Jaylen Curry and Rahsool Diggins have been a driving force behind the Massachusetts men’s basketball team’s success all season. This remained true in the Minutemen’s (11-13, 6-5 Atlantic 10) victory over La Salle. This is the second time UMass beat the Explorers (12-12, 4-7 A-10) this season.
In their first matchup, Curry led the Minutemen in scoring with 22 points. In this game, he took a backseat to Diggins scoring-wise but impacted the game strongly in other aspects. The sophomore guard ended the game with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Curry’s offensive output may look small in comparison to Diggins’ 34-point performance, but his impact on the game cannot be denied. The UMass shooting guard was the only visiting player to hit a three other than Diggins, going 3-of-7 from deep.
His spacing presence was active from the opening tip as Curry scored the Minutemen’s first points with a triple. Having a secondary shooting threat was key in this game for the Minutemen as the paint was opened up, allowing the offense to flow freely.
Curry also lobbed a pass up to Shahid Muhammad towards the end of the second half, resulting in a thunderous alley-oop slam that put an exclamation mark on a dominant game.
Beyond the stat sheet, Curry’s defensive impact was remarkable as he aided in slowing down a tough guard duo from La Salle. Daehson Shephard and Corey McKeithan were the leading scorers for the Explorers but did so inefficiently. The starting guard duo shot a combined 11-of-29 from the field and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.
Curry made a statement play defensively at the beginning of the game, ripping the ball away from McKeithan in the backcourt and getting and reaped what he sowed with an easy layup. The sophomore guard’s defensive play is a part of his game that head coach Frank Martin has commented on improving throughout the year.
Diggins also contributed to the defensive dominance of UMass in this game but made his biggest mark shooting from three-point range. The senior point guard went 7-of-13 on three-point attempts in this game while managing his fourth 30-point performance of the season.
“We were able to create some switches to get [Diggins] into favorable matchups,” Martin said. “Still he’s [got to] make the shots, and he did.”
Along with his efficiency on trifectas, Diggins shot 6-of-7 from inside the arc. This includes a tough and-1 finish late in the first half. This three-point play gave the Minutemen an extra bit of separation and momentum before halftime.
After half, Diggins truly rained down from distance, hitting five shots from multiple spots along the arc. Those shots contributed to a 19-point second-half performance where UMass expanded its lead from four to 23 by the end of regulation.
Overall, Diggins and Curry combined for 47 of the Minutemen’s 78 points in this game, shooting a combined 18-of-31 from the field and 10-of-20 from three. This is a huge improvement from the previous game against St. Louis. The guard pairing combined for just 21 points in that game, going 8-of-30 from the field and 4-of-16 from three.
UMass’ star guards will look to continue their new-found momentum into the final seven games of the regular season. The Minutemen will face Davidson on Feb. 12th at 7 p.m. on NESN+.
Tym Brown can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @tym_brown1.
