The UMass men’s basketball team was unable to overcome a slow start against West Virginia on Friday. 

The Mountaineers roared out to a 25-10 lead with just over 10 minutes to go in the first half before taking a 45-28 lead into the intermission. 

The Minutemen continued to chip away during the final 20 minutes of action, cutting the lead to single-digits, 60-52, with 8:42 to go after a Daniel Hankins-Sanford 3-pointer. With 2:45 to go, Daniel Rivera made one from the free throw line to make it a 66-59 game. 

UMass was unable to get the West Virginia lead any closer until Rahsool Diggins made a 3-pointer at the buzzer however, as the Mountaineers walked away with a 75-69 victory in Morgantown, W.V. 

It was the work at the charity strike that helped West Virginia build its 25-10 lead early. Of those 25 points, 10 came off free throws. The Mountaineers finished the game an impressive 25-for-29 from the line. 

The Minutemen (1-1) cut the lead to 32-26 with 4:07 to go in the half after Diggins made a pair at the line and Jaylen Curry knocked down a 3-pointer, but the Moutaineers closed the half on a 13-2 run to take control of the game. 

West Virginia had its biggest lead of the game, 48-30, with 18:49 to go before a pair of Diggins 3s helped get UMass back in the game. 

Diggins knocked down a pair of 3s in the final 30 seconds to keep the Minutemen alive but the Mountaineers did not miss at the free throw line to close out the win. 

UMass struggled shooting from deep on the road, going 6-for-21 on 3-point attempts. Diggins led the way with 19 points, Rivera scored 14 points to go along with nine rebounds, Hankins-Sanford had a 13 points, 11 rebound double-double while Curry tallied 13 points and seven assists in the loss. 

West Virginia (2-0) was led by Tucker DeVries, as the Drake transfer put up 17 points and eight rebounds. Amani Hansberry finished with 16 points while Javon Small scored 12 points in the victory. 

The Minutemen will regroup  before traveling to Nassau County Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. on Wednesday to take on Louisiana Tech in the Icons of the Game Showcase.