PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Massachusetts basketball (5-9) dropped a 72-81 game to Saint Joseph’s (10-4) on Tuesday afternoon at Hagan Arena. The Minutemen battled defensively, forcing 17 turnovers but could not close the deficit in the Atlantic 10 conference opener. Senior Rahsool Diggins poured in a career-high 33 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania […]
PHILADELPHIA, PA. — Massachusetts basketball (5-9) dropped a 72-81 game to Saint Joseph’s (10-4) on Tuesday afternoon at Hagan Arena. The Minutemen battled defensively, forcing 17 turnovers but could not close the deficit in the Atlantic 10 conference opener.
Senior Rahsool Diggins poured in a career-high 33 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native added three rebounds and three assists in the homecoming matchup.
Daniel Rivera contributed a season-high 23 points, shooting a career-high 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Rivera finished with nine rebounds and a pair of assists on the afternoon.
The Hawks were led by Rasheer Fleming who tallied 16 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
Breaking Down The Action
- Daniel Rivera dropped in Massachusetts’ first points of the night, sinking a layup to make it 3-2 in favor of Saint Joseph’s with 18:18 on the clock.
- Saint Joseph’s Xzayvier Brown ended a 2:38 scoring drought for both teams, sinking a turnaround jumper to give the Hawks a three-point lead.
- A Rivera free throw and three-point basket from Jaylen Curry provided UMass its first lead of the day at 6-5 with 15:12 to play in the half.
- The two teams traded baskets before an and-one layup from Rahsool Diggins gave the Minutemen their largest lead of the day, making it 11-7 with 13:38 on the clock.
- Six points from Rasheer Fleming keyed an 8-0 Saint Joseph’s scoring run to make it 15-11 Hawks, with just over 12 minutes to play in the half.
- The deficit remained at four points for much of the next four minutes until a pair of jumpers from Rahsool Diggins and Shahid Muhammad cut Hawks lead to 27-25.
- Another and-one basket from Diggins evened the score at 31-31 with 3:46 left in the first half.
- Saint Joseph’s ended the first half on a 4-0 run, sending the two teams to the locker room holding a 37-33 advantage.
- Diggins and Rivera combined for eight points to open the second half, cutting the Saint Joseph’s lead to 42-41 with 15:50 left to play.
- A three-pointer from Dasear Haskins capped an 8-2 Hawks run, extending the Massachusetts deficit back to 55-47 with just under 12 minutes to go.
- Five points from Rivera brought the game back within striking distance at 72-68 Hawks with 3:50 remaining in regulation.
- Saint Joseph’s responded with a 9-3 scoring run to end the game, the final whistle sounding with the score 81-72.
Newcomer Notifications
- Five newcomers saw action on the evening, with Rivera and Abdelgowad entering as starters.
- Daniel Rivera scored a season-high 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field.
- Shahid Muhammad tallied six points while swatting six blocks.
- Nate Guerengomba played 13 minutes, snagging two rebounds.
Numbers To Know
- 6: Jaylen Curry dished out a team-high six assists.
- 9: Rivera reeled in a team-high nine rebounds.
- 11: Diggins sunk a career high 11 free throws.
- 12: Massachusetts has now recorded 30 or more points in the paint in 12 games this season.
- 17: Massachusetts forced 17 turnovers in the matchup.
- 33: Diggins scored 33 points, his third 20-plus point performance of the season.
- 33: With his 4 blocks on the night Muhammad increased his season total to 33.
Series History
- With the result, Massachusetts now holds a 42-39 record against the Hawks all-time.
- The Minutemen now hold a 1-2 record in A-10 openers under head coach Frank Martin.
Up Next
- The Minutemen host Richmond for their A-10 home opener on Satuday, Jan. 4 at 12 p.m. in Amherst, Mass. The game will be broadcast on NESN with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
