On an 8-0 run with nine minutes left in regulation, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team trailed by two to Rhode Island. At most, UMass (12-17, 7-9 Atlantic 10) faced a double-digit deficit at the end of the first half, but were working efficiently to piece together a comeback.
Jaylen Curry, who returned after missing three games, found Daniel Hankins-Sanford on the perimeter of the arc, who stepped back for three. The ball fell through the net, the home crowd of Minutemen fans erupted in cheers and UMass retook the lead over the Rams (17-11, 6-10 A-10) for the first time since the first quarter.
On the next offensive possession for the Minutemen, it was Curry who found Hankins-Sanford once again with open space at the top of the arc. With his confidence built up after his last shot, Hankins-Sanford took the three to extend the UMass lead to 81-77 with 6:30 left.
“Just all week at practice, [head coach Frank Martin has] been telling me, ‘[If] I’m open, shoot that shot,’” Hankins-Sanford said. “I’ve been grinding, I’ve been putting shots up at nighttime and I just told myself, ‘When I catch it on the first one, I had to take that shot.’”
If the crowd wasn’t already loud enough with 5,024 attendees, fans jumped to their feet with Hankins-Sanford’s second three-point shot. Hyped up, the junior chest-bumped Curry to celebrate the momentum swing created in that stretch.
“I feel like that gave us the spark to go back and get another stop on defense, the bench was pumped up, the crowd was into it,” Hankins-Sanford said. “Everybody, the coaches, the players, it was just great energy to be out there.”
The Charlotte, North Carolina native netted a career-high 19 points in the 91-88 victory over Rhode Island. Hankins-Sanford shot 7-of-14 from the field, with his only two three-pointers of the night occurring in that run.
The junior also notched his seventh double-double of the season with 12 rebounds. This marks Hankins-Sanford’s third consecutive game of grabbing double-digit boards, as he sits with the second-most total rebounds for the Minutemen with 168.
“I’m really happy for [Hankins-Sanford] cause he’s grown so much as a human being,” Martin said. “… He’s embraced being positive, he’s embraced growth and then he made the plays to give us the lead and then rebounding … right now he’s like our lone warrior on the defensive glass.”
The first place holder of the rebounding-leader title is Daniel Rivera with 204 on the season. However, Rivera didn’t dress against the Rams and is out for the remainder of the regular season with a knee injury.
Rivera’s absence on Saturday night is the first game he hasn’t played all season for UMass, as the senior averages 11.5 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.
With his absence, Hankins-Sanford took on an increased role as the key player to crash the glass. He made his presence known in the paint by utilizing his 6-foot-8-inch frame in defensive situations to challenge Rhode Island’s shots and on offense to power his way to the hoop.
Following what would extend into a 14-0 run by the Minutemen, with four minutes left to go and UMass up 83-82, Diggins drew the attention of two Rams’ players, leaving Hankins-Sanford left alone on the perimeter.
Diggins connected with Hankins-Sanford, who took the ball to the center of the paint for a two-point jumper, extending the Minutemen’s lead once again.
Throughout the contest, Hankins-Sanford made his shots in the most clutch moments to boost UMass to the win that snapped a four-game losing streak.
Moving ahead into the final two games of the regular season, and without Rivera’s presence in the lineup, Hankins-Sanford’s role will be heavily relied on as the Minutemen travel to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, March 5, in search of revenge after the Bonnies bested UMass back on Feb. 15. That game can be streamed on ESPN+.
Samantha Sands can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @samantha_sands_.
