After a huge win against Xavier on Wednesday, the men’s basketball team dropped an important Atlantic 10 conference game at Massachusetts, 72-59. The Bills’ starting lineup changed for the first time in 20 games; According to CBS Sports, Brian Conklin, Saint Louis’ leading scorer, came off the bench as a precaution after rolling his ankle in practice on Friday.

The Bills (16-5, 4-3 A-10) were led by Conklin who scored 17 points off the bench and Jordair Jett who scored 13 points off the bench.The Bills dropped this game after coming off a big win against Xavier at the Cintas Center. UMass had a full week of rest before this game.

UMass jumped out the early 8-5 lead, but the Bills responded to take the lead with a 6-0 run when Conklin came off the bench, 11-8.After SLU had the 11-8 advantage, UMass went on a 12-3 run to reclaim the lead 20-14. UMass held the lead the remainder of the game.

SLU closed to gap to within two points, 23-21, but UMass went on a hot streak lead by Raphiael Putney and Chaz Williams.After a media timeout, UMass went on a 9-3 run to extend their lead 36-26. UMass closed out the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 19 point lead into halftime, 45-26.

This was the most points SLU has allowed in a single half this season with 45 points. UMass made nearly 66 percent of their field goals in the first half.

Kwamain Mitchell, SLU’s second leading scorer, scored 0 points in the first half and only had 4 points for the entire game.

The Bills opened up the second half on an 18-7 run to cut UMass lead into single digits, 52-44. Past the halfway point in the second half, SLU went on a 7-0 run to cut UMass’ lead to five points, 56-51.

UMass quickly extended its lead back into double digits by UMass’ Williams and his free throw shooting.SLU then cut the lead back into single digits, but the 19 point deficit at halftime was too much to overcome as UMass pulled away late.

SLU had poor free throw shooting day as the Bills only converted 42 percent of their free throws compared to their last game against Xavier where they converted nearly 79 percent of their free throws.

UMass was led by Putney who had a double-double with a career high 22 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bills fall out of first place in the A-10 conference as UMass is now tied of the lead in the A-10 conference standings with two other teams.The Bills next game will be back at Chaifetz Arena against St. Bonaventure at 7p.m.

The Bonnies are led by potential NBA first round draft pick Andrew Nicholson who averages nearly 16 points per game and nearly 7 rebounds per game.

The game is also significant for the Bills senior Brian Conklin as he is 4 points away from reaching 1,000 career points. The Bills recent two game road stretch shows how tough the A-10 will be the remaining conference season.