Diakite looks to keep No. 7 Virginia unbeaten vs. UMass

Mamadi Diakite initially declared for the 2019 NBA Draft after helping Virginia capture its first national championship last season.

After testing the waters, the 6-foot-9 forward returned for his senior season. He leads the No. 7 Cavaliers (4-0) against the Massachusetts Minutemen (5-0) on Saturday afternoon at the Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Virginia is happy Diakite came back, especially after he fueled a comeback to beat Vermont on Tuesday.

Not only did he score the bucket that put the Cavaliers ahead to stay with 5:11 left, he also shut down red-hot Catamounts star Anthony Lamb (30 points) after a late defensive switch. Lamb had two turnovers and missed all three shots in the final five minutes.

"At the end, I wanted to take the challenge. I responded to it," said Diakite, who matched his career best with 19 points and made a career-high three 3-pointers in the 61-55 victory.

Diakite is averaging a team-high 15.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. The preseason All-ACC first-team selection is shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 55.6 percent (5 of 9) from 3-point range.

"He's played well. I think he just has to continue to stay within himself, but stay aggressive and just lock in," Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said of Diakite following Tuesday's win. "We need his ability to do things and just be sound and tough."

After handing Vermont its first loss, UVA looks to do the same against a young and balanced UMass squad off to its best start since 2013-14.

Junior guard Carl Pierre scored 23 points and freshman guard T.J. Weeks added 21 in the Minutemen's 82-72 victory Wednesday against Rider. Weeks drained all six of his 3-point attempts and Pierre hit 4 of 9 from behind the arc.

Six UMass players are scoring in double figures, paced by Weeks (14.8) and fellow freshman guard Sean East II (13.4) and joined by Pierre (13.2), freshman center Tre Mitchell (11.3), freshman guard Kolton Mitchell (10.5) and sophomore forward Samba Diallo (10.0).

The Minutemen average 78.4 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting, including 43.0 percent from deep with 49 made 3-pointers through five contests.

UMass coach Matt McCall knows reaching those totals against Virginia's stingy defense will be a challenge, as Bennett's team held its first two opponents to 34 points and is allowing an NCAA-low 41.2 points on 28.2 percent shooting (27.0 percent from 3-point distance).

"I have great respect for coach Bennett. ... The guy's just phenomenal. He's one of the best coaches, best people in our game, and the job he does with those guys is through the roof," McCall said to MassLive.com. "But we have a great opportunity on our hands and to be able to go down to this tournament 5-0 and play Virginia, our guys will be excited."

The Cavaliers are 2-0 all-time against Massachusetts, with wins in 1993 and 1996.

Tournament play continues Sunday. The UVA-UMass winner will face the Arizona State-St. John's winner in the championship game of the Naismith bracket at 1 p.m. ET, while Saturday's losers will meet in the consolation game at 3:30 p.m. ET.

--Field Level Media