Massachusetts Drops Road Matchup At Towson

TOWSON, MD - Massachusetts (4-2) mounted multiple comeback attempts in the second half but fell 81-71 to Towson (4-5) on Wednesday evening in Maryland.

Key to the second-half comeback attempts was sophomore Keon Thompson who scored a career-high 19 points, all in the second half. Thompson shot an efficient 5-of-10 from the field, while converting three and-one layups.

Keon is on a mission??

13 points in the second half and a lot TOUGH plays at the rim

H2 9:46 | Towson 62, UMass 55 pic.twitter.com/7fVvX2wM1O
— UMass Men's Basketball (@UMassMBB) December 7, 2023

Freshman Robert Davis Jr. Also got in on the action, setting his career-high in points (11) and made three-point attempts (3). The newcomer, known for his shooting, played a career-best 23 minutes on the night.

Senior Matt Cross was once again a factor, contributing 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field.

The Tigers were led by Christian May, who collected a game-high 27 points.

Breaking Down The Action

Matt Cross put the Minutemen on the board and gave them their first lead of the game (3-2) with a corner three off a Rahsool Diggins assist at the 19:19 mark.
Rahsool Diggins banked in a three (6-8) to break a 2:30 scoreless streak and bring UMass back within a basket at 16:49.
After the Tigers jumped out to an 11-point lead, Diggins made a contested layup (10-19) at 12:35 to pull the Minutemen within single digits.
Coming off the bench, Jaylen Curry gave UMass a spark as the freshman guard converted on a three-point play at 9:11.
58 seconds later, Curry picked out Rob Davis Jr. who knocked down his first three of the night, cutting the Towson advantage to 16-22 with 8:13 remaining in the first half of play.
After an offensive rebound from Daniel Hankins-Sanford, Rahsool Diggins knocked down his second three of the game with 3:45 left in the first half.
Matt Cross rounded out the first half scoring for UMass with his third bucket of the game at the :32 second mark and the Minutemen went into the locker room trailing Towson 27-36.
Coming out of the break, Cross scored the first basket for UMass at 19:33 to make it a 29-37 contest.
Keon Thompson recorded his first points of the game, converting on back-to-back and-one opportunities to pull UMass within five at the 18:06 mark.
Continuing to be a difference maker in the second half, Thompson finished his third three-point play with 16:14 remaining in the game.
Davis Jr. connected on his second three of the contest to cut the Towson lead to seven (49-56) at 12:50.
Thompson drove to the basket and finished through contact to add to his 13 second half points with 10:37 remaining in the game.
Davis Jr. recorded his third basket to give him a career-high eight points and cut the Tigers lead to five (55-60).
After a Robert Davis Jr. steal, Jayden Ndjigue found Thompson who sunk one from beyond the arc to give him a career-high 17 points.
The final buzzer sounded with the score 66-56.

New Kids On The Block

Robert Davis Jr. led all newcomers in scoring with a career-high of 11 points.
Marqui Worthy had a team-best plus/minus of 14 in 18 minutes of play.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford and Jayden Ndjigue led the Minutemen with eight rebounds apiece.
Ndjigue dished out a team-high four assists.

Numbers To Know

3: Keon Thompson converted three and-one plays in the first four minutes of the second half.
8: Jayden Ndjigue recorded a career best eight rebounds for the second game in a row.
19: Thompson led UMass in scoring with a new career-high of 19 points on 5-10 shooting.
34: The Minutemen outscored Towson in the paint, 34-32.
70: UMass shot 70% from the free throw line for the second time this season, going 14-20.

Year Two Under Coach Martin

Massachusetts Head Coach, Frank Martin now holds a 19-18 record at the helm of the Minutemen.
Martin now holds a 307-219 collegiate career mark.

Series History

UMass is now 2-2 all-time against Towson.

Up Next

UMass returns home for a Saturday showdown with UMass Lowell on Dec. 9 at 12 p.m. at the Mullins Center. The broadcast can be found live on NESN+ with streaming available on ESPN+. Links and live updates are available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

Next Event

Team Stats

Keon Thompson

Matt Cross

Robert Davis Jr.

Rahsool Diggins

Players Mentioned

Matt Cross

Jaylen Curry

Robert Davis Jr.

Rahsool Diggins

Daniel Hankins-Sanford

Keon Thompson

Marqui Worthy

Players Mentioned

Matt Cross

Jaylen Curry

Robert Davis Jr.

Rahsool Diggins

Daniel Hankins-Sanford

Keon Thompson

Marqui Worthy

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics