Massachusetts Caps Homestand against CCSU

of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Notes & Information
Matchup	Massachusetts vs. Central Connecticut State
Date \| Times	Sunday, Nov. 16 \| 2 p.m.
Location	Amherst, Mass. \| Mullins Center
Twitter	@UMassMBB
Instagram	@umassbasketball
Facebook	UMass Men's Basketball

AMHERST, MASS. - The Minutemen close out a four game home-stand against Central Connecticut on Sunday, Nov. 16 with tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. in the Mullins Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
This week for the Minutemen

The Matchup

Sunday's matchup marks the 15th meeting between the two programs with the Minutemen holding a 9-5 advantage all-time.
The teams last faced each other last season season with the Blue Devils taking a 73-69 win on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024.

Last Time out

Massachusetts had four players score in double figures, claiming a 94-80 victory over Le Moyne on Thursday, Nov. 13 at the Mullins Center.
Marcus Banks Jr. recorded a game-high 26 points with five 3-pointers, three assists and a steal.
Leonardo Bettiol notched his first double-double as a Minuteman, tallying 17 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 7-for-11 from the field.
K'Jei Parker had a career-high 19 points, going 6-for-7 from the field. The junior shot a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe adding four rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Freshman Danny Carbuccia also had a career night going 5-for-7 from the field with 13 points and five assists.

Scouting the blue devils

Central Connecticut State comes into Sunday's matchup off a narrow 60-59 win against Boston College on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
Head Coach Patrick Sellers enters his 5th season leading his alma mater. He has led CCSU to back-to-back NEC regular season crowns, along with, consecutive 20-win seasons for the first time in the program's Division I history.
Darin Smith Jr. leads the Blue Devils offensively averaging 14.7 points and 5.0 rebounds over three games. Smith Jr.'s converted the game-winning layup to lift CCSU over Boston College with three seconds remaining in regulation.
Melo Sanchez follows closely behind, averaging 10.0 points per game while shooting 44.4 percent from three-point range.

Year Four Under Coach Martin

Massachusetts basketball enters its fourth season under head coach Frank Martin in 2025-26.
Martin and the Minutemen finished the 2024-25 season with 12 wins, including seven in conference play. Under Martin's tutelage guard Rahsool Diggins had a breakout senior season, averaging a team-high 16.8 points on his way to earning All-Atlantic 10 Third Team honors.
In 2023-24 Martin led the Minutemen to their best season since 2014, finishing with a 20-11 overall record and securing a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
Coach Martin started his time in Amherst by leading the Minutemen to their best record under a first-year head coach since 1996 and the Myrtle Beach Invitational title during the 2022-23 campaign.
Martin holds a 337-249 (.575) collegiate coaching mark, picking up 171 of his wins in 10 seasons at South Carolina while recording 117 wins in five seasons at Kansas State.
Head coach Frank Martin picked up his 300th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 25, 2023 with a 85-76 win over Richmond.

On The Bench

Head coach Frank Martin boasts a talented staff full of experienced assistants featuring three former head coaches, two former McDonald's All-Americans and a former NBA lottery pick.
Associate Head Coach Allen Edwards was the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys from 2016-20. Edwards' teams recorded 60 wins over four seasons, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
Assistant Coach Matt Figger spent the last three seasons at UT Rio Grande Valley after four seasons leading Austin Peay.
Assistant Coach Brian Steele enters his second second UMass after spending time on head coach Frank Martin's staff at South Carolina. Steele was a three-year letter winner at South Carolina as a student-athlete and served as a student assistant during the 2015-16 season in addition to the 2016-17 Final Four campaign.
Director of Player Development Anthony Evans spent five seasons as the head coach at FIU following six years as the head coach at Norfolk State. At FIU, Evans' teams ranked in the top-10 percent nationally from 2015-17 in the NCAA Academic Progress Report and coached multiple Conference USA all-league and all-defensive players.
Director of Player Personnel Doug Edwards ed the Seminoles to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1990-93. The Miami, Fla. Native scored 1,604 points in his career and is the only player at FSU to score 500 or more points in three consecutive seasons. Edwards earned All-SEC Second-Team honors as a senior before being drafted with the 15th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1993 NBA Draft.
Coaches Allen Edwards, Matt Figger and Anthony Evans combined hold 360 wins and two coach of the year awards at the division I level.
Head Coach Frank Martin coached now associate head coach Allen Edwards and director of player personnel Doug Edwards at Miami Senior High School.

Up Next

The Minutemen fly to the U.S. Virgin Islands, opening the Paradis Jam against Charleston on Friday, Nov. 21 with tip-off set for 3:00 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Marcus Banks Jr.

Leonardo Bettiol

Danny Carbuccia

Rahsool Diggins

K'Jei Parker