Men’s Basketball Loses 11th Straight in Flat Performance Against UMass

Photo credit: Mitchell Layton

By Scott Greaney (@ScottGreaney_)

The disastrous losing spell of men’s basketball reached 11 as they dropped their fifth straight home game Tuesday night to UMass, 69-57. With Tuesday’s loss, the Revolutionaries (14-14, 3-12 A10) have locked themselves into the dreaded “pillow fight” stages in next month’s Atlantic 10 Championship. 

“I was happy with the way we continued to compete even though we dug ourselves quite a hole,” GW head coach Chris Caputo said. “I thought we got great shots that we just missed.” 

Coming into the game, the Revolutionaries aimed to break out of its disheartening 10-game collapse against the team that started this streak back in January. But without redshirt freshman forward Garrett Johnson, sophomore wing Benny Schröder, and freshman forward Zamoku Weluche-Ume due to injuries, that task looked daunting as the Buff & Blue continue to battle through an injury-plagued conference season. 

From the tip, it was yet another slow start from the Revs’ offense, as they shot just 1-of-8 from the field in the first four minutes. These shooting struggles, primarily from deep, continued throughout the first half, as GW made just one of their 17 three-point attempts in the opening period. 

“I’d say a good number of those were ones that were a paint degree off, so that’s what you call shooting variance,” Caputo said. “We’ve made a bunch in the last two games, so maybe this is water finding its level.” 

Monday’s news of UMass returning to the Mid-Atlantic Conference in the 2025-26 season must’ve stoked a fire in the Minutemen (18-10, 9-7 A10) as they knocked down six three-pointers in the first half, hitting their average made three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. 

“We had a couple of lapses guarding the pick and roll where we weren’t communicating as well as we should have,” freshman point guard Jacoi Hutchinson said. “It was just a learning moment for us.” 

The Minutemen shot 53.1% from the field and 40% from three-point land en route to a 19-point lead at the break. 

“When you go on the road, you can’t win unless you make jump shots. We made ours today,” UMass head coach Frank Martin said. 

In the second half, GW shot the ball much better (8-of-12 from inside the arc, 5-of-11 from three-point range), but just could not garner the stops to cut into the UMass lead, losing the battle in the paint 20-10. 

“We just have a hard time guarding. You don’t have to have a super great basketball sense to understand that,” Caputo said. “We’re starting guys and their offensive abilities are pretty darn good, but their defensive abilities are not great.”

Coming off back-to-back 30-point masterpieces and celebrating the achievement of 2,000 career points, the reigning A-10 Player of the Week, senior guard James Bishop IV, struggled Tuesday night. Bishop finished with just four points on 2-of-9 shooting, missing all six of his three-point shots. 

Despite a fifth-straight home loss, the lone bright spot for the Buff & Blue was the return of redshirt freshman forward Darren Buchanan Jr. who finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. 

“Knowing our circumstances and where we are now, that was my main thing; do whoever I needed to get us a win. And we came short of that, but I think we had a lot of fight in the second half, dug ourselves in a hole in the first half and it was hard to get out of.”

Buchanan, dealing with a groin injury, said he’s “not quite all the way there” in terms of his recovery, but “good enough to play at a high level.”

With GW’s 11th-straight loss erasing any chances of a single bye in the A-10 conference tournament, many fans are already turning their attention to the future, whether it’s the A-10 Championship or next season entirely. Questions about roster turnover have become a common subject of conversation amongst Buff & Blue fans. 

“Nothing has changed regarding what I envision for the future of the program; in fact, I’m increasingly encouraged by our leadership and commitment,” Caputo said. “I believe there are people who share the vision of what this could be and understand that achieving it takes time, especially in this ever-changing environment.”

With that being said, the season rolls on as the Revolutionaries hit the road Saturday to get revenge against La Salle before returning to Smith Center next Wednesday for their Senior Night festivities against St. Bonaventure. Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tip and can be streamed on ESPN+ and WRGW.