The Massachusetts basketball team’s win against Northeastern on Wednesday came down to the final moments, as UMass (5-7) put together a string of plays late to cement its 77-72 victory.
The Minutemen led for the first 38 minutes, but the Huskies (8-4) fought back and tied the game for the first time at 70 with 1:51 to play. With the game on the line, Jaylen Curry–who finished with a career-high 24 points–netted a clutch three-pointer to take back the lead 15 seconds later.
With 20 seconds remaining, Northeastern’s Masai Troutman went 2-of-2 at the free throw line to cut the score to 74-72. UMass responded again though, as a pass from Marqui Worthy hit Daniel Rivera in stride for a dunk that put the team up four with 10 seconds to go, all but sealing the game.
The Minutemen maintained balanced offense all night, and it showed in the box score with five players reaching double digit scoring. Starting the game with its typical fast-paced tempo, UMass slowed its offense down in the second half, but that did not stop its success at the hoop.
“That’s how I like the game played,” head coach Frank Martin said. “When you have one guy with a lot of points, a lot of shot attempts, that means the ball’s in one person’s hands the whole time, and as a guy that’s taken pride for 40 years on defending, the easiest team to defend is the one that you know where the ball’s at… [a] hard team to defend is when that ball doesn’t stop and you don’t know where the shot’s coming from.”
Curry’s career-high performance came off of 7-of-14 shooting with four made threes and a perfect 6-of-6 showing at the free throw line. The sophomore scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half. Curry also finished with two rebounds, two assists and five steals.
Rivera also had a standout night, finishing with a career-high eight blocks and his fourth double-double of the season. Those eight blocks put the senior tied for eighth all-time for most blocks in a game in Minutemen history.
Malek Abdelgowad also recorded a double-double, his second straight and third of the year, with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The other two players to crack 10 points were Worthy and Rahsool Diggins. Diggins was in and out of foul trouble throughout the contest but still finished shooting 4-of-9 with three assists and a steal.
Though UMass’ offense did well, it was its defense that kept the Huskies at bay. Northeastern had put together multiple runs throughout the night to cut into leads, but the Minutemen fought back with defensive intensity each time. UMass finished with 11 blocks and 12 steals.
“I would say the biggest thing from tonight’s game is staying together… when your team is together and everybody’s on the same page, it’s kind of hard to beat that,” Curry said. “For [Northeastern], it was kind of hard for them to come back and beat us [because] we were so locked in together [and] everybody was on the same page.”
Rebounding was a different story and one where the Huskies got the better of the home team. Northeastern won the battle on the glass with 50 rebounds against the Minutemen’s 38. As UMass stacked up double-digit leads throughout the game, they often gave the Huskies opportunities to get rebounds, which the team capitalized on.
Despite this, the Minutemen still brought competitiveness when needed and made the crucial plays necessary to defeat a Northeastern team that did not go down without a fight.
For the Huskies, Rashad King led the team with 19 points on 9-of-23 shooting to go with 11 rebounds. Troutman and LA Pratt were just behind King with 18 points each.
Next up for UMass is its last non-conference game of the season. The Minutemen will face off against Arizona State in the Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday, Dec. 21. The game will be played at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts with tip off set for 4 p.m on the CBS Sports Network.
“[Martin is] always talking about the journey, the process, and win or lose, he [is] always talking about getting better [and being] more connected as a team,” Worthy said. “So each game, each day in practice, we’re getting better each time, so it’s showing.”
Samantha Sands can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @samantha_sands_.
