The Massachusetts Minutemen (5-7, 0-0 Atlantic 10) defeated the Northeastern Huskies (8-4, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Association) 77-72 on Wednesday night. The Minutemen extend their lead in the all-time series history to 40-19 over the Huskies.
UMass got off to a great start, going on a quick ten-to-nothing run against Northeastern that resulted in the Huskies calling a quick timeout within the game’s first four minutes. In that quick run by the Minutemen, Malek Abdelgowad scored the first four points to help them get out of the gates strong. The Minutemen built up double-figure leads throughout the game, and the Huskies found ways to cut that lead down to get themselves back in the game in key stretches of the game. Jaylen Curry helped UMass get out of the gates strong in the second half by scoring eighteen of his twenty-four points, including the go-ahead three-pointer after Northeastern tied the game up with less than two minutes to go. The Minutemen were able to hold out the Huskies in their final home game of the non-conference slate with their balanced scoring they had on Wednesday night.
UMass had five players in double-figure scoring on Wednesday night. Curry led the way with a career-high 24 points and 5 steals, Abdelgowad had 12 points and 11 rebounds, Daniel Rivera was close to having a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 8 blocks, and Marqui Worthy and Rahsool Diggins had 10 points each to round out scorers in double-digit scoring. Jayden Ndjigue had 3 points and 4 rebounds, and Tarique Foster, Nate Guerengomba, and Shahid Muhammad each had 2 points to round out scorers for the Minutemen.
UMass heads down to the birthplace of basketball to face the Arizona State Sun Devils (8-2, 0-0 Big XII) in their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday, December 21st at 4pm on CBS Sports Network as a part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase hosted at the MassMutual Center. This will be the first meeting between the Minutemen and the Sun Devils on Saturday afternoon.
Following the UMass vs. Arizona State game, the Rhode Island Rams (10-1, 0-0 Atlantic 10) take on old conference foe the Temple Owls (7-4, 0-0 American Athletic Conference) as the second game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase on Saturday, December 21st. The game will tip-off at approximately 6:30pm on CBS Sports Network or approximately twenty to thirty minutes after the conclusion of the UMass vs. Arizona State game. This is the 73rd meeting between these two teams, and the Owls have a 57-15 lead over the Rams, it is the first meeting between these two teams since the 2012-2013 season, which was Temple’s last season in the Atlantic 10.
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.
