University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Brown (EXH)
UMass Tops Brown in the Second Exhibition of the Season
October 18, 2026 | Men's Basketball
Four Minutemen finished with double-figure points
AMHERST, Mass. – Massachusetts men's basketball claimed a gritty 88-86 win against Brown in the second exhibition game of the season inside the Mullins Center on Sunday.
The Minutemen were led by Junjie Wang with 31 points, going 8-for-12 from the field. The junior went 12-of-13 from the charity stripe and pulled down six rebounds. Dwayne Wimbley Jr. recorded 15 points over the afternoon with five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Jordan Clayton contributed 13 points with seven rebounds and two steals, including the game-winning offensive rebound and layup with less than two seconds remaining
The Bears kept the game close with 10 lead changes over the game. Brown outscored the Minutemen 48-38 in the paint and recorded 36 points off the bench. Brown was led by Jeremiah Jenkins with 19 points, six assists, and a pair of steals.
Breaking Down the Action
A Wang 3-pointer and Wimbley Jr. layup gave UMass a quick 5-0 lead. After Brown scored the next five points, a Dimitri Clerc 3-point play gave the Minutemen the lead back. Over the ensuing minutes, no team led by more than one possession until a 6-0 UMass surge, featuring a Clayton jumper, Cheick Sylla layup and two Wimbley Jr. free throws, to open a 15-11 lead with 13:07 left in the first.
A Rollie Castineyra 3-pointer put UMass ahead 19-14. From there, Brown posted a 6-0 run before the Minutemen immediately answered with six straight to put the Minutemen back up five at 25-20.
The back-and-forth continued as Brown scored eight straight, beginning and ending with a 3-pointer, to take a 28-25 advantage with 8:38 on the first-half clock.
The Bears' lead reached as much as six at 32-26 then 35-29. With the Bears leading 45-40 after a N'Famara Dabo dunk, the Minutemen scored the final five points of the half, all coming from the free throw line. Two Clayton free throws with 10 seconds remaining evened the score at the half.
Just 3:03 into the second half, Wang scored eight points, beginning with a pair of free throws on the opening possession then converting a pair of 3-point plays. The second gave UMass a 57-51 lead, making it a 12-6 run to begin the half.
Over the next nearly seven minutes, the Minutemen outscored the Bears 16-9, highlighted by four combined three-pointers by Wang and Noa Zemljic. Brown answered with a run of its own garnering an 8-2 run over two minutes to cut the deficit, 75-71, with 8:01 left in the half.
After trading baskets, the Bears engineered a 7-2 run over two minutes to tie the game with 19 seconds left in regulation. With less than three seconds on the clock, Clayton pulled down an offensive rebound and sank a layup with 1.3 seconds left to secure the UMass victory, 88-86.
Numbers to Know
- 4: Four Minutemen recorded double-digit points on the evening – Junjie Wang (31), Dwayne Wimbley Jr. (15), Jordan Clayton (13), and Noa Zemljic (10).
- 7: UMass recorded seven steals over the game.
- 34: The team pulled down 34 rebounds collectively.
- 75: Massachusetts shot 75% from the free throw line.
- The Minutemen head to Harvard on Friday, Oct. 23, for the third exhibition of the season with tipoff set for 7 p.m.
