Wednesday, January 17, 2024 6:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.
Loyola welcomes UMass to Chicago Wednesday night for their first meeting in Chicago. The Minutemen arrive in Rogers Park at 11-5 overall, 2-2 in conference, and at 98 in KenPom. Loyola has won five of their last six, and have already eclipsed last year’s win total with at least 15 games to play.
Last Valentines Day, the Ramblers got their first-ever A-10 road win against the Minutemen in Amherst with a 64-62 nail-biter. In their first season under former South Carolina and Kansas State Head Coach Frank Martin, the Minutemen stumbled to an ignoble 15-16 record overall, 6-12 in conference and a KenPom of 212. This was after the team started the season 8-1, including winning the 2022 Myrtle Beach Invitational (the same tourney where the Ramblers lost all three games). A couple of injuries, and apparently some dissention and conflicts were part of the issues. The ugly 2022-23 UMass season ended with an ugly first round loss to Richmond in the A-10 tournament, 71-38.
Only three of the 10 UMass players who saw time in the Loyola game last year are still on the roster. One graduated, one is no longer playing at the D-1 level, and five players transferred to schools like Georgia Tech, St. John’s, and Texas A&M. The team’s top player, Noah Fernades, was injured and didn’t play in that Loyola game, but he transferred to Rutgers at the end of last season. In fact, 10 of the 15 players on this year’s UMass roster are newcomers, and two of the five returning players appear to be walk-ons.
Coach Martin will likely start 6’10” senior forward Josh Cohen, 6’0” sophomore point guard Keon Thompson, 6’4” freshman guard Jayden Ndjigue, 6’2” junior guard Rahsool Diggins, and 6’8” sophomore forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford. Senior forward Matt Cross-- now in his second year at UMass as a transfer from Louisville-- was one of the three returning scholarship players from last year; he’s the team’s second-leading scorer and top rebounder and is doubtful to play with an ankle sprain suffered Jan. 10.
Cohen is a solid, high-energy transfer from St. Francis who leads the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game. He’s a really good offensive rebounder, has a nice touch on close-in shots, and has recently added three-point shooting to his game (7 for 15 this year). Also in the frontcourt, Hankins-Sanford is a South Carolina transfer who leads the team in blocks and averages 6.9 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Point guard Keon Thompson averages 9.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Diggins is a UConn transfer in his second year at UMass; he averages 11.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg, and 2.2 assists. Ndjigue is a wing who averages 5.3 ppg, 4.9 boards, and 2.0 assists—he’s second on the team in steals, and has great shot selection.
The injury to Matt Cross pushed up sophomore Hakins-Stanford to the starting lineup. That leaves only freshmen to come in off the bench. Jaylen Curry, Robert Davis, Marqui Worthy, and Tarique Foster are the four top bench players—all freshmen. They each average between 6.0 and 2.2 ppg, and none of them get more than 17 minutes per game.
The combo of Cohen and Cross is a pretty potent frontcourt scoring combo. Cross is averaging 15.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. Cross and Cohen are tied for third in the A-10 in offensive rebounds, and UMass ranks 15th in all of college basketball in offensive rebounding. But if Cross in unable to play, the frontcourt is much thinner on experience, less able to adapt on offense, and left with fewer second-chance opportunities. Cohen also has a tendency to get into foul trouble—he’s had four games with four or more fouls, including a foul-out with only two points in their win against Duquesne.
The Ramblers played a masterful game against Saint Joseph’s on Saturday, making adjustments and executing on offense down the stretch. Loyola was down nine points with only six minutes left before closing the game with fantastic defense, clutch shooting—earning an impressive 78-75 win on the road. Hopefully the game plan against a much-improved UMass squad will be as successful—maybe by limiting offensive rebounding, taking care of the ball, slowing down tempo, getting to the free throw line (and making those shots!), and making the most of the home court advantage?
Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/news/2024/1/ ... setts.aspxMassachusetts game notes: https://umassathletics.com/documents/20 ... 011724.pdfTV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Net
https://www.cbssports.com/general/show/live/Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=168&type=LiveLive stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=482155Vegas odds: Loyola by 3.5
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