The Massachusetts men’s basketball team mounted a big second-half comeback to defeat Rhode Island, 91-88. The rivalry win allowed UMass (12-17, 7-9 Atlantic-10) to leapfrog the Rams (17-11, 6-10 A-10) and rise to 10th place in the conference standings. With the Minutemen heading to the Mid-American Conference next season, Saturday’s game makes it the last time the two rivals will matchup as A-10 foes.
“It’s one of the reasons I took the job,” UMass head coach Frank Martin said of the conference rivalry. “Rarely is a UMass-Rhody game a walk in the park … those games are wars.”
With just under 11 minutes left in the second half, Rhode Island held a 10-point lead and looked in control of the game. Yet, after a timeout, Jayden Ndjigue jumpstarted a game-changing 14-0 run with an and-one layup. After the Minutemen forced a shot clock violation, Rahsool Diggins hit a tough mid-range basket, which was followed by the Rams’ David Fuchs airballing a shot.
Jaylen Curry then made a three-pointer to cut the deficit to two. After another Rhode Island airball, Curry found Daniel Hankins-Sanford on back-to-back possessions where the forward made two threes to the crowd’s delight, capping the run and giving UMass a four-point lead with six and a half minutes left.
After David Green hit a three for the Rams to tie the game up at 85 apiece with one minute remaining, Martin called a timeout. Coming out of the stoppage, Diggins made a short floater, giving the Minutemen a lead.
Shortly after, with 26 seconds left, Green had another chance to silence the UMass crowd with a three again, but it was to no avail as he missed. After a pair of trips to the free-throw line for Diggins, the Minutemen never allowed the Rams to get another shot for the win.
“Even through difficulty, I thought we had guys on the court that were communicating and enthusiastic and then, give them credit, [we] started making shots,” Martin stated.
UMass’s offense was on fire all game, shooting 54.1 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three. The 91 points scored in the rivalry showdown is the most the Minutemen have got since their triple overtime thriller against Fordham on Jan. 15.
Curry returned from a three-game absence and showed no sign of his wrist injury, putting up 22 points and a team-high eight assists. The sophomore also drained five three-pointers, which tied Diggins for the most on the team. Diggins scored a team-high 29 while also displaying his defensive ability by getting a game-high three steals. Additionally, the Philadelphia native scored his 1,000th career point and his 1,000th point at UMass.
Along with the backcourt duo, Hankins-Sanford shined as he scored a career-high 19 points along with his third consecutive double-double by securing a game-high 12 boards.
“[Hankins-Sanford’s] energy is contagious. His communication is real, and people are starting to migrate to him,” Martin said.
Despite allowing the comeback, Rhode Island’s offense also shot lights out. The Rams made a season-high 16 three-pointers while shooting 47.1 percent from deep. Green was the star as the senior scored a career-high 30 points, in large part due to eight threes, which is also a career-high. The team captain also led his team in rebounds with 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
“[Green’s] a great shooter. I mean, he’s by far and away, in my opinion, one of the best shooters I’ve coached. He has great range and can get his shot off. He’s fearless in terms of shooting the ball, he’s not scared,” Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller said. “He carried us for most of the night.”
Luka Damjanac received lots of praise from Martin as the freshman played a career-high 23 minutes. He also was second on the team with a 14 plus/minus.
“He knows what he’s supposed to do. The one guy on our team that I haven’t played all year is [Damjanac], yet his energy every single day is phenomenal,” Martin said. “He’s enthusiastic when he’s out there.”
UMass has two more games left on the schedule before the A-10 tournament, with St. Bonaventure being next up. The Minutemen will travel to Olean, New York, with tipoff being on Wednesday, March 5, at 7 p.m., and available to watch on ESPN+.
Maxwell Solomon can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Maxwell697909
