The Minutemen (17-9, 8-6 A10) rolled to a 74-52 victory against the VCU Rams (17-9, 9-4). The 17th win for the Minutemen is the most since the 2014-2015 season. UMass had three players in double-digit scoring: Cross with 18, forward Josh Cohen added 20, and guard Rashool Diggins put up 10.
The Minutemen are now 8-1 in games following a loss. With the win, they now stand two games behind VCU for fourth place in the A10 and the right for a double bye during the A10 tournament in a few weeks.
The 52 points allowed by UMass were the least since Feb. 18 of last season against Rhode Island and the least at home since Nov. 2019 against Central Connecticut State.
The status of Cross going into the game was questionable due to a right hand injury but he entered the game in the starting lineup and made his presence known early with a quick three.
However, Cross was not alone as the Minutemen dominated the opening minutes of the game flying out to a 17-2 lead. Within that run six separate Minutemen notched their first basket of the game.
The Rams were unable to hit their first non-free throw of the game until over 11 minutes into the half, going 0-14 over that span. Guard Max Shulga knocked down a triple but the scoring gap remained wide at 24-10.
“We made great plays on the ball, we rebounded and we were able to get some stops in transition,” said Cohen on their defensive effort.
VCU had no answer for Cohen who posted 20 or more points for the second game in a row. The Lincroft, New Jersey native went 5-6 from the free throw line and added on a three-pointer of his own.
Diggins and VCU guard Joe Bamisile traded three-point shots down the stretch in the first half, but Bamisile only shot 2-8 from long range all night.
Going into the half UMass sat holding a comfortable 38-26 lead. VCU only connected on two 2-point shots in the first half with their remaining 22 coming from threes or free throws. VCU had struggled in conference play within the three-point arc, hitting just 17.9% of their midrange two-point shots, good for 362nd in the country. Their struggles continued for the rest of the night.
VCU would not go down without a fight and even cut it down to 10 with 14 minutes to go, but UMas punched back with a 7-0 run including five points from forward Jayden Ndjigue.
A few minutes later, guard Jaylen Curry added five points on back-to-back possessions bringing his total on the night to nine.
With just under eight minutes to go, Cohen added another layup to give UMass a 68-46 lead. The 22-point margin was the largest of the night for the Minutemen. UMass’ dominating 22-point win is tied for their largest since a Dec. clash with Portland.
“We’ve been emphasizing when we got a lead take good shots use some clock… even though you have a 10-point lead with five minutes to go no lead is safe,” added Cohen
UMass played well down the stretch outscoring VCU 15-6 in the final 10 minutes of the second half. The Minutemen have struggled to close games down the stretch, particularly against St. Bonaventure, Loyola Chicago, and St Joseph’s, but they embraced their lead on Tuesday night.
VCU hit 30.4% of their shots from the field, their lowest shooting percentage in an A10 game since 2015.
Now, UMass looks ahead to a Saturday contest with the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, their toughest on the remaining schedule. The two squads fought earlier this month on the Bonnies campus where UMass fell 79-73.
Both sides endured foul trouble throughout the game including Ndjigue and forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford for UMass. Cohen struggled to build any momentum that night adding just four points, his second-lowest total of the season.
Cross, on the other hand, had a strong night against the Bonnies putting up 19 on 8-13 shooting. Diggins, Ndjigue, and guard Keon Thompson added double-digit points of their own.
UMass led by as many as eight in the second half, but their lead dwindled throughout the half and a two-minute scoring drought to end the game triggered a UMass loss.
The Bonnies were pushed forward by a 19-point performance from guard Charles Pride. Guard Mika Adams-Woods also nailed three shots from deep to tally 15 points. Importantly, the Bonnies also went to the free throw line 28 times compared to just 16 for UMass.
Cohen must show up for UMass, and the Minutemen must stay out of foul trouble. If UMass accomplishes that and a raucous crowd shows up, the Minutemen could have at least 18 wins for the first time since 2013-2014.
