The Massachusetts men’s basketball team captured its third win of conference play with an 82-60 victory over La Salle. The 22-point victory for UMass (8-11, 3-3 Atlantic 10) was led by a 22-point performance from Jaylen Curry as he made the most of every opportunity he got with the ball. The sophomore guard shot an efficient 9-of-14 from the field, cashing two of his three attempts from beyond the arc, and added seven assists without a turnover.
“He was engaged today, he was defending, he was running our offense,” head coach Frank Martin said. “Played his tail off and it had nothing to do with the stats, it was his engagement with what we were trying to do.”
Deuce Jones and Daeshon Shepherd led the Explorers (10-8, 2-3 A-10) as the pairing combined for 29 points, but couldn’t find support to take the Minutemen’s eyes off them defensively.
With 9:32 left in the second half, Jones tied the game at 55 a piece with a pair of free throws. This topped off a 10-0 La Salle run that battered UMass with tough defense and quick transition play, including a flashy alley-oop finish from Shepherd on a fastbreak.
Curry stepped up to end the scoring drought for the Minutemen, maneuvering around screens and hitting three contested mid-range jumpers in a row. This rejuvenated their offense and took significant momentum away from the visitors.
“[This breakthrough has] really just come from being in the gym at night, and not even just at night, early morning. Just coming in every day, on my bad days, just keep putting up shots,” Curry said. “Shoutout to Coach [Martin] and my teammates because every day, being the point guard, they stay on me, even when I don’t want to hear it.”
Jayden Ndjigue then got involved in the offense, pulling down a miss from Curry and scoring the second-chance basket. Daniel Rivera replicated that effort on the offensive glass with a tip-in slam on the next possession. This put UMass ahead by seven and resulted in a time-out from the Explorers.
The stoppage did not slow down the Minutemen as Rahsool Diggins hit a triple to expand the lead to double-digits again. The offense was clearly in a flow for the home squad, but the defense may have been even more so.
Over the last six minutes of the game, La Salle scored just two points. The only bucket for the visitors in the final stretch came as Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi got a steal and slam to beat the final buzzer by two seconds.
The UMass defensive stronghold that ended the game was fortified by aggression, discipline, and rebounding. The Minutemen closed out on shooters strong, rotated well when the Explorers attacked those closeouts, defended strictly without fouling and rebounded the ball dominantly. This allowed UMass to go on a 21-2 run for the final six minutes of the second half.
The Minutemen ended the game with just 10 fouls and a 53-37 rebounding advantage, showing a clear team effort to end defensive possessions promptly.
“[Ndjigue], [Daniel Hankins-Sanford], Rivera, Malek [Abdelgowad], their defensive physicality at the rim allowed us to win today,” Martin said.
Rivera, Ndjigue, Abdelgowad, and Hankins-Sanford all made lasting impacts on defense, patrolling the paint with discipline while matching La Salle’s rebounding numbers with 37 boards as a quartet.
Abdelgowad suffered an ankle injury in the first minute of the second half after leading UMass with eight points and seven rebounds in the first half. Hankins-Sanford served as the second center in the rotation and provided sufficient interior defense along with nine rebounds in extended minutes at the five spot.
Ndjigue was seemingly everywhere at once on the court as he reeled in 13 rebounds and swatted five shots while Rivera added seven boards and a block of his own to solidify the play of the Minutemen forwards.
With a comfortable win behind it, UMass will attempt to start a winning streak against George Washington on Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. That game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
Tym Brown can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @tym_brown1.