University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
8-4,0-1MAC
Kent State
10-2,1-0MAC
Massachusetts Basketball Falls To Kent State In MAC Opener
December 20, 2025 | Men's Basketball
Daniel Hankins-Sanford recorded his fourth double-double of the season.
AMHERST, Mass. -- University of Massachusetts men's basketball fell to Kent State, 69-59, in the Mid-American Conference opener on Saturday afternoon at the Mullins Center (3,104). The Minutemen cut a 14-point Kent State lead down to two late in the second half but were unable to complete the comeback.
Graduate student forward Leonardo Bettiol led the Minutemen with 14 points, while senior Daniel Hankins-Sanford posted his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and a team-leading 12 rebounds.
Danny Carbuccia totaled four assists on the day and Jayden Ndjigue tallied four steals.
For Kent State, Delrecco Gillespie had a double-double with 18 points and 20 boards. Quinn Woidke and Rob Whaley Jr., contributed double figures with 19 and 10, respectively.
Breaking Down the Action
- Danny Carbuccia, Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr., Daniel Hankins-Sanford and Jayden Ndjigue started for the Minutemen.
- Hankins-Sanford hit a three for an early 5-3 lead.
- A Dimitri Clerc dunk cut it to a 12-11 Kent State lead at 12:20 of the first half.
- Kent State extended its lead to 20-13 with seven minutes left before Isaiah Placide hit a three to make it 20-16.
- The Golden Flashes finished the first half with five three pointers en route to a 35-24 lead at the break.
- Bettiol and Hankins-Sanford made back-to-back buckets early in the second half to move the score to 35-28.
- A Rob Whaley Jr. free throw pushed the Kent State lead to 43-29 before Clerc completed an and-one to make it 43-32 at the 15 minute mark
- Bettiol hit a pair of free throws to cut it to 45-37 game with 12 minutes left.
- K'Jei Parker nailed a three at 9:08 to make it a three-point game, 47-44, and force a Kent State timeout.
- With the shot clock winding down, Banks Jr. hit a three to cut it to a 52-50 Kent State lead at 6:45.
- Whaley Jr. finished off a three –point play to give Kent State a 59-53 lead with three minutes left.
- Kent State then made free throws down the stretch to ice the win.
Numbers To Know
- 14: Kent State's largest lead of the game was 14 in the second half, which the Minutemen cut to two.
- 12: Hankins-Sanford grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year.
- 5: The lead changed five times during the contest.
- 2: Two Minutemen reached doubles figures: Leonardo Bettiol (14) and Daniel Hankins-Sanford (11).
Up Next
- The Minutemen play UMass Boston at noon on Monday, Dec. 22 at the Mullins Center (Tickets).
- The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
