Walker Drops 22 As UMass Uses Big Second Half To Top SJU, 91-76

AMHERST, Mass. – The UMass men's basketball team (9-12, 3-5) used a season-high 26 assists and just nine turnovers to turn a 10-point deficit midway through the first half into three-point halftime lead before going up by as many as 21 in the second half in a 91-76 win over Saint Joseph's (4-17, 0-8) on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center.

Dibaji Walker had a career-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting off the bench to lead five Minutemen in double-figures as Massachusetts shot 38-of-60 from the floor and 72% in the second half (21-of-29).

Samba Diallo added a career-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 13 points in the second half, while Carl Pierre had 14 points and a career-high seven assists. Tre Mitchell added 12 points and five assists and Preston Santos (12 points, eight rebounds) nearly missed his second straight double-double.

Ryan Daly set the tone for the Hawks with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, while Rahmir Moore (14 points) and Cameron Brown (12 points) also reached double-figures. As a team, St. Joseph's was 28-of-57 from the floor and 9-of-25 from three.

Leading by three at halftime, UMass started 6-of-7 from the floor in the second half to increase its lead to seven, highlighted by a steal and a slam from Diallo. The Minutemen kept up the hot shooting, making it 12 of their first 14 shots (86%) to put five players in double-figures for the first time since Nov. 20 vs. Rider, led by Walker as UMass ballooned its lead up to 17 with 10 minutes to play.

St. Joseph's began the night 9-of-14 from the floor to open up an early 22-13 lead eight minutes, and led by as many as 10 midway through thanks to a 6-of-12 showing from Daly, who finished with 14 points and five boards in the half.

UMass turned it on with 10 minutes to go in the opening half, using a 16-2 run to erase the deficit and go up by a handful, capped by a Kolton Mitchell steal off an inbound before dishing to Walker for the dunk. Walker finished with a team-high nine points in the first on 4-of-6 shooting, while Preston Santos controlled the glass with five boards to help Massachusetts to a 39-36 lead at the break.

The Minutemen head back on the road this weekend when Massachusetts travels to Davidson on Saturday night for an 8 p.m. tip on CBSSN.

Tickets for the 2019-20 UMass men's basketball season are now on sale for all remaining home games in the Mullins Center. Tickets can be purchased now online through the UMass Athletics Ticket Central page, by calling the ticket office at 866-UMASS-TIX, or by visiting the Mullins Center Box Office.

Scoreboard

Walker Drops 22 As UMass Uses Big Second Half To Top SJU, 91-76

Players Mentioned

Samba Diallo

Kolton Mitchell

Tre Mitchell

Carl Pierre

Preston Santos

Dibaji Walker