AMHERST ― The UMass men’s basketball team had several opportunities to tie or take the lead with less than 5 minutes remaining against Kent State after trailing for most of the game.
The Minutemen, however, couldn’t capitalize. They made one field goal over the final 5:30 and dropped their MAC Conference opener, 69-59, in front of 3,104 at the Mullins Center, Saturday.
“Conference play is a different animal,” UMass coach Frank Martin said. “They handled this moment better than us today.”
UMass shot 18 of 55 from the floor and was 17 of 24 from the line as it saw its five-game win streak come to an end.
“It’s a different ballgame,” K’Jei Parker said of conference play. “It’s our first one, but just from that we can tell that each team will come out and give us their best. We have to come out and give them our best. It’s still early and our heads are up. We’ll be ready for the next one.”
Kent State dominated inside. Delrecco Gillespie finished with 18 points and 20 rebounds to pace the Golden Flashes (10-2, 1-0 MAC).
“They emphasized his presence in the paint and we didn’t commit to what the coaches were telling us to do,” UMass forward Jayden Ndjigue said. “As a result he grabbed 20 of their 40 rebounds tonight. We have to do better on that; be tougher inside.”
Martin said the Minutemen need more from their frontline.
“Everyone falls in love with the 3-point shot,” he said. “The game’s at the rim. Whoever wins that fight wins the game. We didn’t win that fight today.”
Daniel Hankins-Sanford led UMass with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Leonardo Bettiol had a team-high 14 points.
UMass leading scorer Marcus Banks Jr. was held to 9 points on 1 of 10 shooting. Parker was held to 5 points on only two shot attempts.
“That had everything to do with Kent State,” Martin said. “They’re good; they defend; they’re physical and they wouldn’t leave those guys. We tried to run stuff to get them open and we couldn’t get them open.”
A sluggish first half and start to the second left the Minutemen in a 14-point hole. But UMass held Kent State to 10 points over an 8:30 stretch to close within 55-53 with 5:30 left.
Ball movement led to open shots on the perimeter. Parker, Dwayne Wimbley Jr. and Banks each hit a 3 during the comeback.
“I thought we were very passive offensively. We played with no pace, with no aggression and that’s why we were down at halftime,” Martin said. “We have a fun group. They’re good dudes. They play, they care. That’s why we came back.”
Carbuccia and Banks had opportunities to tie or take the lead but came up empty. Trailing by 3 and coming out of a timeout, Bettiol drove and lost the ball out of bounds. Rob Whaley Jr. converted a three-point on the other end to extend the lead to 59-53.
Kent State closed on a 10-4 run.
“Leo decided to break off the play and do his own thing and he dribbles off his chest out of bounds. They come down and instead of us locking in, and say we got to get a stop, we lose our minds and get called – for as physical a game as it was – we get called for the weakest foul I’ve seen in 42 years for a three-point play,” Martin said. “Instead of taking a shot; you miss you miss, but at least you take a shot to tie or take the lead, now we’re down (six). We struggled to score the rest of the way.”
A lackluster first half left UMass trailing 35-24.
Kent State stretched out a 12-11 lead behind small spurts and timely 3-point shooting. A 6-0 run followed shortly by a 8-1 run gave the Golden Flashes their first double-digit lead at 28-17 with just under 5 minutes left in the half.
“We couldn’t score from the perimeter (and) that’s because their defense was designed to not allow us to score from the perimeter,” Martin said. “We had to score inside and we didn’t get a very good game from our inside guys.”
Banks was held to four points in the first half, all from the free-throw line. Kent State defended the perimeter and collapsed in the paint to stifle UMass.
“Coach was just telling us we just have to execute,” Parker said. “I feel like we got everything we wanted, we just have to come out with toughness.”
UMass was held scoreless for stretches in the first half. The Minutemen didn’t score in the final 2:45. They also went scoreless for 4 minutes midway through the first half.
“We didn’t have the sense of urgency that we needed, or that was necessary, for us to come out on top, especially in the first half,” Ndjigue said.
UMass hosts UMass Boston at noon on Monday. After that, the Minutemen will have eight days off before they visit Eastern Michigan on Dec. 30 for their conference road opener.
Freshman Quinn Woidke had 19 points for Kent State.
