The Massachusetts Minutemen (5-8, 0-0 Atlantic 10) lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils (9-2, 0-0 Big XII) 78-62 in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic on Saturday afternoon. The Sun Devils take a 1-0 lead in the series history between these two teams.
UMass came out of the gates in the first half looking very strong, and hunting for the win against a team that was in the top 100 in the NET Rankings. The Minutemen saw big contributions from Akil Watson and Shahid Muhammad early in the first half that led to them gaining momentum quickly and going into the half with a two-point lead. Rahsool Diggins kicked into a second gear in the second half scoring fifteen of his twenty-four points in the second half. UMass then started to struggle from the field which resulted in the Sun Devils going on a run to take the lead and not look back in the game. One thing UMass fans can start to look up is Daniel Hankins-Sanford should be returning to play for the start of non-conference play after having sat out for almost a month with a fracture in his right hand. Having Hankins-Sanford back should help the Minutemen to start to get more in scoring and rebounding with him on the court.
The Minutemen had one player in double-figure scoring on Saturday afternoon. Diggins had 24 points as the lone scorer in double digits for UMass. Daniel Rivera had 9 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks, Malek Abdelgowad had 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals, Watson had 7 points and 6 rebounds, Muhammad had 6 points, Marqui Worthy had 4 points, and Jayden Ndjigue and Jaylen Curry each had 2 points to round out scorers for the Minutemen.
UMass hits the road to open up their final season in the Atlantic 10 against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks (8-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10) on Tuesday, December 31st at 2pm. This will be the 81st meeting between these two teams, and the Minutemen have a 42-38 lead over the Hawks in the all-time series history.
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.
