Men’s basketball (14-4, 3-2 A-10) fell to UMass (12-6, 2-3 A-10), losing 67-81 on the road and knocking their second loss in the Atlantic 10 Conference play in Amherst, Massachusetts, on Saturday.
The Revolutionaries ended the first half tied with UMass but were not able to gain momentum in the second half as the Minutemen went on a 17-0 run to pull away. The Revs struggled heavily on both ends of the floor, shooting 36 percent on their field goals and allowing the Minutemen to score 51 percent of their field goals.
Redshirt sophomore guard Maximus Edwards recorded his fourth double-double this season, collecting 13 points and 11 rebounds. Redshirt freshman forward Darren Buchanan Jr. scored 15 points and redshirt freshman guard Garrett Johnson scored 16 points with four for eight shooting from the 3-point line.
Four minutes into the game, Johnson sank his first 3-pointer of the game which gave the Revs a 9-8 lead.
With 11:46 minutes remaining in the first half, the Revs were down by 5 following an 2-8 UMass run. Three consecutive 3-pointers by Edwards, graduate student guard James Bishop IV and freshman guard Jacoi Hutchinson allowed the Revs to build a 20-16 lead. Bishop ended the game with 8 points, three assists and three steals, a down game for the Revs’ leading scorer.
In the 19th minute, Bishop made a stepback 3-pointer, assisted by Johnson, to help a 2-point lead with two minutes remaining in the half. But Minutemen senior forward Josh Cohen made a hook shot in the paint with eight seconds remaining, allowing 31-31 at the expiration of the first half.
During the second half, Edwards made a layup 10 seconds into the half as the Revs got back into the lead with the score at 33-31. But for the next six minutes, the Minutemen went on a 17-0 run as they extended their lead to 51-36 with 13:41 minutes remaining. The Minutemen gained offensive momentum as they sank six of eight shots, including two for two from 3-point territory. As for the Revs, they committed two turnovers, three fouls and missed seven shots from the field during the run.
Johnson helped the Revs attempt to heat up in their next two offensive possessions with a jumper and a 3-pointer to cut the Minutemen’s lead to 12 points with the score of 41-53.
With 5:53 minutes remaining, Buchanan scored 5 points in two consecutive offensive possessions, cutting the Minutemen lead of 22 to 17 points. As the clock continued to near the end with 3:12 minutes left, the Revs reached their largest deficit of the day — 24 points with a 57-81.
The Revolutionaries will head to Richmond, Virginia, to play against Richmond (13-5, 5-0 A-10) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
