Massachusetts Falls 62-78 To Arizona State In Hall of Fame Classic

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. -- Massachusetts basketball (5-8) dropped its final non-conference matchup, 62-78, to Big 12 foe Arizona State (9-2) on Saturday night at the MassMutual Center. The Minutemen carried a 33-31 lead into the halftime break, but fell victim to a 13-0 Sun Devil run which iced the defeat.

Rahsool Diggins led all players with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. Diggins went 4-of-8 from three-point range, notching his second 20-plus point performance of the season.

Daniel Rivera recorded nine points, nine rebounds while securing a pair of blocks. Shahid Muhammad also recorded two blocks, adding six points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from the field.

Akil Watson played 17 minutes against his former team, scoring seven points including a 2-of-3 night from three-point range.

The Sun Devils were led by Basheer Jihad who scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field.

Breaking Down The Action

Daniel Rivera punched home a fastbreak dunk to open the scoring, 1:13 into the first half.
A pair of three-pointers from Akil Watson and Rahsool Diggins punctuated a 10-3 Massachusetts scoring run, creating a 17-14 advantage with 12:06 remaining in the first half.
The Minutemen traded baskets for much of the following five minutes until a three-pointer from ASU's Joson Sanon gave the Sun Devils a 23-21 advantage with 7:42 on the clock.
Diggins third three-point basket of the night and a thunderous dunk from Shahid Muhammad extended the Minuteman lead back to 28-25 with 5:31 to play in the first.
Akil Watson made it an 8-0 Minuteman run, giving Massachusetts its largest lead of the night at 31-25.
Arizona State made it a 6-0 run of their own as Basheer Jihad evened the score at 31-31 with a layup.
Malek Abdelgowad secured a putback layup to give Massachusetts a 33-31 lead heading into the halftime break.
A layup from Diggins made it 35-33 Minuteman 33 seconds into the second half.
Diggins sunk a pull-up jumper to finish a 6-0 Massachusetts scoring run, creating a 46-41 lead with 12:58 remaining.
A pair of three-pointers from Jihad and Adam Miller keyed a 13-0 Sun Devil scoring run, giving ASU a 54-46 advantage with 10:22 on the clock.
Diggins put home his fourth three-pointer of the night to cut the deficit back to five exactly 30 seconds later.
An and-one layup from ASU's Miller made it 57-49 Sun Devils at the 9:05 mark.
Jayden Ndjigue knocked down a pair free throws with 6:12 remaining to cut the deficit to 62-56.
Jayden Quaintance sunk two free-throws to cap an 11-0 Sun Devil scoring run, making it 73-56 with just over two minutes to play.
The final whistle blew with the final score 78-62 Sun Devils.

Newcomer Notifications

Six newcomers saw action on the evening, with Rivera and Abdelgowad entering as starters.
Abdelgowad played 23 minutes, scoring eight points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field
Daniel Rivera recorded nine points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks on 23 minutes of action.
Shahid Muhammad scored six points on a perfect 3-of-3 night from the field.
Akil Watson scored seven points, going 2-of-3 from three-point range against his former team.

Numbers To Know

2: Muhammad and Rivera each swatted two blocks.
5: Marqui Worthy dished out a team-high five assists.
9: Rivera reeled in a team-high nine rebounds.
11: Massachusetts has now recorded 30-more points in the paint in 11 games this season.
17: Massachusetts held a 17-6 advantage in bench points on the evening.
24: Diggins scored 24 points, his second 20-point performance of the season.

Series History

With the result, Massachusetts drops its first ever matchup against the Sun Devils all-time.
The Minutemen now hold a 7-8 record in neutral site matchups under head coach Frank Martin.

Up Next

The Minutemen open Atlantic 10 play as they travel for a New Year's Eve clash against Saint Joseph's on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pa. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard