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University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
11-8,2-5MAC
Northern Illinois
6-11,2-4MAC
Massachusetts Men’s Basketball Falls To Northern Illinois
January 17, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Leonardo Bettiol led the team with 25 points and seven rebounds.
DEKALB, Ill. -- The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team (11-8, 2-5 MAC) fell to Northern Illinois (6-11, 2-4 MAC), 70-68, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center (1,535).
Graduate student Leonardo Bettiol reached double figures for the third straight game after scoring 25 points. Bettiol was 7-for-12 from the field and 11-of-14 from the free throw line and his put back attempt off an intentionally missed free throw as time expired nearly forced overtime but the shot would not fall. He also led the team in rebounds with seven.
Marcus Banks Jr., followed with 16 points, knocking down 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. K'Jei Parker contributed 15 points on the afternoon. Banks Jr., and Danny Carbuccia had three assists apiece.
For Northern Illinois, Makhai Valentine posted a game-high 27 points, with Hassan Washington putting up 11 points. Taj Walters grabbed eight rebounds and Gianni Cobb dished out six dimes.
How It Happened
- Danny Carbuccia, Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr., Daniel Hankins-Sanford and Jayden Ndjigue started for the Minutemen.
- The Minutemen took an early 5-2 lead on a Banks Jr. three and a pair of Hankins-Sanford free throws.
- A Carbuccia layup tied it at 10-10 at 15:30 of the first.
- K'Jei Parker hit a three to cut it to a 14-13 NIU lead at 13:40.
- Banks Jr. made his second three of the afternoon to cut the NIU lead to 23-21 at 6:37.
- A Parker three made it 38-31 Huskies with 54 seconds left in the half.
- Behind 14 points off of turnovers, the Huskies took a 40-33 lead to the locker room after the first 20 minutes of play.
- Back-to-back layups by Bettiol moved it to 42-37 at 17:31 of the second half.
- A Ndjigue free throw inched the Minutemen closer, 45-41, at 16:00.
- Bettiol made a tough spinning layup at 14:59 and got it to go and hit the free throw to cut the NIU lead to 45-44.
- Bettiol converted another and-one to tie it at 47-47 at the 13:20 mark.
- Ndjigue hit a jumper down low to put the Minutemen up 54-52 at 9:28 of the second, their first lead since early in the first half.
- NIU went on a run to push their next lead to 60-54 with just under seven minutes left in the second half.
- Bettiol hit both free throws on a one-and-one at 6:05 to cut the NIU lead to 60-58 and then Banks Jr. converted on a driving layup for a 60-60 tie.
- Parker hit a pair of layups resulting in a 66-64 UMass lead with three and a half minutes to play.
- UMass couldn't convert on its possession with 1:30 to play and leading 68-67, the Huskies attempted a layup that Bettiol blocked.
- Trailing by one, Parker's jumper rimmed out and the Minutemen were whistled for a tough foul on the rebound.
- With exactly 30 seconds to play, the Huskies hit one of the two ensuing free throws for a 69-67 lead.
- At the other end, Bettiol's layup wouldn't go nor would Wimbley Jr.'s follow up, and the Minutemen were forced to foul.
- NIU hit one of two free throws again to take a 70-67 lead with 18.5 seconds left.
- Ndjigue was then fouled and hit his first free throw, missed the second on purpose but the putback attempt by Bettiol wouldn't fall.
Numbers To Know
- 70.0: UMass shot 70.0 percent (21-for-30) from the charity stripe.
- 11: The Minutemen and Huskies tied 11 times throughout the game.
- 8: Massachusetts tallied a season-best eight blocks.
- 3: Three Minutemen reached doubles figures: Leonardo Bettiol (25), Marcus Banks Jr. (16) and K'Jei Parker (15).
Up Next
- The Minutemen return home to play host to Toledo at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
- The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
