AMHERST — Like any player in a funk, Jonathan Laurent was looking for any little thing to get him back on track.
The redshirt junior reached double figures in 11 of his first 14 games with UMass, providing the Minutemen with a reliable scoring option behind Luwan Pipkins and Carl Pierre. But after the Rutgers transfer re-aggrivated a knee injury prior to UMass’ Jan. 9 game at Saint Louis, the points didn’t come as consistently for Laurent. He failed to reach 10 points in nine of his next 11 appearances and his playing time fluctuated with the emergence of freshman Samba Diallo.
Yet he burst out of his slump to score 24 points to help the Minutemen rally against Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 23, and he’s found his scoring touch again. Over his last four games, Laurent is averaging 19.5 points and reached 20 points three times in that span.
The reason for the turnaround? Some pieces of white cloth around his wrists.
“I’m not a very big superstitious guy,” Laurent said after Wednesday’s win over Richmond, “but I did have these wristbands on for the past three home games and the past three home games I’ve scored 20. I might give them a little bit of credit for that.”
Laurent let out a hearty chuckle after delivering the line before delving into his actual thoughts on his dramatic turnaround.
“I’ve just been in the gym just getting my shots up,” Laurent said. “It’s getting more confident and building more confidence up. I’m getting more play within the offense, my teammates are looking for me and I’m responding well.”
Laurent’s resurgence has given UMass (11-19, 4-13 Atlantic 10) a much-needed jolt of energy heading into the regular season finale Saturday at Rhode Island (15-14, 8-9). When Pipkins went down with a hamstring injury in early February, the scoring load fell solely on Pierre, who was only able to carry it for so long. The Minutemen lost four of their next five after the injury, dropping them into the cellar of the conference standings.
But things began to change for the Minutemen when Laurent dropped 11 points in the second half as UMass rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat Saint Joseph’s. UMass has won two of its last four and led for almost 32 minutes of last Saturday’s loss at Duquesne. The improvement in Laurent’s performance has not gone unnoticed by his teammates, who are starting to look for him more often.
“Jon, four games straight (is) showing up, he’s just showing the team what he can do,” fifth-year senior Rashaan Holloway said Wednesday. “I don’t think he even realizes it, but people see that and they keep passing him the ball and it gives him more confidence and more confidence in himself. It just works, it just clicks.”
The most surprising aspect of Laurent’s season is that despite his injuries and inconsistent scoring, he has continued to lead the Atlantic 10 in 3-point shooting. He is shooting 47.1 percent from behind the arc, including 9 of 17 during this recent four-game stretch, nearly seven percentage points better than the next closest shooter.
The marksmanlike shooting is a product of Laurent’s development since graduating from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida. UMass coach Matt McCall, a Florida native, said Laurent’s natural athleticism was his biggest strength in high school, but he’s steadily worked to add more dimensions to his game. Although McCall admits he’s been hard on Laurent for his energy at times in practice and games, he said he knows how much work the junior has put into his skills.
“JL in high school was just this rocket athlete, above-the-rim defender, leaper, runner, jumper. ” McCall said Wednesday. “I’ve been very critical of JL with his effort, with his intensity level with everything that he’s doing, but he’s worked really hard to get to this point.”