoles made the most of the opportunities, scoring 22 points off turnovers in the contest.
Jaylen Curry led the Minutemen with 17 points on the night, knocking down eight free throws. The sophomore added two assists and two rebounds while facilitating the offense, creating opportunities off the dribble to get himself open at all three levels.
“You’ve got to give UMass a lot of credit, they’ve got some pretty skilled guys and they have some strengths,” Hamilton said. “… They challenged our ability to contain the dribble and be active in those gaps.”
Up next for the Minutemen, they’ll head to Cambridge to take on the Harvard Crimson. After five straight losses, the team will be looking to right the ship. Tipoff from Lavietes Pavilion on Wednesday, Nov. 27 is set for 4 p.m. and the game can be watched on NESN and ESPN+.
Mike Maynard can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @mikecmaynard.
