For much of the first half Wednesday night, the Mullins Center home opener looked like it belonged to the visitors, who ran out to a 14-point lead and played like the unbeaten team they arrived as.
Then UMass took the game over on the glass and never gave it back.
UMass forward Junjie Wang scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds as UMass rallied for a 72-62 win over UMass-Lowell in the Minutemen’s home opener.
UMass guard Jordan Clayton added 17 points, five rebounds and two steals for UMass (2-1), and sophomore forward Dwayne Wimbley Jr. finished with nine points and a career-high-tying 10 rebounds.
The Minutemen actually opened fast, leading 7-2 behind a Wang three, a jumper from sophomore guard Danny Carbuccia and a Wimbley fastbreak layup just over a minute in before a Wimbley jumper made it 11-7.
UMass-Lowell answered with a 12-0 run, keyed by forward Victor Okojie who scored nine of those points, on two threes and a three-point play, to put the River Hawks in front 19-11 with 13:30 left in the half.
UMass cut the deficit in half with a 6-0 run, but the River Hawks (3-1) pushed back with eight straight points and a layup from senior guard Jakai Newton gave them a 33-19 lead with 5:57 left in the half, their largest of the night.
Trailing 35-23, the Minutemen finally found their footing.
Threes from Clayton and Wang started an 8-2 close to the half, and two Wang free throws gave him 16 points at the break and pulled UMass within 37-31.
UMass-Lowell pushed the lead back to eight early in the second half, but the Minutemen answered with an 11-4 run and a layup from center Cheick Sylla tied the game at 42 with 14:23 remaining.
Sylla tied it again at 44 with another layup, but the River Hawks rebuilt a 50-44 lead.
UMass answered with nine straight points from four different players to take a 53-50 lead with 8:03 remaining, the Minutemen’s first lead since early in the first half.
The game was tied twice more, but UMass never trailed again.
Clayton hit a three for a 56-53 lead with 6:09 left, and after the River Hawks pulled even, six straight Minutemen points capped by a dunk from center Dimitri Clerc made it 62-56 with 2:35 remaining.
Wang’s three with 1:02 left pushed the lead to 66-59, and Wimbley closed it out at the free throw line in the final seconds.
Wang and Clayton scored 12 points apiece in the second half as UMass outscored UMass Lowell 41-25 after the break.
The Minutemen won the game inside, outrebounding the River Hawks 55-35 and outscoring them 38-20 in the paint. Sylla scored eight points and junior center Abdullah Ahmed grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.
Okojie led UMass-Lowell with 13 points and guard Christian Jones added 10. The River Hawks shot 33.3 percent from the field against 42.4 percent for UMass.
UMass played without senior Jayden Ndjigue, who is sidelined with a hand injury.
The win was UMass’ fourth straight over UMass-Lowell and its 15th home-opening win in the last 17 years. The Minutemen stay home Tuesday to host Bryant at 7:30 p.m. in the second game of a doubleheader with the UMass women, who host Army West Point at 5 p.m.
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