The Massachusetts Minutemen (3-7, 0-0 Atlantic 10) lost to the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell) Riverhawks (6-4, 0-0 America East) 96-83 on Saturday afternoon. In the all-time series history, the Minutemen still hold a 10-4 lead over the Riverhawks.
The battle for the Kennedy Cup this year started very competitively between UMass and UMass Lowell, but towards the end of the first half, the momentum seemed to be in the Riverhawks’ favor. The Minutemen were without Daniel Hankins-Sanford (right-hand injury) for the second consecutive game as well as Nate Guerengomba (right foot injury) for the first time this season, and it showed on the court not having their energy. There is no clear timetable for either Hankins-Sanford or Guerengomba and not having their scoring or defensive production on the court against UMass Lowell on Saturday afternoon did show.
The Minutemen missed key free throws down the stretch that did not help them, as well as the number of fouls that had piled up that resulted in both Daniel Rivera and Jayden Ndjigue fouling out in the final minute of the second half. With the foul trouble occurring, Coach Frank Martin decided to swap into a zone defense to help limit their fouls. The zone defense was effective at first, but once the Riverhawks figured out they were able to break through the zone defense. UMass also struggled with their ball screen defense without Hankins-Sanford being on the court to help guard them. “It’s pathetic. It’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing, my old fat a** can guard a ball screen better than our centers,” said Coach Martin on his thoughts about how the Minutemen did with guarding ball screens.
There were four players in double-figure scoring for UMass on Saturday afternoon. Ndjigue had a career-high 17 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals, Jaylen Curry had 17 points, Marqui Worthy had a career-high 15 points, and Rivera had 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals for the scorers in double digits scoring. Rahsool Diggins and Malek Abdelgowad both had 6 points, Shahid Muhammad had 5 points, Luka Damjanac and Tarique Foster each had 2 points, and Akil Watson had 1 point to round out scorers for the Minutemen.
UMass continues their homestand in the Mullins Center on Saturday, December 14th against the University of Massachusetts Boston Beacons (5-2, 2-1 Little East Conference) at noon. This will be the first meeting for both teams in the battle of the UMass system.
Featured Image: Seth Bradley, UMass Athletics
Kaily “KG” Godek is a current student at Western New England University (WNE). She has been a supporter of UMass Athletics for over 15 years. Kaily focuses on both UMass Basketball teams and occasionally on the other Women’s Basketball teams in the conference. While writing for A10 Talk, she works in the athletic department at WNE. When she graduates from WNE she wants to go into either Sports Broadcasting and Journalism or Coaching. You can follow Kaily on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kgumass23.
