The last gasp couldn’t draw enough air.
UMass trailed Northeastern by double digits for most of Sunday’s 78-75 loss at the Cabot Center, but mounted a manic comeback in the final 90 seconds.
The Minutemen (1-1) trailed 72-61 with 1 minute, 28 seconds remaining, looking finished. Then Noah Fernandes hit a 3-pointer on the fast break. T.J. Weeks cut the deficit to five with another 3 with 34 seconds remaining.
Northeastern broke UMass’ press on the next possession, as a Jahmyl Telfort layup made it 78-71 six seconds later. The Minutemen kept pressing. Javohn Garcia made 1 of 2 free throws, then Weeks stole the Northeastern inbound pass and finished a layup through contact.
The Huskies called a timeout with 19 seconds remaining up four and Weeks at the free-throw line. He converted to make it a one-possession game. UMass fouled Shaquille Walters, an 83.9 percent foul shooter last season who scored 16 points Sunday. Walters missed both, giving the Minutemen a shot to tie and enough time to set up with no timeouts left.
They struggled to initiate their offense, and Carl Pierre missed a layup after a contested drive. UMass planned to go to the basket, but had players screening on the perimeter to try and free shooters if the opportunity presented itself.
“A wasted last possession,” UMass coach Matt McCall said. “We never got organized.”
Weeks’ layup to make it a five-point game was as close as UMass pulled since the opening five minutes of the second half. The Huskies led 31-30 at halftime, but opened the second frame on a 5-0 run to take a six-point lead that felt larger with how much both teams struggled to score. They combined to shoot 33.3 percent from the field with 15 turnovers before halftime.
Garcia reeled Northeastern back with a 3 the possession after the Huskies went up six, but they ripped off an 11-3 run over the next three minutes.
“We couldn’t really put together consistent stops, and we couldn’t put together consistent offensive possessions. It was almost as if we were forgetting what we were supposed to be doing, we were forgetting our jobs,” McCall said. “It’s like we were asleep at different times and decided to wake up with two minutes to go and decided to make a run at it.”
UMass couldn’t pull closer than eight or 10 points for most of the second half because scoring was a struggle. The Minutemen only made five of their first 13 shots. The Minutemen shot 41.9 percent from the field and turned the ball over 15 times. McCall didn’t like how they executed the offense, which featured too many shots after one or no passes. UMass only dished eight assists. Compare that to 16 assists and just nine turnovers Friday, when the teams opened their seasons against each other in Amherst.
“We had more mental lapses than anything. We were a step slow in getting into offense,” McCall said. “Our guys were much more forgetful today than they were on Friday in terms of what we were trying to do, what we had success doing and how we needed to attack them.”
Tre Mitchell couldn’t establish himself early or take over late. The sophomore had 10 points on 3 of 10 shooting with eight rebounds after struggling with foul trouble most of the game.
“They were extremely physical with him. He was getting pushed and shoved off the block. Any time he was going to the basket he felt a presence, felt a body,” McCall said. “That can wear you down over the course of the game.”
Garcia stepped forward in his stead, leading the Minutemen with 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Fernandes added 15.
They couldn’t match Northeastern sophomore Tyson Walker, who dropped 20. Many of his points came from the free-throw line, where he made 14 of 15. UMass only shot 21 free throws as a team.
“That was a big stat. I thought Tre was getting fouled more than it was getting called in the game,” McCall said. “I thought we pulled up short on some finishes, too. The free throw margin, rebound margin and turnover margin are big stats. If you can win two out of three you’re probably going to have a lot of success.”
UMass lost the free throw margin and turnover battle and tied on the boards. That made for a much tighter contest than Friday’s 15-point victory. The Minutemen next play at La Salle on Wednesday, their Atlantic 10 opener that was pushed back a week.
“I don’t care if there’s fans or no fans – it’s hard to win on the road,” McCall said. “It’s hard to beat a team twice back to back. Being in the close games, that’s what we want to be in. Those situations help us prepare for A-10 pay because I think we’re going to be in a lot of close games.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.