It has been an up and down season for UMass so far; however on Saturday afternoon they picked up their most important win of the season and arguably biggest victory in Frank Martin’s tenure.
It was a back and forth affair for a majority of the game, with FSU leading 47-43 at the half; however in the final stanza the MinuteMen took over and never looked back.
Both sides were shooting above 50% from the field at the half with a majority of the offense coming from beyond the arc, but in the second half that changed. After just 14 points in the paint during the first half, UMass chipped in 34 in the second half, using a boost of physicality to knock off Umass 103-95.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford and K’jei Parker led the way with 24 a piece for the Minutemen; however it was Leonardo Bettiol who was the major difference maker in the second half. Bettiol scored 20 points on the day, with 16 of them coming in the second half, and 12 of those first 16 coming within the first 8 minutes to completely flip momentum in favor of UMass.
FSU dealt with inconsistent offense at times, and while UMass adjusted, the Seminoles were stuck in the mud, finishing 29.3% from beyond the arc which stymied their offense. Robert McCray V finished with a team high 21 points for FSU, also adding 8 rebounds and 11 assists.
UMass now sits at 8-3 on the year, picking up back to back wins over ACC opponents in Boston College and now FSU. Florida State falls to 5-5 and they have now dropped 4 in a row dating back to November 28th.
Below are 3 takeaways from the Minutemen victory.
UMass shows they can score in a variety of ways
One of the biggest difference makers in this game was UMass switching their offensive gameplan from 3-point heavy in the first frame to attacking the paint in the second half.
While FSU stuck to their 3-point barrage, UMass figured out how to expose the inconsistencies in the Seminole defense and it helped them pull away in the second half. Although FSU was struggling from 3, getting into a back and forth battle with the Seminoles from beyond the arc wasn’t going to be a winning strategy, so Frank Martin and the Minute Men adjusted.
The 3-point shot has taken over basketball across all levels, however according to Martin, the game is still won and lost in the paint and that was evident on Saturday.
“I’m not saying the three point shot has no value. That’s not what I’m saying. But the game is still won and lost in the paint. You have to defend the paint. You got to score in the paint. That’s how you collapse defenses,” Martin said.
The Seminoles defense did collapse on the interior, especially early on in the second half, as Bettiol was able to probe the interior without much resistance and it began to change the game.
Bettiol was held to just 4 points during the first half and he was able to flip the switch entirely during the second half, giving Umass a boost of physicality that they didn’t have an answer for.
During the half time break, Martin implored Bettiol to be more aggressive and he responded to the call, finishing with his third 20 point performance of the season.
“I was not happy with Leo at halftime. I told him, late in the first half, you know, I said, Leo, I’m spending all my energies, like, on these freshmen, because they’re not being aggressive, and all the old guys are actually helping us, except you. Are you going to help us and give him credit,” Martin said.
Bettiol’s aggressiveness provided UMass with a different way to attack the FSU defense and after depending on the three point shot too much during the first half, he helped shift the tides.
“The way we prepared to try and attack their half court, pressing, trapping, denying defense wasn’t working, so we had to change the way we tried to attack it in the second half, and I thought we were much better in the second half,” Martin said.
From an opponents perspective, the Minutemen’s ability to switch their offensive gameplan entirely was frustrating according to FSU Head Coach Luke Loucks, who noted the difficulty of when you can’t guard the paint or perimeter and they attack both.
“It presents a lot of challenges. When you can’t guard the perimeter and guard the paint. That’s not ideal. They do a good job with their shooting, especially number 24, number five, both knock down shooters. But then those, those two, two guys in the middle, you know number one, especially, they’re workers. They’re workers,” Loucks said.
Transition defense limits open looks for FSU
While the UMass offense shifting to the paint opened things up for their offense, the UMass defense limiting FSU from beyond the arc limited their offense heavily.
FSU finished just 12-41 from beyond the arc (29%) and while they attacked the paint themselves at times, their over-reliance on shooting from behind the arc ultimately hurt them.
The Seminoles play at the 6th fastest pace in the country, averaging just 14.3 seconds per possession and they are also 6th in 3PA/FGA, averaging 53.3% of their points from beyond the arc. With that being the case, UMass limiting them from 3 put them in a rough position that they weren’t able to recover from.
FSU was a drastic difference from Boston College who Umass played on Wednesday, as they play at the 284th slowest pace. That was no issue for UMass, who ran with FSU in transition and limited their open looks from 3.
According to Martin, he believed he may have put his team at a disadvantage playing two teams with drastically different styles in a short amount of time, but they found a way to
“When I say I scheduled our team into a difficult moment, that’s what I’m talking about… We had to practice at 7am yesterday to catch a Noon flight to come here to play a team on one day of practice that plays the polar opposite of our Boston College from pace to defense,” Martin said.
“When you’re coaching 10 you guys. It’s really hard to understand, like, how to coach them through their minds as far as strategy goes. But instead of complaining and saying to them, like, you know, Hey, man, this is gonna be hard. That’s not who I am. I told them, I said, Yo, I probably scheduled us into a difficult moment. I want to find out who we are. How are we going to answer the bell.”
Minutemen finding their stride
The year got off to a bit of an unfortunate start for the Minutemen, who dropped their season opening matchup to Marshall and then later lost consecutive matchups against Charleston and Green Bay. They have responded to those back to back losses with a 5 game win streak, including back to back wins over power conference opponents.
Umass has figured out a diverse offense, with an ability to hurt teams from beyond the arc and in the paint. Defensively, they are one of the top teams in the country at defending the perimeter, allowing teams to shoot only 26.6% which is 7th in the nation.
With UMass set to begin MAC play for the first time ever this season, a strong non-conference slate was extremely important to this team finding their mojo before playing against an entirely new slate of opponents.
They put their season back on track with this 5 game win streak, and especially over these last 2 games, picking up arguably the two biggest wins of Frank Martin’s entire tenure.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford is in his third year with UMass and he believes this team has grown immensely since their back to back losses in November, starting with their ability to respond to coaching.
“I feel like we have grown a lot, people are understanding what coach Frank wants from us, and just learning how to help the team in the best way that they can. Our bench is helping us a lot more. The energy is positive. Everybody bought into what we are trying to do, and it’s paying off for us,” Hankins-Sanford said.
