Second Half Rally Lifts Massachusetts Basketball Over Florida State At Orange Bowl Classic

SUNRISE, Fla. -- A second half rally lifted the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team to a 103-95 victory over Florida State in game one of the AutoNation Orange Bowl Classic on Saturday afternoon at the Amerant Bank Arena.

Senior Daniel Hankins-Sanford recorded his third double-double of the season to lead the Minutemen. Hankins-Sanford tied his career-high with 24 points, after going 10-for-16 from the field, and he pulled down a team-leading 10 rebounds. Hankins-Sanford was named the game's MVP as well.

Florida native K'Jei Parker made a major contribution off the bench with a career-high 24 points. Parker went 7-for-11 from the field, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. Leonardo Bettiol (20) and Marcus Banks Jr. (18) added double figures to the UMass total, while Danny Carbuccia dished out eight assists.

As a team, UMass made a season-high 38 field goals, including a season-best 12 three-pointers. It also pushed the Minutemen's winning streak to five games, the longest since winning six in a row during the 2022-23 season (Nov. 17-Dec. 5).

Florida State was led by Robert McCray V with 21 points and 11 assists. Martin Somerville put up 15 points, followed by Kobe Magee and AJ Swinton with 12 apiece. Magee also joined McCray V with a double-double, grabbing 10 boards on the afternoon.

Breaking Down the Action

Danny Carbuccia, Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr., Daniel Hankins-Sanford and Jayden Ndjigue started for the Minutemen.
UMass broke the press and Hankins-Sanford found Banks Jr. for a corner three and an early 3-0 lead.
A step back three for Banks Jr., gave UMass an 8-0 lead two minutes into the contest.
With the shot clock winding down, Banks Jr. knocked down his third three in the first three minutes for an 11-5 lead.
K'Jei Parker checked in four minutes into the half and made an immediate impact with a three and a layup for an 18-12 UMass lead.
Dimitri Clerc made a layup and then hit the free throw to complete and an one for a 23-17 lead with 11:55 left in the first half.
Parker then hit back-to-back threes to extended the UMass lead to 30-19.
FSU cut the lead to 34-28 before a Hankins-Sanford layup made it 36-28 with just over five minutes left in half.
A three-point play by Florida State's Robert McCray made it a one-point game, 36-35.
Trailing for the first time at 38-36, Hankins-Sanford made a pair of free-throws to tie it at 38-38 with three minutes remaining in the half.
A Parker three restored the UMass lead, 43-42, with a minute left in the half but FSU scored the next five points for a 47-43 lead at the break.
The teams traded baskets to start the second half and then Ndjigue hit a pair of free throws to cut the FSU lead to 53-51 but then he picked up his third foul of the game at the other end at the 16:16 mark.
Bettiol tied the game at 57-57 with a nice finish in the paint and then completed an and-one play on the next possession to give the Minutemen a 60-57 lead.
Carbuccia had back-to-back driving layups, hitting a free throw after the second one to complete the three-point play, moving UMass in front 69-64 with 11:17 left in the second.
A Donovan Brown three gave UMass a 76-67 lead with 9:30 left in the half, his first field goal of the game.
A Hankins-Sanford dunk followed by a Banks Jr., three pushed the lead to eight and forced a Florida State timeout.
FSU picked up a dead ball technical and Parker hit both free throws to move the lead to 87-76.
Retaining possession, Hankins-Sanford knocked down a three to make it 90-76 lead.
Parker followed with a three-pointer of his own to put UMass on a 10-0 run at the 4:14.
Parker made it a 101-89 lead with a pair of free throws at the 1:20 mark.
Florida State made back-to-back triples with seconds left to make it a 101-95 game.
The Seminoles fouled Banks Jr., with 12 seconds on the clock, as he made the pair to ice the win.

Numbers To Know

4: Four Minutemen reached doubles figures: Daniel Hankins-Sanford (24), K'Jei Parker (24), Leonardo Bettiol (20) and Marcus Banks Jr. (18)
10: Hankins-Sanford added 10 boards to go alone with his double figure points for his third double-double of the year
12: Massachusetts made a season-high 12 triples
18: The Minutemen registered 18 second chance points
24: Both Hankins-Sanford and Parker had a career-high with their 24 points
54: UMass shot 54 percent from the three-point arc (12-of-22)
100: First 100-point game since teh triple overtime game at Fordham last year (1/15/25)

Series History

With the win, Massachusetts now evened up the all-time series with Florida Satte, 5-5.
Additionally, the Minutemen and Seminoles are tied at 3-3 in neutral site meetings, picking up their first win against FSU since the 2014 season.
Massachusetts is now 8-3 on the season and 55-50 with Coach Martin at the helm.

Up Next

The Minutemen open MACtion on Saturday, Dec. 20, against Kent State at the Mullins Center at 2 p.m.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard