The Massachusetts Minutemen (6-3, 0-0 A-10) lost a close one to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-3, 1-0 ACC) 73-70 on Thursday night. The Yellow Jackets tied the all-time series history up 1-1 with the Minutemen.
Thursday night’s game was all about momentum, and who could keep it in their favor. UMass had the momentum in their favor for the start of both halves going on runs that gave them the lead, then toward the middle of each half the momentum was not really in anyone’s favor, but by the end of each half the momentum was with Georgia Tech. UMass went into halftime down by 8 points, but came out and went on a 16-2 run to get the lead back.
Officiating in the second half though was not the Minutemen’s friend. The referees called a foul on Matt Cross with just over 8 minutes left in regulation. Coach Frank Martin pulled Cross out with it being his fourth foul. The referees then went to the monitor, then removed the foul from Cross, and gave it to Daniel Hankins-Sanford instead. Rahsool Diggins put up a layup midway through the second half that was called goaltending but was then reversed at a media timeout with under 4 minutes left to go in the game. That cut a 4-point lead that UMass had down to a 2-point lead.
UMass started out shooting hot behind the three-point line scoring their first 12 points from behind the arc. The Minutemen then went cold from behind the arc shooting 10-31 from behind the arc going 32.3% for the game. Free throws were also not the Minutemen’s friend as the team went 8-19 from the charity stripe shooting 42.1% from the line.
UMass had four different players in double-digit scoring on Thursday night. Cross led the way for the Minutemen with 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 steals. Diggins had 15 points and 4 steals. Josh Cohen had 10 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block. Jayden Ndjigue had a career night with 11 points and 5 steals in 26 minutes of playing time. Ndjigue also had 4 rebounds and 1 assist for his stat line on Thursday.
UMass has game 2 in the Diamond Head Classic Friday night in Hawaii. The Minutemen will face the Portland Pilots (6-7, 0-0 WCC) at 1am ET early Saturday morning (8pm in Hawaii). This will be the first time that these two teams will face off against each other in both of the program’s history.
Featured Image: Chris Tucci, 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 Sports Broadcasting and Journalism. You can follow Kaily on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kgumass23.
