Men’s Basketball Falls At Akron, 99-92

AKRON, Ohio -- The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team fell in a physical affair to Akron 99-92 on Friday night at the James A. Rhodes Arena (2,125).

K'Jei Parker finished as the leading scorer for UMass with 20 points, including a 5-for-10 showing from three. Battling foul trouble, Marcus Banks Jr. totaled 18 points for Minutemen (15-11, 6-7 MAC).

Tavari Johnson had a game high-23 points for the Zips (20-5, 11-1 MAC), who were aided by a 38-43 mark from the free throw line.

How It Happened

Danny Carbuccia, Marcus Banks Jr., Jayden Ndjigue, Leonardo Bettiol, and Daniel Hankins-Sanford started for the Minutemen.
A Ndjigue three pushed an early Minutemen lead to 7-3 at 17:37.
Akron built a 21-11 lead before a Bettiol layup at 11:56 stopped a 15-0 run.
K'Jei Parker hit a three to cut it to 23-16 at 10:27.
Akron rebuilt a 10-point lead at 30-20.
Back-to-back Parker and Banks Jr. threes helped tighten the gap, with Akron staying in front 34-28 with 5:30 remaining in the first half.
Banks Jr. hit another three to cut it to a one-point game, 34-33.
A Parker three at the 2:00 mark tied it at 39-39.
Bettiol's layup with 1:35 on the clock put UMass back on top, 41-39.
The Minutemen pulled ahead, 43-41, in the final seconds, but a buzzer beater three gave the Zips a 44-43 lead at the half.
Massachusetts cut Akron's lead to one, 48-47, with a Banks Jr., pull up jumper at 17:48 of the second half.
An and-one pushed Akron ahead 51-47 at the 16:49 mark.
At 16:26 following a lengthy review, the teams combined for six fouls with Akron's Evan Mahaffey assessed a flagrant one.
Parker closed the gap, 56-53, with a shot from beyond the arc with 15:21 in the second.
Banks Jr., responded to a three from the Zips with his own at 12:22 to make it a 66-63 contest in favor of Akron.
Another Banks Jr., three-pointer at the 8:53 mark cut UMass' deficit to five, 75-70.
Carbuccia's driving layup cut the Zips lead to 88-81 at 4:18.
A three-pointer from Carbuccia cut the lead to six, 96-90, with 58 seconds remaining.
The Zips made a few free throws to close out the game with a 99-92 win.

Numbers To Know

4: Four Minutemen recorded double-digit points on the night – K'Jei Parker (20), Marcus Banks Jr. (18), Leonardo Bettiol (18) and Danny Carbuccia (13).
5: Parker made five three-pointer on the night, one shy of matching his career-high.
10: Banks Jr., reached double digits, scoring 10 points alone in the first half.
12: Bettiol tallied 12 points in the first half.
32: The Minutemen outscored the Zips in the paint, 32-24.
57.4: UMass shot 57.4 percent (35-for-61) from the field.

Up Next

The Minutemen return home to play host to 23rd-ranked Miami at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 17 (tickets).
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

Next Event

Team Stats

K'Jei Parker

Leonardo Bettiol

Marcus Banks Jr.

Danny Carbuccia

Players Mentioned

Marcus Banks Jr.

Leonardo Bettiol

Danny Carbuccia

Daniel Hankins-Sanford

Jayden Ndjigue

K'Jei Parker

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics