Minutemen Open 2024-25 Season With Strong Win Over UNH, 103-74

AMHERST, MASS. - The Minutemen opened the 2024-25 season with a dominant 103-74 win against New Hampshire at the Mullins Center on Monday night. Massachusetts scored 100-plus points in a season opener for the first time since defeating no. 1 Arkansas 104-80 on Nov. 25, 1994.

Season Opening Statement ??

Rahsool Diggins drops 26 as the Minutemen score 103 points to open the 2024-25 campaign#Flagship?? pic.twitter.com/LRfPVVIRVa
— UMass Men's Basketball (@UMassMBB) November 5, 2024

The Minutemen made 42 field goals on the night, marking the first time Massachusetts has made 40 or more since March 4, 2021 against Saint Joseph's.

Senior Rahsool Diggins led the team with a career-high 26 points, shooting 8-of-16 from three-point range. The eight three-point baskets tie Luwane Pipkins and Carl Pierre for the single-game program record.

Have a day, @RahsoolDiggins3 ??

Sool's 8 3-pointers tonight tied the program record while his 26 points marked a new career-high#Flagship ?? pic.twitter.com/4HCDfZi7bo
— UMass Men's Basketball (@UMassMBB) November 5, 2024

Sophomore Jaylen Curry got the starting nod at point guard, dishing out 12 assists to go along with nine points in nearly 30 minutes of action. Curry added a team-high four steals on the evening as well.

Senior Malek Abdelgowad recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 26 minutes of action. The big man added two blocks and two steals in his first game at the Mullins Center. Fellow newcomer Akil Watson added 14 points and three rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.

The Wildcats were led by Sami Pissis, who scored 20 points. The guard went 7-for-13 from the field, and 3-of-7 at three-point range.

Breaking Down The Action

UNH opened the scoring with a layup by Sami Pissis, 31 seconds into the first half.
Malek Abdelgowad responded quickly with a layup to tie the game at 2-2.
Rahsool Diggins dropped in his third three pointer of the night with 16:45 left in the half to make it a 13-2 UMass advantage.
UMass went on a 15-2 run before the under-16 minute media time out, capped by a dunk from Daniel Rivera.
The Wildcats responded with a jumper to end their scoring drought by Anthony Mccomb iii.
UNH attempted to close the gap by going on a 11-5 run over the span of six minutes, cutting the Massachusetts lead to seven with 11:51 remaining in the half.
Daniel Hankins Sanford converted for two layups off turnovers, the second coming on the fast break with 9:22 left on the clock to keep the Minutemen ahead.
Akil Watson converted on back-to-back steals and fastbreak layups to extend the Minutemen's lead to 34-16.
UNH scored by with a three-pointer from Antoni Siewruk with 6:44 left on the clock, the UMass lead still at 34-19.
The Minutemen went on a 9-3 run over the span of almost four minutes to make the score 47-25.
Shahid Muhammad swatted a ball out of bounds for a block before the end of the half. UMass led with a score of 49-31.
Wildcats opened the second half with a jumpshot under the basket by Woodyard 16 seconds into the half.
Malek Abdelgowad would extend the minutemen's lead with a layup to make the score 51-35.
Rex Sunderland scored a shot clock buzzer beater three, but Jaylen Curry responded immediately, sinking a driving layup to make it 59-42 with 15:41 left in the second half.
UMass continued their streak with a 14-8 run over five minutes capped by a hookshot in the paint from Shahid Muhammad with 12:08 on the clock.
At 10:10, Akil Watson converted for a three-point play to extend the lead to 73-53.
UNH responded with a driving layup by Sami Pissis.
Rahsool Diggins scored his eighth three pointer of the night with 7:07 left in the game.
Back-to back steals by Jaylen Curry were fed to Tarique Foster for fast break layups, pushing the UMass lead to 30 with 4:31 remaining.
After a layup with 2:23 on the clock by Tarique Foster, the Minutemen reached triple digits for the first time this season.
Coming off the bench, Nate Guerengomba ended the scoring for the night with two free throws, the final score was 103-72.

Newcomer Notifications

Seven newcomers saw action on the evening, with Malek Abdelgowad and Daniel Rivera both entering as starters.
Abdelgowad played just under 20 minutes, recording a 12 point and 12 rebound double-double in his Minuteman debut.
Rivera tallied six points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field.
Akil Watson played 14 minutes, recording 14 points and three rebounds.
Shahid Muhammad swatted five blocks on the night.

Numbers To Know

2: In addition to his double-double, Abdelgowad added two steal and two blocks on the night.
4: Four Minutemen reached double figures on the night: Diggins (26), Watson (14), Abdelgowad (12), and Hankins-Sanford (10).
8: Diggins hit eight three on the night, tying the Massachusetts single-game record.
8: UMass won the turnover battle, holding a 15-8 advantage over Providence.
12: Curry dished out 12 assists in the matchup.
12: Abdelgowad led the Minutemen in rebounds recording 12.
26: With his 26-point performance, Rahsool Diggins recorded a new career high.
33: Massachusetts scored 33 points off turnovers compared to New Hampshire's 5.
40: Massachusetts bench contributed 40 points on the night.
60: The Minutemen recorded 60 points in the paint, compared to only 34 for UNH.
100: Massachusetts scored 100-plus points in a season opener for the first time since defeating no. 1 Arkansas 104-80 on Nov. 25, 1994.

Up Next????

The Minutemen travel to Morgantown to challenge Big 12 opponent West Virginia at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8 at WVU Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard