University of Massachusets Athletics
Saturday, February 21
Amherst, Mass.
6 p.m.
University of Massachusetts
vs
Buffalo
Minutemen Host Buffalo Saturday on Senior Day and Alumni Weekend
February 19, 2026 | Men's Basketball
| University of Massachusetts Men's Basketball Notes & Information | |
| Matchup | Massachusetts vs. Buffalo |
| Date | Times | Saturday, Feb. 20 | 6:00 p.m. |
| Location | Amherst, Mass. | Mullins Center |
| @UMassMBB | |
| @umassbasketball | |
| UMass Men's Basketball | |
AMHERST, MASS. - The Minutemen close out their two-game homestand against Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. It's Senior Day and Alumni Weekend, as the Minutemen will welcome back the 1996 Final Four team 30 years later. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
This week for the Minutemen
The Matchup
- Saturday's matchup marks the third meeting between the two programs all time, and the first in Amherst, with the Minutemen holding a 2-0 advantage.
- The two teams last raced each other on Jan. 23, with Massachusetts taking a 68-67 victory.
- Marcus Banks Jr. scored a team-leading 19 points while Leonardo Bettiol followed with 16, shooting 7-of-10 from the field.
- Daniel Hankins-Sanford registered his eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 10 boards.
- A strong start led to a 20-point, 33-13 lead, and UMass fought off Buffalo's comeback attempt.
- In the only other meeting between the two sides, the 19th-ranked Minutemen posted a 96-67 win on Feb. 18, 1993, in Buffalo.
Last Time out
- Massachusetts dropped an 86-77 contest against 22nd-ranked Miami on Tuesday evening.
- The Minutemen fell down early, but clawed back to take a second-half lead. but the RedHawks ended the game on an 18-9 run to secure the victory.
- UMass was led by Isaiah Placide with a Division I career-high 19 points, going 6-of-9 from the field with five three-pointers. Placide's five three-pointers also marked the most as a Minuteman.
- Leonardo Bettiol followed with 18 points, grabbing nine rebounds, two assists and a steal.
- Danny Carbuccia recorded 15 points, going 5-for-9 from the field, nabbing a pair of rebounds, six assists and a steal.
Scouting the bulls
- Buffalo comes into Saturday's matchup off a 72-70 loss against Northern Illinois on Feb. 17.
- Daniel Freitag leads the Bulls in scoring and sits second in the MAC averaging 20.0 points per game. The sophomore has recorded dougle-digit points in the last seven games.
- Ryan Sabol follows closely with 18.2 points per game, ranking fifth in the conference. The District of Columbia native's 3.5 three-pointers a game paces the MAC.
- The Bulls have lost four of their last five coming in, with their win coming at Ball State via a 63-53 final.
Year Four Under Coach Martin
- Massachusetts basketball enters its fourth season under head coach Frank Martin in 2024-25.
- Under Martin's leadership the Minutemen enjoyed their best campaign since 2014 last year, finishing the 2023-24 season with a 20-11 overall record and securing a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship
- Martin ended the 2023-24 campaign ranked third in program history with a 35-27 record through his first two seasons with the Minutemen, sitting just below Bruiser Flint and Travis Ford.
- Coach Martin started his time in Amherst by leading the Minutemen to their best record under a first-year head coach since 1996 and the Myrtle Beach Invitational title during the 2022-23 campaign
- Martin holds a 350-260 (.576) collegiate coaching mark, picking up 171 of his wins in 10 seasons at South Carolina while recording 117 wins in five seasons at Kansas State.
- Head coach Frank Martin picked up his 300th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 25, 2023 with a 85-76 win over Richmond.
- Martin picked up his 350th collegiate coaching win on Feb. 3, 2026 with a 95-89 win over Central Michigan.
TIP-OFF TIDBITS
- Massachusetts' 14 MAC games have been decided by a combined 63 points or a 4.5 points per contest, with each finishing with single-digit margins.
- Eight of UMass' 14 MAC games have been decided by three points or less (UMass is 4-4 in those eight games).
- On the season, UMass has played 10 games that have been decided by three points or fewer (5-5 in those 10 games), including the triple overtime thriller at Coastal Carolina (L, 94-91).
- After 10 made threes on Tuesday, the Minutemen have connected on double-figure triples in four straight games. It marks the first time that has happened since doing so in five straight contests in November of 2021.
- In the game at Coastal, Daniel-Hankins Sanford pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds - the most rebounds in a game for a Minuteman since Jim Town had 27 against Boston College on Dec. 12, 1976.
- It marked the 10th triple overtime game in program history and the first since last season's 120-118 win at Fordham (Jan. 15, 2025).
- UMass head coach Frank Martin, who is in his fourth season at UMass and 19th overall as a head coach, has 350 career wins (including stints at Kansas State, South Carolina and UMass).
- UMass' +5.1 rebounding margin ranks second in the MAC.
- Massachusetts also ranks third in the MAC in offensive rebounds per game (12.00) and rebounds per game (37.33).
- The Minutemen rank second in the MAC and 27th nationally by averaging 17.5 assists per game.
- UMass has held opponents to a 32.3 shooting percentage from three, ranking second in the conference.
- UMass features four players averaging double figures in points per game, including Leonardo Bettiol (17.6), Marcus Banks Jr. (16.7), K'Jei Parker (11.6) and Daniel Hankins-Sanford (11.5).
- Bettiol and Banks Jr., rank sixth and ninth, respectively, in points per game in the MAC.
- Bettiol is also shooting 59.7 percent from the field to rank first in the league and 27th nationally.
- Bettiol is also averaging 7.8 rebounds per game to rank third in the MAC, while Hankins-Sanford ranks sixth (7.3).
- In MAC games, Parker has hit 25 of 27 free throw attempts to rank second in the league (.926).
- Hankins-Sanford (9) and Bettiol (6) each have multiple double-doubles this season.
- Hankins-Sanford's nine double-doubles are the third most in the MAC.
Up Next
- The Minutemen fly to Muncie, Indiana to take on Ball State on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
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