AMHERST — The UMass men’s basketball team held on through a late comeback attempt from Eastern Michigan for a 70-67 victory at the Mullins Center on Saturday night.
With just three seconds left in regulation, the Minutemen held a three-point lead, searching for a stop. The Eagles had possession of the ball on their own baseline with no timeouts.
A long-range heave to the opposite 3-point line was deflected by Jayden Ndjigue defensively, landing in the hands of Eastern Michigan’s Jon Sanders II. The senior got a tough fadeaway jumper up in time, with the ball clanking off the rim to cement the victory for UMass.
“We need to do a better job earlier, before the last media [timeout], making sure we’re doing everything we can to build as big of a lead, so it doesn’t have to come down to [that],” Ndjigue said. “I feel like [Saturday night] there were mistakes we made down the stretch where we could have kept the lead and maybe extended it, and we weren’t able to be as sharp as we would have liked.”
Prior to Saturday night’s contest, the two teams faced off against each other just one month earlier, with the Eagles coming away with the win at home, 80-74, in Ypsilanti.
UMass got to the rim at will in the first half, scoring 22 of its 38 total points through the first 20 minutes of play in the paint. The team did well to draw contact at the hoop as well, getting to the line 16 times in the first half and making 13 of its attempts.
The success on the interior for UMass continued into the second half, scoring 20 of its 32 points from inside the paint, with the other 12 coming from makes at the charity stripe.
Ndjigue was at the forefront of the team’s rim-attacking offensive mindset, aggressively getting to the lane throughout the night. The junior made 5-of-8 shots from the field and 9-of-10 free throws in a 19-point effort.
The big game for Ndjigue rivaled some of the best in his career to this point, with his 19 points marking a new career high. He added on to the standout performance with his usual scrappiness on the defensive end, playing a huge role in his team’s victory.
“We’re trying to create opportunities for [Ndjigue] in the paint,” Minutemen head coach Frank Martin said. “He’s a really strong kid. I thought offensively, he played flawless [on Saturday].”
UMass struggled immensely from the outside on Saturday, finding some open looks but having next-to-no success knocking the deep shots down. The Minutemen finished just 1-of-13 (8%) from beyond the 3-point line, their fewest makes from three in a game since March of last season.
Luckily for UMass, the success on the inside and at the line maintained the lead, holding on despite a late surge from the Eagles. At the final buzzer, the Minutemen totaled 42 points in the paint, and 25 made free throws, making up 67 of the team’s 70 points.
“If you’re not gonna make threes, you better make layups and free throws,” Martin said. “Put them in foul trouble. Now they get tentative… you make them play guys they don’t want to play. That’s the beauty of getting to the foul line. So I’m glad we shot free throws [Saturday], because if it were depending on anything else, it would have been a problem.”
Leonardo Bettiol continued to prove he’s able to lead UMass in scoring on a nightly basis, hitting 7-of-12 shots and 6-of-9 free throws in a 20-point night. The senior was a force to be reckoned with on the glass as well, contributing 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Over the course of the season, UMass has become accustomed to being in close games. Through the team’s 23 games so far, 18 of them have ended with a deficit in the single digits, with the last double-digit deficit coming back on Dec. 22 against UMass Boston.
The Mullins Center was packed full of Minutemen fans on Saturday night, with a season high 4,753 recorded attendees filling up the stands. As the night went on, the crowd got increasingly invested in the game, creating a bustling atmosphere that peaked as the final buzzer sounded.
“Our kids deserve to play in front of fans,” Martin said. “I hope people can respect the way these kids are battling and continue to build. I’m all for the 3000-2500 that come almost every game. I appreciate them tremendously.”
With the win, the Minutemen successfully responded after a tough loss against undefeated Miami Ohio, improving to 14-9 overall, and 5-6 in the Mid-American Conference. They’ll look to continue building positive momentum on Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m., when they host Central Michigan.