A pivotal moment in Tuesday’s game between the Massachusetts basketball team and Saint Joseph’s occurred with seconds ticking down in the first half.
With 25 seconds until halftime, the Minutemen (5-9, 0-1 Atlantic 10) had the ball down 35-33 with a chance to enter the break tied or with the lead. Jaylen Curry pushed the ball upcourt and found Rahsool Diggins, the team’s best scorer on this day by far, on the right wing for an open three.
Clank.
The Hawks (10-4, 1-0 A-10) had possession briefly, but Daniel Hankins-Sanford poked the ball away for another opportunity. UMass could’ve held the ball for the half’s final shot, but it’d be tough to find a better look than a wide open Curry three, this time from the left wing.
Clank. Saint Joseph’s took advantage this time, pushing the pace until Rasheer Fleming got a two-handed dunk to give his team a five-point lead and all the momentum heading into the second half.
Those types of misses have been common for the Minutemen all season, and they continued to present themselves in the team’s 81-72 loss to the Hawks. Head coach Frank Martin’s squad entered Tuesday ranked 357th nationally in three-point shooting at 26.3 percent, and their 3-of-16 performance on Tuesday lowered that number.
“We couldn’t make enough open shots to ever take the lead,” Martin said. “That’s been our challenge up to this point.”
It’s well-documented at this point that Martin likes to do a lot of his offense’s work at the rim. Scrapping for offensive rebounds and plays that lead to paint touches and high-percentage looks have been hallmarks of UMass’ offense.
Against Saint Joseph’s, that philosophy largely worked. Certain players took advantage of their matchups to either slice to the rim, convert down low or head to the line for free points. In another homecoming game that he does so well in, the Philadelphia native Diggins hit multiple tough layups and runners for his first-ever 30-point game. After a rocky start to the season, Daniel Rivera found his groove in the paint for his most points in a Minutemen uniform. Those types of performances made it so no deficit ever felt insurmountable.
In a game where margins are tight, however, a couple of stats can be the difference between a win and a loss. On this day, along with defensive rebounding, it was three-point shooting that changed the game’s complexity. The Hawks’ performance from deep (11-of-31) fell in line with their season average, while UMass took one of its weaknesses and made it worse.
After halftime, the Minutemen continued to claw their way into the game, but made threes on the other end were backbreakers. With around 12 minutes to play, Diggins drove to his right, initiated contact and threw up a runner that skied over two defenders and banked into the net. The difficult basket came via one of UMass’ best shot-makers and brought the deficit down to five.
Saint Joseph’s came back down the court and initiated its offense. After Erik Reynolds II drove to his left, defenders filled potential passing lanes, but Dasear Haskins stood by himself just a skip pass away on the right wing. Reynolds found him for an unguarded three, a basket that came much easier and led to one more point.
Those types of moments occurred a couple of times in the second half, as strong baskets from the Minutemen were responded to with swift makes from deep. UMass tried to counter with a three of its own once, but a look from Curry rang off the back iron. More often, the team went back to its bread and butter down low, a successful strategy but one that couldn’t keep pace with how the game developed on the glass and from deep.
Martin’s no stranger to poor three-point shooting lineups, but the 2024-25 season has been a low point for him to date. The veteran coach has never finished a season with a team that shoots below 30 percent from three, and after Tuesday’s game, the Minutemen will likely be over four percentage points below that.
Last season, UMass finished 304th nationally in three-point shooting, but its 31.3 percent hit rate is far above where this season’s roster currently sits. That year, six Minutemen shot over 30 percent from deep averaging at least one attempted three per game. A season later, UMass has just one player–Akil Watson–who meets that criteria thus far.
The Minutemen’s next game against Richmond is an opportunity for their three-point shooting to improve, as the Spiders currently allow opponents to make nearly 36 percent of their threes. That game tips off at noon on Saturday on ESPN+.
Dean Wendel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @DeanWende1.