Brockton's Marcus Azor piling up wins, triple-doubles and milestones at UMass-Dartmouth

DARTMOUTH – Marcus Azor feels he isn’t the same player now that he was during his senior season at Brockton High in 2018.

“Totally different player from back then,” Azor said.

What exactly changed for the star senior point guard of the UMass-Dartmouth men’s basketball team? It isn’t just one thing, but a good amount of his on-court capabilities, according to Azor.

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“I’m a way better scorer, I have a way better jump shot,” Azor said. “My (basketball) IQ’s just way better.”

The stats are proof of the massive leap the slender 6-foot-2, 170-pound former Enterprise All-Scholastic has made since his playing days with the Boxers concluded.

Azor has come close to turning himself into a walking triple-double, leading the Corsairs in several statistical categories, starting with the 17.9 points he scores per game. Azor also averages a team-high 9.8 rebounds, an impressive feat not only given his wiry frame, but the position he plays.

Azor is a capable defender as well as he has the most steals on the Corsairs, but it is his assist totals that are truly eye-popping. Azor’s stellar playmaking ability and court vision has led to him compiling 8.7 assists per game, which is once again the best for 12-2 UMass-Dartmouth and tops every other NCAA men’s basketball player in the country, regardless of division.

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"He has a lot of skill sets for the game of basketball,” said longtime UMass-Dartmouth coach Brian Baptiste. “His athleticism, his length, his court knowledge. The best thing he does is he can get into gaps and create things for himself and for his teammates. He’s also maybe even the best rebounder we have from the point guard position, which is incredible.”

Getting his teammates involved often is innate to Azor – he has led the Corsairs in assists in all four of his seasons – and allows UMass-Dartmouth’s offense to operate at a high level. The Corsairs at 85.4 points per game are a top 30 scoring offense in all of Division III.

Azor’s smooth ball-handling and quickness allow him to get into the paint and once in that position, he can pick apart a sunken defense. From there he can score, or with a sharpshooter like Jake Ashworth, who is knocking down 44.4 percent of his 3-point attempts this season, set up beyond the arc, Azor can kick it back to the perimeter for an open look.

“It comes naturally because my game is going to the rim,” Azor said, “and because I’m so good at it, teams have a couple of guys drop down and just leaves our shooters open and they knock it down.”

Azor takes great pride in being the floor general for the Corsairs, and while his sensational assist numbers give him national notoriety, he doesn’t see it as anything more than doing what he’s supposed to do in his role.

“It just means that I’m doing my job, helping my team be successful,” Azor said.

Azor has displayed he can keep the ball himself and be effective as a dynamic scorer as well. Earlier this month, he became the 50th player in program history to notch 1,000 career points, doing so in a road win over Western Connecticut.

The milestone bucket proved elusive as he was held scoreless in that game until five minutes into the second half. That’s when Azor stole the ball away and finished it off with a breakaway slam to join the exclusive club.

“It was just a great feeling, like I knew it was coming but I didn’t want to force it,” said Azor, who has tallied double figures in scoring in each game this season.

While Azor has contributed terrific play throughout his career, he took it to another level during a three-game stretch starting on Jan. 15 and the Corsairs needed him to.

With UMass Dartmouth dealing with several players in COVID-19 protocols, it was limited to just seven available players for a matchup with Castleton. Azor made sure to step up, playing all 40 minutes and propelling the Corsairs to a 90-68 win by registering 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals.

Two nights later and with the Corsairs only suiting up eight players, Azor collected his second straight triple-double and third of the season by going off against UMass-Boston to the tune of 23 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds in another lopsided win.

The incredible run of play from Azor, who was recently named to the Bevo Francis Award watch list as one of the top players in small college basketball, continued against Rhode Island College last Wednesday before the Corsairs got reinforcements back. In an 80-73 overtime victory, Azor played every minute and shrugged off an up-and-down shooting night to come up just shy of another triple-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.

“Everybody has a sense of urgency,” Baptiste said. “We’re shorthanded. We really need to do this and it’s going to take a little bit extra effort to do little other things that (are) outside of our box. Marcus has been passing even better and more.”

But Azor isn’t consumed by trying to achieve triple-doubles. Instead, he’s determined to get the Corsairs another Little East Conference title and more after getting a taste of it a season ago during a truncated 10-game campaign.

Last year, UMass-Dartmouth beat Keene State for the LEC Tournament crown with Azor named the tournament’s MVP. But the Corsairs didn’t get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament like in past years because a national tournament at the Division III level wasn’t held due to the pandemic.

“Our drive comes from last season because we won (the Little East), but the NCAA Tournament we weren't able to get it to show what we can prove to the nation,” Azor said. “But this year we want to show them that we’re still a top team in the LEC, we can win it and we can make a run in the NCAA Tournament.”

If the Corsairs are able to pull off just that, it’s hard not to imagine Azor at the center of it all like he has been all season.

He’s elevated his game to lofty heights in college, something that might have been difficult for him to envision back in high school, but something Baptiste expected and Azor lived up to.

“I saw a lot of potential in him and he’s certainly fulfilled (that) potential,” Baptiste said.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton's Marcus Azor starring for UMass-Dartmouth men's basketball