Rahsool Diggins led the Massachusetts men’s basketball team to its 10th win of the season with a 32-point performance against Duquesne. With over half the Minutemen’s (10-12, 5-4 Atlantic-10) points in this 62-53 victory, the senior guard has emphatically continued his dominance in conference play.
“Give [Rahsool Diggins] credit, I mean he’s playing like an all-league guy,” head coach Frank Martin said. “He’s carrying us with his voice, he’s carrying us defensively, he’s carrying us with [obviously] scoring.”
This is the third-highest scoring effort in Diggins’ collegiate career, trailing his 33-point performance against St. Joseph’s and his record-breaking 46-point performance over Fordham. Against the Dukes (9-13, 4-5 A-10), the senior guard shot 11-of-18 from the floor while going 5-of-9 from the three-point range to lead his team to victory.
With nine minutes left in the game, Duquesne led 39-36 in an intense defensive battle. Diggins changed the tone of the game, starting with a floater from just within the paint. Kareem Rozier fought back with a layup, but Diggins stuck a three to tie the game as the defense lost him.
From that point on, there was no stopping the scoring onslaught that the senior guard put forward for UMass. Diggins was the only scorer in an 18-5 Minutemen run as he ran circles around the Dukes’ defense.
He struck on each of his four attempts from beyond the arc, hit a pair of mid-range pull-ups and mixed in a layup on a backdoor cut. All these shots were strongly contested, but it was clear no defensive pressure could have knocked the senior guard out of rhythm. As the cherry on top, Diggins hit four straight free throws to close the game and seal a 27-point second-half performance for himself.
As extraordinary as this scoring output is, it has become somewhat of a regularity for UMass’ starting point guard since conference play began. During the non-conference schedule, Diggins averaged 11.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game. In A-10 play, he is averaging 25.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Along with the enormous boost in counting stats, the senior guard’s efficiency has skyrocketed as well. Against non-conference opponents, Diggins shot 35.2 percent from the field, 27.1 percent from three and 81.8 percent from the free throw line. Now against A-10 foes, the senior guard has improved to 44.7 percent from the field, 41.6 percent from three and 84 percent from the free throw line.
“I love coaching guys and watching them go from guys that couldn’t handle adversity, couldn’t handle responsibility to now [saying] ‘Give me more.’ because they’ve grown and they have so much courage,” Martin said. “I’m happy for our team, but I’m really happy for [Diggins].”
Diggins has solidified himself as the leader of this Minutemen squad throughout his play in the A-10 schedule. The skill level of the league requires good teams to have a driving force behind them at all times, and UMass’ star guard has risen to meet the occasion.
“I saw the standings and I said, ‘Holy cow, it’s like a log jam’,” Martin said. “This league, one through fifteen or whatever it is, it’s hard. Every team, the scouting reports, the attention to detail, the competitiveness, the guard play, the league’s really good.”
With nine games left in its tough A-10 schedule, the Minutemen will look for more performances like this from Diggins to lead the way to a strong finish to the regular season.
UMass’ next test in conference play will be the St. Louis Billikens on Tuesday, Feb. 4 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.