Saturday was supposed to be a day of remembrance and of celebration for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team. A 49-year run in the Atlantic 10 is getting close to completion, and the game against Loyola Chicago was the final game at the Mullins Center with the Minutemen (12-19, 7-11 A-10) as a member of that conference. It was also senior night, and while only one player was honored, Rahsool Diggins’ development has been a highlight for the program over the past three years.
If there was any talk out there of a storybook ending, the Ramblers (21-10, 12-6 A-10) weren’t listening, as they took UMass to the woodshed in a 74-51 victory. After an opening 12 minutes where neither team could get much offense going, the away team snapped out of its slump. The Minutemen did not, and will get zero byes in the conference tournament as a result.
“We needed to play with all the qualities that are required to give yourself a chance when you play an upper level team, and instead we didn’t have that fight,” head coach Frank Martin said.
“Disappointed and frustrating, [the] two best words I can use to describe that performance today.”
Similar to most of its 19 losses this season, an offensive flow was never established by UMass. The team tied its season-low in points, went 1-of-21 from three and shot just over 26 percent from the floor. Turnovers were less of an issue than in games past, but more often than not, the Minutemen just couldn’t generate high-quality looks. When Martin’s team slowed the ball down, Loyola defenders stuck to guys like glue, and for the most part, it didn’t seem like UMass players made an effort to create separation.
The Ramblers opened up the game with a 13-0 run in the middle of the first half that turned a three-point deficit into a ten-point lead. From there, head coach Drew Valentine’s team kept building on both ends through grit and physicality: staples of A-10 teams both past and present. They hung with the Minutemen on the glass, and both their shot creation and shotmaking were a few steps ahead of UMass on this day.
“One of the veteran coaches on my staff, Dan Hipsher, he [says] there’s like three to four games a year that you’re going to win no matter what happens, and today was clearly one of those days,” Valentine said.
Part of the Minutemen’s shooting struggles stemmed from the rough play of Diggins, who went just 3-of-17 from the floor and 0-of-10 from deep. The senior guard has been up-and-down from beyond the arc all season, and after Saturday, he’ll head into the postseason having made just 13 of his last 61 attempts (21 percent).
“[Loyola] guarded well, they [were] very physical,” Diggins said. “I think we got a lot of good shots and they didn’t [fall].”
The saving grace for UMass on offense was Daniel Hankins-Sanford, who prevented an ugly offensive showing from becoming even more dreadful. The junior tied a career-high of 22 points that was set three days prior and added on 15 rebounds, which stands alone as his career-best mark. Spot-up threes weren’t falling like they have recently for the forward, but he scored through his typical game of mid-range and inside looks.
“[Hankins-Sanford’s] accepted tough love and [he’s] embraced it,” Martin said. “I wish some guys on our team would have [his] desire on a daily basis.”
UMass’ defense played to a reasonably high standard in the first half, forcing six early turnovers out of Loyola Chicago. On the sixth and final cough up of the half, Jaylen Curry ran out in transition and threw a perfectly-placed alley-oop to Shahid Muhammad, who slammed it down. The play brought the crowd of 3,484 to their feet, a rare occurrence in a sizable loss where the Minutemen only scored four fastbreak points.
The Ramblers showed off their depth with five players scoring eight or more points. The guard duo of Jayden Dawson and Sheldon Edwards Jr. led the way from deep with nine combined threes, generating open looks both on their own and through well-ran sets. Both guards finished with 17 and 12 points, respectively, while Des Watson was second on the team with 14 points.
With other conference games going final, the Minutemen are locked into the 11 seed in the A-10 Tournament. Their first round game will be Wednesday against La Salle at 4:30 p.m. on the USA Network.
Dean Wendel can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @DeanWende1.
