Rhode Island basketball storms back to within 2 in final minutes. Here's what happened.

AMHERST, Mass. — It looked for a second as if Luis Kortright had stolen this one.

Massachusetts kept the door open for the University of Rhode Island with a handful of mistakes down the stretch Sunday afternoon. The Rams nearly stormed through when their point guard turned loose a 3-point jumper on the run with no time left.

Kortright’s shot hit the back rim and caromed away. Only then could the Minutemen breathe easily at Mullins Center, as their 81-79 victory was finally secured.

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URI erased nearly all of its 14-point deficit with 5:36 to play. Rahsool Diggins knocked down what looked like the dagger from the left wing with 59.2 seconds left, but UMass closed just 3-for-8 at the foul line, including a pair of missed 1-and-1 front ends by Diggins, and committed an untimely turnover. Jaylen Curry’s empty trip to the stripe with 4.2 seconds to play and a quick outlet pass by the Rams found Kortright to streak across midcourt.

“We’ve been in a couple of situations this year where the game starts to not go our way on the road and we don’t finish,” URI coach Archie Miller said. “I thought we rallied and we made some good plays. We gave ourselves a good chance.”

Kortright netted 11 of his 15 points inside the final 3:33, including a 3-pointer from the right wing with 5.9 seconds left to make it a one-possession game. URI gave a quick foul to send Curry to the line and got out of the lane quickly after Brandon Weston’s defensive rebound. Kortright eluded a defender along the left side and took a step toward the middle of the floor before launching his potential game-winner.

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“He got a shot up at the line,” Miller said. “It didn’t look too far off when it went up. Luis is a guy who kind of makes those tough ones at times.”

Diggins seemed to ice it inside the final minute, drilling a jumper from the left wing that made it a 78-72 game. He closed with 18 points and was 6-for-11 from beyond the arc, setting a new career high in makes. The Minutemen opened just 2-for-12 from deep before Curry’s pair of 3-pointers before halftime sparked a 9-for-16 finish — 39.3% on this occasion was well above the league-worst 29.2% UMass carried from beyond the arc through its first 10 conference games.

“In the second half in particular, they went 7-for-12 — 58% from three,” Miller said. “That’s not their specialty.”

The Minutemen looked safe when Matt Cross scored in the lane to cap their lead at 70-56. UMass had steadily pulled away from the Rams and seemed positioned to cruise down the stretch. The hosts were shooting 57.1% in the second half through that layup — they connected at an even 40% through the opening 20 minutes.

“We’re an immature group at times,” Miller said. “Just the lack of ability level from a basketball standpoint to understand winning is about running back, pointing, talking, action — not allowing easy baskets.”

URI had one last push to make, and it came in a flash. Jaden House piled up 11 of his team-high 22 points in just 2:03 — nine of those on three 3-pointers — and it was suddenly a three-possession game. Kortright’s pair of layups and a lone free throw from Brandon Weston cut the gap to 74-72 with 1:56 to play, and the Minutemen had a fight to the horn on their hands.

“Jaden broke out late in the game,” Miller said. “We really were kind of dead in the water there. He gave us a shot in the arm in that one run.”

The Rams (11-13, 5-6 Atlantic 10) held a 35-32 lead at the break that quickly disappeared. Diggins opened with a 3-pointer and Keon Thompson found an open lane down the right to push UMass (15-8, 6-5) out to a 37-35 edge. Miller used a timeout less than 90 seconds into the second half — he could sense danger coming.

“Our offense stunk in the first three possessions,” Miller said. “We let that carry over to transition defense. We let them bang a three — next thing you know, you could sense things could change.”

URI built a nine-point lead late in the first half thanks to just one turnover in the opening 13:11 and a solid early perimeter defensive effort. House’s floater in the lane to make it 25-16 came off a loose ball — it was his third individual effort on the possession, and it was rewarded. The Rams posted a 20-14 advantage on points in the paint and benefited from the brief return of David Green, who missed the George Washington game earlier in the week due to illness and left this one due to a right knee injury with 16:21 to play.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

RHODE ISLAND (79): Fuchs 4-7 2-2 10, Green 5-12 0-0 11, House 8-17 2-2 22, Kortright 5-10 3-4 15, Weston 2-3 4-6 8, Montgomery 2-7 0-0 5, Estevez 1-3 2-2 4, Brown 2-2 0-0 4, Foumena 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-61 13-16 79.

UMASS (81): Cohen 5-8 3-6 13, Cross 3-7 3-6 10, Diggins 6-13 0-2 18, Ndjigue 2-4 0-0 5, Thompson 7-10 2-2 16, Curry 4-13 0-2 10, Davis 3-6 0-0 7, Hankins-Sanford 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 31-64 8-18 81.

Halftime — Rhode Island 35-32. 3-point goals — Rhode Island 8-15 (House 4-6, Kortright 2-5, Green 1-1, Montgomery 1-2, Estevez 0-1), UMass 11-28 (Diggins 6-11, Curry 2-7, Ndjigue 1-1, Cross 1-3, Davis 1-3, Cohen 0-1, Hankins-Sanford 0-1, Thompson 0-1). Rebounds — Rhode Island 24 (Kortright 5), UMass 31 (Cross 7). Assists — Rhode Island 15 (Weston 5), UMass 20 (Cross 6). Total fouls — Rhode Island 18, UMass 13.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island basketball loses to Massachusetts in Atlantic 10 battle