AMHERST — Frank Martin’s grandmother never let him worry about what he didn’t have. She made the UMass men’s basketball coach appreciate what he had. That philosophy has lived in his home since he’s made it his own.

“It’s what I believe in. I don’t run around worried about what I don’t have. I worry about what I do have, and I embrace that and try and help that as much as I can,” Martin said. “I want the team to act and be that way.”

They’ll need to Saturday against Davidson at the Mullins Center (12:30 p.m. USA) down several frontline players. Point guard Noah Fernandes will miss his seventh game in a row with his injured ankle. It swelled up getting off the plane before the Minutemen lost at George Mason on Saturday and will be reevaluated. He’ll undergo another MRI to assess the damage.

Reigning Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Week RJ Luis is in concussion protocol after breaking his nose in the first minute of the second half against the Patriots and suffering the concussion.

Forward Matt Cross, who missed the past two games with a stomach bug, practiced Friday and was cleared to play but will likely be limited after losing “17-18 pounds” over the past week or so fighting the illness.

“Timing is the best way I can describe it. He’s making a cut too soon or too late. His ball didn’t go in the basket, he was quick shooting the balls. It is what it is,” Martin said. “He gives us a sense of toughness and personality that we could use. Anything he can do will be helpful.”

Martin expects point guard Rahsool Diggins to play despite not practicing Friday with an ankle injury he suffered before the game against Mason. The UConn transfer played against the Patriots and should be available.

“We’re down bodies, man, we can use somebody that can give us you know, eight, 10, 12 minutes in a game,” Martin said.

Their absence (or potential absence) creates opportunity. Boston College transfer Gianni Thompson will see an increase in minutes to try and fill out the wing rotation. It will also further emphasize freshman Keon Thompson’s role. He started the first game of his career Saturday and appears in line for another one against the Wildcats. That hasn’t changed how he’ll approach the game.

“Injuries are something that we can’t really control. What we can control is whether we let ourselves go and just be down on it, or we can just stay motivated, step up and just have a bigger role, embrace it,” Thompson said. “Those are key guys we’d like to have, but we just have to stay a part of it and just hope for the best. I feel like we’ve been doing a pretty good job.”

Davidson (10-12, 3-7 Atlantic 10) will test that resolve in its first visit to Amherst since January of 2020. UMass (13-9, 4-6) hasn’t beaten Davidson since Feb. 9, 2019, which featured a memorable Keon Clergot game-winner.

The Wildcats have won seven of their last eight matchups against the Minutemen. They are riding a two-game losing streak this season after narrow defeats against Saint Louis and VCU. Davidson has lost six of its last seven games in Matt McKillop’s first season taking over for his father, longtime coach Bob McKillop.

“It’s consistency. They’ve got the same group of players that they had last year, and Matt’s been on that bench for 14 years. Matt had his hand on recruiting every one of those guys and coaching everyone,” Martin said. “There’s an understanding of the guys in place, a coach that’s been coaching those guys. It’s still not easy. It’s really hard. The job he’s done is commendable, because his dad’s an icon. His dad’s one of my favorite people I’ve met in this business.”

The Wildcats do one of the best jobs in the conference of taking care of the basketball. They have the league’s fourth-best assist to turnover ratio (1.1) and fifth-best turnover margin (0.5).

“I followed Davidson, especially being down there where I was at. I’ve always enjoyed those guys and how they play,” Martin said. “Now that I’ve got to play against them, I don’t know if I’m going to enjoy it too much.”

Big man Sam Mennega has led the Wildcats scoring 15.6 points per game (ninth A-10) and averaging 7.6 rebounds per contest (sixth A-10). It’s the second straight dominant inside presence UMass center Wildens Leveque will try to neutralize in the post.

“I just anticipate just doing my job and trusting in what we do and what our defensive principles are, and everything’s just be okay,” said Leveque, who scored a season-high 12 points last game.

Davidson might be without Foster Loyer, the league’s No. 11 scorer at 15.1 points per game, after he missed the previous game against VCU with an illness. He also ranks fourth in the league averaging 4.6 assists per game.

“League play’s hard. It’s complicated,” Martin said. “We’re going to be at home. We’ve got to fight our tails off and figure out a way to survive.”

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>