Malek Abdelgowad had the best game of his collegiate career for the Massachusetts basketball team against UMass Boston in an 86-52 victory on Saturday. He finished the contest with a career-high in points, rebounds and three-pointers made against the Division III opponent.
After a double-double in the season opener, Abdelgowad dealt with a cold seven-game stretch, along with the rest of the Minutemen (4-7). Head coach Frank Martin expected more out of the Cairo, Egypt native, playing him for just six and seven minutes against NJIT and Florida State, respectively.
Saturday was a much different story, with Abdelgowad seeing a season-high 25 minutes on the floor. He made the most of his playing time against the Beacons (5-3), exploding for 26 points and 14 rebounds, shooting an efficient 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) from the floor.
“I have not been happy with our center spot for a while for multiple reasons,” Martin said “I thought that this week was by far, the best week, most consistent, focused in, worried about the right things, not the wrong things approach that [Abdelgowad’s] had since September. Guess what? The ball found him, and he had positive results.”
The majority of his scoring production came from down in the low post, where Abdelgowad used his size to get up over UMass Boston defenders. Having a two-inch height advantage over even the Beacons’ tallest player helped to create a plethora of open shot attempts.
“That’s why we recruited him two years ago coming out of junior college, because the way he plays, we think, fits our program,” Martin said.
Abdelgowad attempted just three shots from behind the three-point-line in his collegiate career prior to Saturday’s contest, without a single make. Against UMass Boston, the big man tried three times from deep, hitting twice on back-to-back possessions in the first half.
“It just depends on the game situation, if I feel like I’m comfortable taking it or not,” Abdelgowad said of his three-point shooting. “It’s kind of like a feel.”
In his previous game against UMass Lowell, Abdelgowad had a tough game on the glass, with just one rebound in 20 minutes. On Saturday, he again utilized his size to his advantage to bring down five offensive boards, and nine on the defensive end.
Coming into Saturday’s game averaging just 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, this could be the start of a new influx of confidence for the senior.
“So now, is [Abdelgowad going to] grow? Or is he going to flounder back to first base?” Martin said. “When you’re coaching a guy for the first time, you don’t know how that works.”
A big part of Abdelgowad’s lack of playing time and success on the court as of late was due to the struggles he dealt with on the defensive end. Martin was consistently vocal about the distaste he had with how his bigs were defending the rim.
Despite having no blocks against the Beacons, the senior moved well to cover ball screens and defend all three levels of the floor. There was an influx of effort shown on the defensive end for the Egyptian, even poking a pass away for a steal, which led to a free dunk on the fast break after running the floor on the other end.
With a much-needed win, albeit against a Division III opponent, and a big game from a struggling player, the Minutemen hope to carry the momentum from Saturday’s victory on through the rest of the season.
UMass is back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at home against Northeastern. Tipoff from the Mullins Center is set for 7 p.m., and the game can be watched on NESN.
“We were just talking in the locker room, and [Martin] said, ‘Guys that bring positive energy, the game rewards positive energy,’” sophomore guard Jayden Ndjigue said. “Guys are doing their job and bringing positive energy [and] the game’s rewarding them. And the game rewarded [Abdelgowad on Saturday] as everyone saw.”
Mike Maynard can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter/X @mikecmaynard.
