AMHERST — The finish wasn't what Frank Martin and the UMass men’s basketball team might have hoped for.

The Minutemen dropped a 75-71 overtime thriller to undefeated Hofstra Saturday night at the Mullins Center. But it wasn't the final five minutes, where the Pride outscored the Minutemen by four points, that has the veteran head coach most concerned.

"What I have to evaluate is how we're starting games. That's three games in a row where we're down 20 [points] before you can take a deep breath," Martin said. "I'm not into ‘let's clap because we played hard to get back into the game.’ We have to figure out the first six or seven minutes of a game.

"That's three in a row that that starting lineup just didn't do their job."

It was actually a 10-point lead eight minutes into the first half and while Hofstra led by as many as 13 in the first half, Martin's point was an accurate one.

The game was tied 2-2 when Hofstra went on a 14-4 run to take a 16-6 lead. And while UMass did claw its way back into the game, taking its only lead on a Rahsool Diggins 3-point basket with 56.2 seconds left, the Minutemen just could not close the deal.

Jaylen Curry scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-20 shooting from the floor. Curry was 5 for 10 from 3-point range. Diggins scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half and overtime. He also had six boards for the Minutemen.

"I think shots just didn't fall tonight," Diggins said in the postgame media conference. "We played hard, played aggressive. Credit to them, they played good defense also. We just have to finish in the paint."

It was far from the most efficient night for the UMass offense. The Minutemen shot 25 for 67 from the floor, 11 for 29 from 3-point range and a truly inefficient 10 for 20 from the foul line. That including missing the front end of four separate 1-on-1s. Had the Minutemen made those, the 3,155 fans inside the Mullins Center might have gone home happy.

"I'm very appreciative of the fight and the resolve that our guys played with. But the bottom line is you can't shoot 37 percent from the field and go 10 for 20 from the foul line and expect to win games against good teams like them," Martin said.

The Minutemen dropped to 1-3 and have lost three straight after an opening-night win against New Hampshire. Hofstra, coming off a 49-48 win over Big East foe Seton Hall, improved to 3-0.

It was a hot and cold night for UMass, whose inability to hit shots in bunches let the Coastal Athletic Association squad hold the Minutemen at arm's length. 

Hofstra led by 13 points with 8:09 left and was up 35-30 at intermission.

The last big lead was when UMass went cold for nearly five minutes and Hofstra extended a four-point lead to nine at 54-45, after Cruz Davis made a pair of free throws.

Curry started a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer and Diggins ended it with a trey of his own, tying the game at 54. Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton called time out to settle his troops.

While the Pride answered with 7-3 spurt, UMass came right back with a Diggins 3-pointer off a Curry assist. UMass led 62-61, its first lead of the night with 56 seconds left.

Daniel Hankins-Sanford, who had 12 points, five boards, two assists and two steals, picked Jaquan Sanders' pocket but was called for an offensive foul going to the glass. It was his fifth foul.

Jean Aranguren, who scored 20 points for Hofstra, got a deuce to make it 63-62 with 20 ticks on the clock.

On the next UMass possession Curry was fouled going to the basket with 3.4 seconds to play. He made the first, missed the second, and with the score tied at 63, overtime beckoned.

The Pride registered six straight points from Aranguren to open the OT, and while the Minutemen cut the Hofstra lead to a point twice, they could not get that last basket that would put them over the top.

UMass will have the week off from games. Martin and his players will be busy preparing for the Hall of Fame Tip-Off this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut. UMass will play old Atlantic 10 Conference rival Temple on Saturday and then play Florida State Sunday.

UMass won't be back home until Sunday, Dec. 1, against NJIT.

"The season is long. Non-conference is all about getting ready for conference play," Diggins said. "As long as we stay the course, keep competing and keep attacking every day with a great mindset, we'll be OK."

Hockey

UMass 5, Providence 1 – The UMass hockey team rolled to a 5-1 victory over No. 10/9 Providence on Saturday night at Schneider Arena. With the win, the Minutemen improved to 5-5-2 on the year, 1-3-2 in Hockey East, while the Friars fell 7-2-2 overall and 5-1-2 in league action.

"Outstanding, outstanding effort, full 60 minutes," said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. "I thought everything came together tonight. Goaltending from Michael [Hrabal], our back end was great, and our forwards, I thought they created a lot of offense. We scored five and probably could have had a few more. But to me, shorthanded, we're down five or six bodies, I thought the guys came out with the mission. They played a great 60 minutes, and I couldn't be prouder of this group. And I'm hoping this will be a springboard for us."

UMass opened the scoring 4:01 into the first period when junior Kenny Connors won an offensive zone faceoff straight back to graduate student Linden Alger who sent a shot into the top left corner of the Providence net to give the Minutemen an early lead.

Sophomore Aydar Suniev pushed the margin to 2-0 at the 6:39 mark, firing home a feed from Connors and Cole O'Hara up top on the power play for his team-best seventh goal of the season.

Lucas Olvestad and Dans Locmelis also tallied, and Suniev netted his second of the game in the third period. Hrabal totaled 34 saves in the win and Zachary Borgiel stopped 29 for the Friars. O'Hara dished out three assists.

UMass will be back in action on Friday when the squad plays host to Harvard at the Mullins Center at 7 p.m.