No college basketball team is perfect. Every roster has its flaws, and oftentimes, specific coaching styles lead to specific weaknesses that can pop up for a coach year in and year out.
Head coach Frank Martin has his weaknesses–namely three-point shooting and defensive free throw rate–but his defense overall is not typically one of them. Thus, one of the biggest surprises with this year’s Massachusetts basketball team has been its below-average defense.
According to KenPom, in seventeen years as a head coach, only once has Martin had a defense that ranks below 140th nationally. After a 96-83 loss to UMass Lowell on Saturday in which his team let up 58 percent shooting, his 2024-25 unit ranks 206th.
“We continue to be a layup machine for the other team,” Martin said. “[We’re] unwilling to give the effort on rotations to get to the ball, [until that changes] we’re going to continue to lose when we play good teams.”
Some of the unit’s poorest execution came in the game’s biggest moments. With five and a half minutes to play, a Rahsool Diggins layup brought the River Hawks (6-4) lead down to four. What ensued was an offensive explosion from the visiting side, as they made their final six shots and six of seven free throws to score 20 points down the stretch.
Much of UMass Lowell’s efficiency came from halfcourt sets and cuts that left UMass (3-7) defenders out of position. As fouls mounted up for both teams, Martin made the decision to switch to a 2-3 zone midway through the first half. While the defense did have some success in forcing turnovers initially, River Hawks head coach Pat Duquette and his players made the necessary adjustments late to get high-quality looks.
“Sometimes zones just kind of, they make you hesitant at first,” Duquette said. “Once we kind of figured out where their passing lanes were, I think we attacked it and we were efficient and found guys for open looks.”
Fifth-year guard Quinton Mincey benefited the most from those looks, as he finished with a game-leading 27 points off 8-of-10 shooting and four made threes. After Diggins’ layup late, UMass Lowell was left with an important possession to prevent momentum from shifting into the home team’s hands.
After dribbling out over half of the shot clock, Anthony Blunt drove inside and kicked the ball out to Mincey, where he confidently drained a three. With that make in hand, the forward kept his shooting touch for another three on the next possession, bringing the River Hawks’ lead up to eight.
Two possessions later, UMass Lowell had the ball up ten with a made shot likely shutting the door on the Minutemen’s chances. After Mincey set a slip screen, he caught the ball on the right side of the court. UMass had put Jayden Ndjigue on Mincey, but dealing with the screen put the sophomore out of position by the time Mincey had caught the ball. With the right baseline open, the fifth-year drove to the basket for a game-sealing and-one.
Martin has been more than honest about the Minutemen’s struggles with ball-screen defense all season, and Saturday marked one of the team’s worst performances in that facet. On the perimeter, players like Diggins and Jaylen Curry were left playing behind the ball after River Hawks screens, which collapsed the team’s bigs and opened holes that UMass Lowell exploited.
One of the River Hawks’ most emphatic baskets came from an on-ball screen just over five minutes past halftime. Diggins had tried to go over a screen that UMass Lowell’s Cam Morris III had set, but he couldn’t stay with his man.
Big man Malek Abdelgowad came over to help River Hawks guard Martin Somerville as he drove, but no UMass player had noticed Morris’ flash to the rim in the process. All Abdelgowad could do was watch as Morris delivered a two-hand slam that turned into a three-point play thanks to a late Marqui Worthy contest.
“When you’re a guard, the way the game’s played today, they’re coming to ball screen you,” Martin said. “If you try to run around the ball screen, you are a bad defender…you got to take on the play and be tough enough to deal with it…anytime you’re behind the ball, it’s a bad play.”
“I got to be able to play more aggressive on defense,” Curry said. “And then on the back side of that, we need our other four guys to communicate, call out coverage better.”
An opportunity for the Minutemen to show more defensive prowess arrives at the Mullins Center next Saturday in the form of Division III UMass-Boston. That game will tip off at noon on ESPN+.
Dean Wendel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @DeanWende1.
