Massachusetts Opens A-10 Tournament Against La Salle

of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Notes & Information
Matchup	Massachusetts vs. La Salle
Date \| Times	Wednesday, March 12 \| 4:30 p.m.
Location	Washington, DC. \| Capital One Arena
Twitter	@UMassMBB
Instagram	@umassbasketball
Facebook	UMass Men's Basketball

AMHERST, MASS. - The Minutemen take on La Salle in the first round of the A-10 tournament on Wednesday, March 12 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. The game will be broadcast on USA Network with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
This week for the Minutemen

The Matchup

Wednesday?s matchup marks the 55th meeting between the two programs with UMass holding a 32-22 record all-time.
The Minutemen swept the regular season series against La Salle, claiming a pair of wins. The Minutemen have now won three of the last four against La Salle, with all three wins coming by at least 16 points.
Massachusetts is 24-30 in A-10 play and 7-8 at neutral sites with Coach Martin at the helm.

A-10 History

The Minutemen hold a 40-42 record all-time in the Atlantic 10 Championship and a 13-11 mark in the first round.
Massachusetts faces La Salle for the fifth time in the A-10 Championship, holding a 2-2 record vs. the Explorers in conference tournament play.
Wednesday marks Massachusetts' third matchup all-time as the no. 11 seed in the A-10 Championship, holding a 1-1 record.

Scouting the Explorers

La Salle comes into the postseason off an 81-74 victory over Philadelphia rival St. Joseph's on Saturday, March 8 at John Glaser Arena. The Explorers were riding an eight game losing streak going into their final regular season matchup.
Corey McKeithan led La Salle in scoring during the regular season, averaging 15.1 points per game, good for 13th in the conference.
Seven-time A-10 Rookie of The Week Deuce Jones has proven to be one of the top newcomers in the league averaging 13.9 points and 2.3 assists across 18 league games.
Rebounding has been a strength for Explorers' this season. La Salle ranks fifth in the A-10 in rebounding (36.8.
La Salle is 1-3 at neutral sites season and 5-8 (.384) over the last three campaigns.

Rahsool Showing Out

Rahsool Diggins flourished into one the Atlantic 10's top scorers this season averaging 20.6 points on 39.1% shooting from the field over 18 A-10 games. The Senior led the A-10 in points per game during conference play.
Diggins surpassed Luwane Pipkins, scoring a program record 46 points at Fordham, shooting 14-of-29 from the field and 8-of-13 from three-point range. The last UMass player to score 40-plus points was Pipkins program setting 44 points in an overtime victory over La Salle on Jan. 10, 2018.
With his 33 point performance at Saint Joseph's Diggins also became the first Minuteman to score 30-plus points in a game since Matt Cross tallied 31 against CCSU on Nov. 22, 2023.
The Philadelphia, Pa. native doubled down notching his fourth 30-plus point game this season and second in his home city with a 34-point performance at La Salle. Diggins shot 13-of-20 from the field, including a 7-of-13 display from deep.
Diggins has continued to turn up the intensity in games against programs from his home city, now averaging 18.4 points and 2.6 assists on 45.2% shooting across eight games versus schools from his home city of Philadelphia.
The guard scored in double figures in 18 of the last 20 games since Dec. 18.

Last Season: By THE NUMBers

1 - The Minutemen featured the A-10's no. 1 offense leading the conference in scoring for the entirety of the conference schedule.
2 - UMass coached it's first duo to All-Conference First Team recognition since Stephane Lasme and Rashuan Freeman during the 2006-07 season.
4 - UMass earned its first top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship since the 2007-08 season.
9 - The Minutemen averaged an NCAA best 9.0 points per game off post-ups. first time.
9 - UMass won 9 or more non-conference games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.
11 - Massachusetts won 11 conference games, marking the first season with 11 or more such victories since 2006-07.
20 - The Minutemen secured the programs first 20-win season since 2013-14.

Athletes Incoming

The Minutemen welcomed 10 newcomers this season, four of which entered as transfers.
Massachusetts entered the 2024-25 campaign with the A-10's no. 4 ranked incoming class according to 247sports, bringing in a host of impressive athletes across multiple positions including Shahid Muhammad, Daniel Rivera, Malek Abdelgowad, Nate Guerengomba, Lewis Walker and Amadou Doumbia.
College of Southern Idaho transfer Shahid Muhammad boasts a 47 inch vertical and 7-4 wingspan while swatting 106 shots over 30 games for the Golden Eagles.
Rivera comes from Bryant University where he averaged 2.2 blocks per game, ranking third in Bulldog program history with 73 in a single season.
The two transfers combined for 179 blocks and 434 rebounds a season ago.
Murray State transfer Malek Abdelgowad makes it a trio of versatile additions in the front court, averaging 3.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 11.2 minutes per game last season.

Year Three Under Coach Martin

Massachusetts basketball enters its third season under head coach Frank Martin in 2024-25.
Under Martin's leadership the Minutemen enjoyed their best campaign since 2014 last year, finishing with a 20-11 overall record and securing a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
Martin ranks third in program history with a 35-27 record through his first two seasons with the Minutemen, sitting just below Bruiser Flint and Travis Ford.
Coach Martin started his time in Amherst by leading the Minutemen to their best record under a first-year head coach since 1996 and the Myrtle Beach Invitational title during the 2022-23 campaign.
Martin holds a 335-247 (.577) collegiate coaching mark, picking up 171 of his wins in 10 seasons at South Carolina while recording 117 wins in five seasons at Kansas State.
Head coach Frank Martin picked up his 300th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 25, 2023 with a 85-76 win over Richmond.

On The Bench

Head coach Frank Martin boasts a talented staff full of experienced assistants featuring three former head coaches, two former McDonald's All-Americans and a former NBA lottery pick.
Associate Head Coach Allen Edwards was the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys from 2016-20. Edwards' teams recorded 60 wins over four seasons, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
Assistant Coach Matt Figger spent the last three seasons at UT Rio Grande Valley after four seasons leading Austin Peay.
Assistant Coach Brian Steele enters his second second UMass after spending time on head coach Frank Martin's staff at South Carolina. Steele was a three-year letter winner at South Carolina as a student-athlete and served as a student assistant during the 2015-16 season in addition to the 2016-17 Final Four campaign.
Director of Player Development Anthony Evans spent five seasons as the head coach at FIU following six years as the head coach at Norfolk State. At FIU, Evans' teams ranked in the top-10 percent nationally from 2015-17 in the NCAA Academic Progress Report and coached multiple Conference USA all-league and all-defensive players.
Director of Player Personnel Doug Edwards ed the Seminoles to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1990-93. The Miami, Fla. Native scored 1,604 points in his career and is the only player at FSU to score 500 or more points in three consecutive seasons. Edwards earned All-SEC Second-Team honors as a senior before being drafted with the 15th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1993 NBA Draft.
Coaches Allen Edwards, Matt Figger and Anthony Evans combined hold 360 wins and two coach of the year awards at the division I level.
Head Coach Frank Martin coached now associate head coach Allen Edwards and director of player personnel Doug Edwards at Miami Senior High School.

Up Next

A win for the Minutemen would see them face no. 6 seeded Saint Joseph's in the A-10 Championship second round on Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m at Capital One Arena. The game would be broadcast on USA Network with live updates and links available on umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Malek Abdelgowad

Matt Cross

Rahsool Diggins

Amadou Doumbia

Nate Guerengomba

Shahid Muhammad

Daniel Rivera

Lewis Walker