AMHERST — It’s almost an entirely new-look UMass men’s basketball team this season, but the Minutemen exhibited many of the same problems they encountered a year ago during Monday’s season opener against Marshall.

UMass shot just 27.8 percent from 3-point range and 58.3 percent from the free throw line. Those numbers, combined with 20 turnovers, added up to a 78-72 loss at the Mullins Center in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge that served as the Minutemen’s first game as an official member of the Mid-American Conference.

The Minutemen ranked 362nd in the country last year shooting 3-pointers (28%), and Monday’s opener saw them finish right around that number against the Thundering Herd. Still, it was the free throws that perplexed UMass coach Frank Martin, whose team attempted almost twice as

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