Minutemen Fall 80-51 To VCU In Richmond

AMHERST, MASS. -- Massachusetts basketball (11-16, 6-8 A-10) dropped a 81-50 game to VCU (20-6, 10-3) at the Stuart C. Siegel Center on Wednesday evening.

Daniel Rivera led the way for Massachusetts offensively, scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. The point total marks his 17th game in double-digits this season.

Rahsool Diggins added 10 points while hauling in four rebounds on the night. Daniel Hankins-Sanford nabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points in the matchup.

The Rams were led by Max Shulga who tallied 19 points and seven assists while shooting 5-of-6 from three-point range.

Breaking Down The Action

Rahsool Diggins netted the first bucket of the game, sinking a driving layup 25 seconds into the action.
Marqui Worthy finished a pull-up jumper to answer a three-point basket from VCU's Max Shulgo, the score sitting at 4-3 Minutemen.
Zeb Jackson capped a 7-1 VCU run with a three-pointer to create a 5-point Ram lead, 10-5 with 15:06 on the clock.
Daniel Rivera and Luka Damjanac each finished at the rim to the cut deficit to 10-9 with 13:47 left in the first half.
Phillip Russell capped an 18-2 VCU run, cementing a 28-11 lead with 9:20 left until halftime.
Malek Abdelgowad responded with a solo 5-0 scoring run, trimming the deficit to 28-16 at the under-eight media timeout.
Jack Clark completed a 16-4 VCU run, extending the Ram advantage to 44-20 with just under two minutes to play in the half.
A pair of free throws from Shulga sent the teams into the locker rooms with the score 46-22 in favor of VCU.
VCU scored the first basket of the second half on a Jack Clark three-pointer, making the score 49-22.
Worthy answered 16 seconds later with a tough finish through the lane.
A pair of jumpers from Daniel Hankins-Sanford and Jayden Ndjigue cut further into the halftime deficit, the score reading 50-29 with 14:41 to play.
Hankins-Sanford capped a 7-2 Minuteman run, bringing the deficit down to 55-36 with 10:14 remaining.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Clark and Joe Bamisile powered a 6-0 VCU run, extending the Ram lead back to 25-points with just over eight minutes to play.
Clark sunk his fifth three-pointer of the night to push the Ram advantage over 30-points.
The final buzzer sounded with a 80-51 VCU win.

Newcomer Notifications

Six newcomers saw action on the evening, with Rivera entering as a starter.
Rivera recorded his 17th game in double figures, plaing 29 minutes.
Malek Abdelgowad recorded seven points and five rebounds on 12 minutes of play.
Luka Damjanac played 12 minutes, scoring two points.

Numbers To Know

5: Massachusetts swiped 5 steals in the matchup.
10: Hankins-Sanford snagged a game-high 10 rebounds.
17: Rivera's double-digit performance marked his 17th as a Minuteman.
40: Massachusetts grabbed 40 rebounds, including 17 on the offensive glass.

Series History

With the result, Massachusetts now holds a 4-11 record against the Rams all-time.
Massachusetts is now 23-25 in A-10 play and 10-19 on the road with Coach Martin at the helm.

Up Next

The Minutemen venture to the nation's capital for a game against George Washington on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. in the Charles E. Smith Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

Next Event

Team Stats

Daniel Rivera

Rahsool Diggins

Malek Abdelgowad

Hankins-Sanford Daniel

Players Mentioned

Malek Abdelgowad

Luka Damjanac

Rahsool Diggins

Daniel Hankins-Sanford

Jayden Ndjigue

Daniel Rivera

Marqui Worthy

Players Mentioned

Malek Abdelgowad

Luka Damjanac

Rahsool Diggins

Daniel Hankins-Sanford

Jayden Ndjigue

Daniel Rivera

Marqui Worthy

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics