AMHERST – The UMass men’s basketball team concluded its regular season with a whimper in a 74-51 loss to Loyola Chicago Saturday afternoon at the Mullins Center.

The Minutemen (12-19) had one of their worst offensive showings of the year Saturday, as they shot 26.6 percent from the field and tied a season-low from beyond the arc, hitting just 1-of-21 3-pointers. The Ramblers (21-10) were just the opposite, shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and swishing 13 3s, forcing UMass into a first-round matchup in next week’s Atlantic 10 tournament with the defeat.

“Disappointed in everything about today,” Minutemen head coach Frank Martin said. “We’re playing a really good team that was playing for a lot, which means we need to play with all the qualities that are required to give yourself a chance when you play an upper-level team. Instead, we didn’t have that fight. Really frustrating. Disappointing and frustrating are the two best words I can use to describe that performance today. UMass deserves a lot better and obviously I did a really poor job of getting our guys to answer the bell today.”

Daniel Hankins-Sanford’s double-double (22 points, 15 rebounds) was the lone bright spot for UMass as the junior set a new career high in boards in the loss. Jaylen Curry was the only other Minuteman player to reach double figures with 11 points. Rahsool Diggins deposited nine points in a quiet afternoon for the Minuteman senior, who was honored pre-game as part of UMass’ senior day festivities.

“To be honest, I was just trying to do whatever it took to win,” Hankins-Sanford said. “It’s senior day for my boy [Rahsool], we were all in the locker room and just throughout the week, trying to hype him up and send him off the right way. We fell short of that, but I was just trying to give all the effort I had to make that a reality.”

To get an idea of just how much the Minutemen were struggling on offense, Diggins got a basket at 15 minutes, 20 seconds of the second half for his second field goal of the game, marking just the second UMass player to put down multiple field goals to that point. Hankins-Sanford, Curry and Diggins were the only Minutemen players to make more than one field goal against Loyola Chicago.

Curry also drained UMass’ single 3-pointer, which came with 2:30 left in the game.

“They guard well, it was very physical, I think we just missed a lot of open shots too,” Diggins said on the team’s struggles from deep. “I think we got a lot of good shots, and they just didn’t fall. I just think it was a tough day.”

The Minutemen built an early seven-point lead during the first half as the Ramblers came out of the gates slow. But it was short-lived as Loyola Chicago went on a 13-0 run, its largest of the contest, late in the first to lead 34-20 at halftime.

The Ramblers proceeded to drop 40 more points in the second half, highlighted by Jayden Dawson’s 17 points, as they secured the double-bye in the A-1o tournament as the No. 4 seed with the convincing victory.

“One of the veteran coaches on my staff, Dan Hipsher, he talks about there’s like three to four games a year that you’re going to win, no matter what happens, and today was clearly one of those days,” Loyola Chicago head coach Drew Valentine said. “Diggins and Curry are really good players, but they couldn’t make shots and we’ve had games like that this year. I give those guys credit. They came out early and jumped on us. I called that timeout. UMass averages 15 offensive rebounds a game, they’re top-50 in the country in rebound rate and we knew that coming into the game. Our guys just didn’t have the focus needed, mental preparation and just didn’t have it from an intensity standpoint to keep them off the glass and keep them from getting second-chance opportunities. We called that timeout and I thought Jalen DeLoach, Francis Nwaokorie, those two guys in particular on the interior did a really good job at that moment of stabilizing us and from that point on we took off.”

DeLoach and Nwaokorie combined for 14 points while Des Watson (14 points) and Sheldon Edwards Jr (12 points) also played well for the Ramblers.

As far as team stats, free throws (94.1-55.6 percent) and second-chance points (19-14) favored UMass, which rounded out the regular season with an 8-8 record at Mullins.

The Minutemen will slot into the 11th seed at the A-10 tournament, where they’ll take on No. 14 La Salle. UMass beat the Explorers twice during the regular season, the only A-10 opponent the Minutemen snatched multiple wins against this season.

Tipoff for the first round battle is set for Wednesday, March 12 at 4:30 p.m. All games will be played at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.