Massachusetts Falls In Saturday Afternoon Clash With UMass Lowell

AMHERST, MASS. -- Massachusetts basketball (3-7) dropped a 96-83 game to UMass Lowell (6-4) on Saturday afternoon at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen went into the halftime break on a 10-2 scoring run but were unable to build on the momentum in the second half.

The Minutemen were led by Jayden Ndjigue who poured in a career-high 17 points, going 5-of-7 from the field. In his 31 minutes of play, Ndjigue recorded eight rebounds and five assists on the afternoon.

Jaylen Curry matched with 17 points of his own, contributing three rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes of play. Daniel Rivera continued to be effective at the rim, scoring 12 points to go along with five rebounds.

The Riverhawks were led by Quinton Mincey who tallied a game high 27 points going 8-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from three-point range.

Breaking Down The Action

The Minutemen got on the board first with a layup under the basket by Daniel Rivera with 18:55 on the clock.
UMass Lowell answered quickly with a three-pointer by Quinton Mincey.
Both teams traded baskets early in the game with Massachusetts claiming an early 10-7 lead.
The Riverhawks responded with a 13-1 run over two minutes, keyed by a shot from behind the arc by Yuri Covington to gain a 20-14 advantage.
Back-to-back Massachusetts layups and a shot from the charity stripe put UMass within three with 10:25 on the clock.
Martin Somerville and Quincy Clark's layups extended the Lowell lead to 26-19 with 8:42 left in the half.
After three shots from the field by Jaylen Curry, Massachusetts cut the deficit to six with 4:32 left in the half.
A layup from Cam Morris III extended the Lowell lead back to eight with 4:17 left in the half.
Massachusetts engineered a 10-2 scoring run over the final four minutes of the half, sending the Minutemen to the break with the score 40-38 in favor of UMass Lowell.
With a pair of free throws by Max Brooks, Lowell extended their lead to four with 19:38 left in the game.
Jaylen Curry sunk an and-one layup to cap a 6-0 run and put Massachusetts on top by two, making the score 46-44 with 17:44 left in the game.
A pull-up jumper from Mincey evened the score between the teams with 16:22 left in the game.
Xzavier Lino's midrange jumper capped a 10-1 Lowell run, giving the River Hawks a 54-49 advantage.
After a Ndjigue layup and three-pointer by Worthy, UMass cut the deficit to three.
A pair of free throws from Morris III capped a 7-3 Lowell scoring run over nearly two minutes to make the score 62-54 with 12:53 left in the game.
Abdelgowad's sunk a pair of free throws to key a 6-0 run to put Massachusetts within two.
The teams went back and forth for nearly four minutes with Lowell taking a 72-68 lead with eight minutes left in the game.
Ndjigue found Diggins under the basket to put UMass within four with 6:55 on the clock.
The Minutemen cut the deficit as low as five points in the final five minutes of regulation but could not make a large enough dent, falling 96-83 at the final whistle.

Newcomer Notifications

Five newcomers saw action on the evening, with Rivera and Abdelgowad entering as starters.
Damjanc scored his second basket of the season.
Abdelgowad garnered six points while going 4-4 from the free throw line.
Rivera scored 12 points marking his third straight game with 10-plus points.

Numbers To Know

4: Four Minutemen finished the game with double digits, Ndjigue (17), Curry (17), Worthy (15), Rivera (12)
5: Ndjigue set a new season high with five assists.
16: UMass recorded 16 points off of fastbreaks.
17: Ndjigue's 17 point performance marks a new career high points.
54: Massachusetts scored 54 of their points in the paint.

Series History

With the result, Massachusetts now holds a 10-4 record against the River Hawks all-time.
The two programs previously faced each other during the 2023-24 campaign with Massachusetts securing a 90-77 victory on Dec. 9 in Amherst, Mass.

Up Next

The Minutemen host in-state opponent UMass Boston on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 12 p.m. in the Mullins Center. The game will be broadcast on NESN with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard