UMass basketball: Minutemen let yet another 2nd half lead slip at La Salle
Published: 02-11-2023 9:50 PM |
Another rerun.
Just like at Fordham on Wednesday, the UMass men’s basketball team couldn’t hold a second-half lead Saturday at La Salle. The Explorers scored 53 points in the second half of an 86-72 victory over the Minutemen.
That’s more points than La Salle had in an entire November loss against Temple.
“Same movie we’ve been watching here for the last four games. No different. It’s been our Achilles’ heel since we got back from Christmas,” UMass coach Frank Martin said. “We don’t defend very well, and when we get in difficult moments, we just quit playing. We don’t fight through adversity.”
UMass (13-12, 4-9 Atlantic 10), which lost its fourth game in a row, led by seven points 2 minutes, 56 seconds into the second half after Matt Cross hit a layup to make it 43-36.
La Salle (12-13, 6-6) ripped off a 10-2 run to retake the lead, which the Explorers eventually stretched to 16 over the next 10 minutes.
“Our problem is we’re really bad defensively individually and collectively,” Martin said. “When you’re in those moments of the game, team leadership needs to stand up.”
The Explorers made 67.86 percent of their shots and hit 7-of-11 3s after halftime. Josh Nickleberry led five La Salle players in double figures with 21 points. La Salle poured in 20 points off 14 UMass turnovers.
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“You don’t guard the ball, you can’t win,” Martin said.
T.J. Weeks Jr. led UMass with 16 points and added four rebounds and two assists. Cross had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Wildens Leveque (five rebounds) and RJ Luis contributed 10 points each.
Luis played for the first time since suffering a broken nose and a concussion in the second half against George Mason on Feb. 1. He wore a clear plastic mask to protect his face.
“He’s a talented young man, you put the ball in his hands in the middle of the floor, and he’s going to find a way to score,” Martin said. “I probably shouldn’t have played him (Saturday), I probably should have waited until Tuesday (against Loyola Chicago at the Mullins Center).”
UMass was still without point guard Noah Fernandes, and Philadelphia native Rahsool Diggins dressed but did not enter the game.
“We're just playing kind of with scotch tape right now trying to stop the bleeding everywhere we can, and that never works,” Martin said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.