AMHERST — The slow starts are becoming too common of a trend for UMass in recent weeks.
For the third game in a row, the Minutemen were sluggish in the first half, but Tuesday it took a little longer for it to show. UMass scored eight of the first 10 points against Dayton, but then allowed 26 of the next 30 to the Flyers as Dayton ran away with a 72-48 victory over the Minutemen at the Mullins Center.
Once UMass (10-18, 3-12 Atlantic 10) stopped forcing turnovers early in the game, it was outworked on its defensive half of the floor. Dayton (19-9, 11-4) missed just three shots in the first half – two of which came from behind the arc – and found its way to the rim with ease.
The Minutemen especially didn’t have a response to Dayton’s frontcourt of Josh Cunningham and Obi Toppin. The duo combined to make their first 14 attempts from the floor and outfoxed whichever defender was guarding them. They finished a combined 15 of 18 shooting for 37 points and 12 rebounds.
On the other end, the Minutemen relied heavily on Jonathan Laurent, who led the way with 21 points. He was the only player who had any rhythm for UMass, sinking 8 of -13 shots while his teammates shot 10 of 39. It was a particularly rough night for Carl Pierre, who was just 2 of 12 from the field.
The lackluster effort came with UMass severely short-handed due to a rash of injuries. In addition to Curtis Cobb (foot) and Khalea Turner-Morris (knee) – who have long-term injuries – Luwane Pipkins missed his fifth game with a hamstring injury, Samba Diallo was held out with the same knee injury that sidelined him earlier this year and Rashaan Holloway was forced out by an eye infection. That left coach Matt McCall with just 10 healthy players, only eight of whom are on a basketball scholarship.