Minutemen Take Down Eagles In Hall Of Fame Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Meeting for the first time since Nov. 16, 2014, Massachusetts basketball (7-3) picked up its fourth consecutive win over Boston College (5-6) in a thrilling 76-74 triumph on Wednesday night at the Hall of Fame Classic at the MassMutual Center (5,853). Marcus Banks Jr., had a game-high 29 points, including the decisive free throws with five seconds left, to secure MVP honors.

Banks Jr., was 10-for-17 from the field and connected on a season-best six from beyond the arc. He added seven rebounds and a steal on the night.

Daniel Hankins-Sanford added 17 points and Leonardo Bettiol put up 12 points. Jayden Ndjigue came down with a season-high 11 rebounds, with Bettiol pulling down eight boards. Danny Carbuccia and K'Jei Parker recorded four assists apiece.

For the Eagles, Donald Hand Jr., led the way with 18 points, followed by Chase Forte and Boden Kapke with 12 points each. Fred Payne contributed 11 points.

Breaking Down the Action

Danny Carbuccia, Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr, Daniel Hankins-Sanford, and Jayden Ndjigue entered into the game as starters
Fred Payne opened the scoring for both teams with a three-pointer less than two minutes into the first half
Bank Jr., secured the first five points for the Minutemen, highlighted by an opening triple, before Hankins-Sanford's layup gave Massachusetts a 7-5 lead
Back-to-back buckets from Hankins-Sanford, including a fast break dunk, pushed Massachusetts ahead, 13-10
A flagrant foul against the Eagles led to a four-point swing when Bettiol hit a pair of free throws and Banks Jr., added a jumper at 7:40 to extend the lead to 23-16
Chase Forte's five points pulled the Eagles within two with 5:07 left in the half
Hankins-Sanford answered with a basket from the arc to open an 8-3 run over three minutes to give the Minutemen a 33-26 advantage
Boston College went on a 7-2 run to close the half, making it a 35-33 UMass lead at the break
Out of the locker room, Aidan Shaw's dunk tied the game at 35-35
Five points for Hankins-Sanford put UMass back on top, 40-37, in the opening three minutes of the second half
Bettiol completed a three-point play with an and-one at the 14:13 mark to give UMass a 51-40 lead
Massachusetts took a 12-point lead with 13:44 on the clock as Banks Jr., pulled up a three-pointer, marking his fourth of the night
Boston College went on a 13-4 run to pull within three points from a 14-point deficit with 9:39 remaining in the second
Boden Kapke of the Eagles converted a three-point play to knot the game up at 56 apiece
Banks Jr., ended UMass' scoring drought over a six-minute span with his fifth three-pointer of the night, matching a season-high, to make it a 63-59 game
Banks Jr., made one-of-two free throws off a technical foul, before Bettiol hit his free throw on his and-one to bring UMass back within four at 65-61.
K'Jei Parker went end-to-end pulling up a jumper in the paint as the Minutemen closed the gap to one point at 66-65
The Eagles pulled ahead, 68-65, at the 3:27 mark, but a Class A Technical foul helped Parker to the charity stripe, making one of two
Banks Jr., recorded a season-best six three-pointers after knocking one down from behind the arc to regain a 69-68 lead with 3:12 on the clock
Parker and Hankins-Sanford followed with a jumper and layup to push ahead 73-70
A driving layup by Boston College tied the game up once again at 74-74 with only 57 seconds remaining
After BC missed two free throws, Banks Jr., was sent to the charity stripe with five seconds left
Banks Jr., knocked down both free throws at the line to take a 76-74 lead, forcing the Eagles to use a 30-second timeout with 2.3 seconds on the clock
A missed three for the Eagles at the buzzer aided Massachusetts to hang on to a 76-74 victory

Numbers To Know

3: Three Minutemen reached doubles figures: Marcus Banks Jr. (29), Daniel Hankins-Sanford (17) and Leonardo Bettiol (12).
11: Jayden Ndjigue grabbed a season-high 11 boards.
14: The Minutemen took its largest lead of 14 points in the second half.
23: Massachusetts registered 23 second chance points.
29: Banks Jr., matched his season-best 29 points.
44: UMass shot 44 percent (7-of-16) from beyond the arc.

Series History

With the win, Massachusetts now holds a 22-26 record against the Eagles and have won four in a row.
It marks the fourth-straight triumph for the Minutemen over Boston College, dating back to November 21, 2011 (W, 82-26).
Massachusetts is now 7-3 on the season and 54-50 with Coach Martin at the helm.

Up Next

The Minutemen travel to Sunrise, Florida, to face Florida State in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at the Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday, December 13.
The game will be broadcast on ACCN with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

Next Event

Team Stats

Marcus Banks Jr.

Hankins-Sanford Daniel

Leonardo Bettiol

K'Jei Parker

Players Mentioned

Marcus Banks Jr.

Leonardo Bettiol

Danny Carbuccia

Daniel Hankins-Sanford

Jayden Ndjigue

K'Jei Parker

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics