Despite a heroic second half from guard Rashool Diggins who added 21 points, UMass fell short against VCU,  73-59. Forward Josh Cohen also added 14 points and seven rebounds in the game.

The Minutemen started the game slow hitting just 7-28 shots in the first half. Going into halftime UMass faced a 42-25 deficit. Those 25 points were the least in the first half of any game in the Frank Martin era. 

“They just outplayed us in the first half,” Martin said. “And the hole was too big to crawl out of against a team that doesn’t really turn the ball over.” 

Poor shooting from the UMass backcourt in the first half was a key contributor as the trio of guards Keon Thompson, Jaylen Curry and Diggins went 0-10. 

UMass also struggled to win on the boards all day long losing the rebounding battle 37-26 on the day and 20-12 in the first half. For VCU forwards Toibu Lawal and Michael Belle each added six boards. 

The Minutemen had a solid afternoon when it came to turnovers posting just nine, whereas VCU had 13. However, VCU capitalized on their opportunities scoring 15 points off turnovers compared to just seven for UMass. 

UMass started the game up 8-5 in the opening minutes after forward Matt Cross hit a three. Overall, Cross struggled shooting on the day hitting just 2-9 shots for just seven points. 

Another struggle in the first half was from three-point range. The Minutemen went 1-9 from long range in the first while VCU went 5-9. Particularly impressive for VCU was Guard Joe Bamisile. He led VCU in scoring with 18 on the day including four triples. 

The Minutemen entered the second half facing down a 17-point deficit. Diggins came into the second half firing on all cylinders notching eight points in the opening minutes. Diggins would amass 20 points in the second half including four long balls. 

The rest of the team only shot 5-14 in the second half. With 4:24 seconds left, Diggins knocked down his final points on a three-point jumper to bring the game within six. 

However, that would be the last shot any Minuteman hit on the afternoon as UMass proceeded to go on a scoring drought for the remaining minutes in the game allowing VCU to slowly pull away. 

Thompson returned from his foot injury and took 11 shots on the day, but only hit two for five points. The Minutemen also struggled to get scoring from their bench and were outscored 34-4 by VCU in bench points. 

VCU was able to beat UMass by getting into the paint and knocking down contested shots, and despite a solid UMass effort, the deficit was just too much to overcome. 

While UMass will not be going to the 68-team NCAA Tournament or the 32-team National Invitation Tournament (NIT) the season may not be done yet. The Minutemen will likely be given a chance to opt into the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) a 16-team tournament in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

Last year’s tournament was won by Charlotte and recent winners include Nevada, South Florida and UNC Wilmington. It is worth noting that in the previous 15 CBI tournaments, an A10 team has never won.