Men’s Basketball Drops Tight Road Battle At #24 Miami (OH)

OXFORD, Ohio — The University of Massachusetts men’s basketball team fell just short, 86-84, at undefeated and 24th-ranked Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday night at a sold-out Millett Hall (9,223). 

The Minutemen (13-9, 4-6 MAC) were in it until the final buzzer, with Isaiah Placide’s deep three from near half court falling just wide as time expired, and the RedHawks (21-0, 9-0) held on for the win.  

Graduate student Leonardo Bettiol registered his fourth double-double of the season, with 22 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. Bettiol shot 7-for-11 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.  

Marcus Banks Jr., put up 18 points, going 4-of-9 from the three-point arc, while Daniel Hankins-Sanford followed with 16 points, shooting 7-for-12 from the field. K’Jei Parker also reached double figures, contributing 10 points for UMass. Danny Carbuccia had six assists on the night.  

For the RedHawks, Eian Elmer tallied 30 points, with Justin Kirby and Peter Suder following behind with 13 points, and Brant Byers adding 12 points. Elmer and Kirby pulled down seven boards apiece, as Suder dished out nine dimes.  

How It Happened 

• Danny Carbuccia, Marcus Banks Jr., Jayden Ndjigue, Leonardo Bettiol, and Daniel Hankins-Sanford started for the Minutemen. 
• Hankins-Sanford hit a three and Banks Jr. made two free throws and a jumper for an early 7-2 lead.  
• A deep Banks Jr. three at 14:48 kept UMass in front, 12-8. 
• Bettiol got his own rebound and made the put back for . 
• Parker hit his first three of the night for a 22-13 lead at 12:12. 
• Back-to-back buckets by the RedHawks cut the UMass lead to 33-31 with seven minutes to play in the first half. 
• Banks made it 4-for-4 from deep at 5:59 for a 38-33 UMass lead. 
• Bettiol hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 40-34 at 4:32. 
• Carbuccia nailed a three after a big offensive rebound by Luka Damjanac, pushing the lead to 43-34. 
• Bettiol added two tough layups down the stretch and the Minutemen took a 47-43 lead to the locker room after 20 minutes of play.  
• Hankins-Sanford hit a jumper at 18:36 to make it a 51-47 lead. 
• A Banks Jr. jumper pushed it to a 56-49 lead, where the teams stayed until the 16:00 minute media timeout. 
• Parker jumper in the lane for a 58-54 lead, with the RedHawks answering right back to make it 58-56. 
• Hankins-Sanford added a three of the night at 11:45 for a 63-58 lead. 
• A pair of Miami free throws tied the game, 65-65, at 9:26  
• Bettiol then had a put back layup to make it 67-65, but Miami answered with a three and a took their first lead of the night at 68-67 at 8:40. 
• The teams were then tied at 71-71 when a Miami put back pushed their lead to 73-71 before Hankins-Sanford answered to tie it 73-73. 
• Banks Jr., put up a  jumper with 4:30 left to make it a 75-74 contest. 
• Miami took a 79-75 lead on an Eian Elmer jumper at the 3:46 mark. 
• Trailing 82-75, Bettiol hit a pair of free throws at 2:07 and then he added another two free throws to cut the lead to 82-79 at 1:46. 
• Trailing 83-81, a three wouldn’t fall for the Minutemen with 24 seconds remaining. 
• Miami then hit both free throws at the other end to pull ahead 85-81 with 23.4 seconds to play.  
• At 8.8, Parker was fouled on a three and hit all three free throws to move it to 85-84.  
• After a missed Miami free throw, Isaiah Placide had a three from just over half court with no time left that would have given the Minutemen the win but Miami held on for an 86-84 win.  
  
   

Numbers To Know 

• 4: Four Minutemen recorded double-digit points on the night – Leonardo Bettiol (22), Marcus Banks Jr. (18), Daniel Hankins-Sanford (16) and K’Jei Parker (10).  
• 4: Leonardo Bettiol records his fourth double-double of the year with 22 points and 16 rebounds. 
• 12: Crashing the boards, UMass grabbed 12 offensive rebounds.  
• 16: Bettiol’s 16 boards marked a career-high for the graduate student. 
• 16: Massachusetts scored 16 points off the bench. 
• 34: The Minutemen edged out the RedHawks in rebounding, 34-32. 
• 76.5: UMass shot 76.5 percent (13-for-17) from the free throw line.  

Up Next  

• The Minutemen return home to play host to Eastern Michigan at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31 (tickets).  
• The game will be UMass’ Coaches versus Cancer contest and will be streamed on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).