Ball State Comes Back to Beat Minutemen

MUNCIE, Ind. - Massachusetts men's basketball (15-14, 6-10 MAC) fell victim to a Ball State (9-19, 4-11 MAC) comeback on Tuesday evening as the Cardinals erased an 18-point deficit to beat the Minutemen in overtime, 74-73. Isaiah Placide tied a Division I career high with 19 points, 14 coming after halftime, including the game-tying three-pointer to send the game to overtime, and a go-ahead three late in the extra session.

Ball State responded on the other end with a basket and the Minutemen couldn't get a shot off at the buzzer.

Leonardo Bettiol added 14 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. Danny Carbuccia had 12 while K'Jei Parker tallied 10.

Placide had another run of six straight points in overtime to give the Minutemen a lead in the final minute, but it wasn't enough.

Breaking Down the Action

Carbuccia, Marcus Banks Jr., Bettiol, Jayden Ndijgue and Dimitri Clerc started for the Minutemen. It marked Clerc's first-career start.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford missed the game due to injury.
Carbuccia scored the first five points of the game, via a driving layup and 3-pointer.
Parker knocked down his first three-pointer of the half with 13:35 on the clock to give the Minutemen a 12-5 lead.
The Cardinals responded with a 7-2 run to pull within two after an Elmore James layup made the score 14-12.
After Ball State pulled within 16-14, UMass staged a 12-0 run, capped off by three-pointers from Isaiah Placide and Parker, making the score 28-14 with 6:13 remaining in the half and forcing a Cardinals' timeout.
A Bettiol hook shot extended the Minuteman lead to 16 at 32-16 with 2:36 until halftime.
A Juwan Maxey three-pointer in the final seconds of the stanza pulled Ball State within 34-21 after 20 minutes of play.
Banks was the story early in the second half, knocking down two three-pointers in the first 1:43, both to give UMass a 16-point lead back. The second gave the Minutemen a 40-24 lead and forced another Ball State timeout.
The lead hovered in the mid-teens for much of the ensuing minutes, reaching 18 twice at 47-29 and 49-31, both after Bettiol layups.
With UMass leading 53-35, Ball State went on a 17-3 run.
After a Parker three with 12:12 remaining gave the Minutemen that 18-point lead, they were held to just one field goal until Placide's tying trey with 25 seconds remaining.
In overtime, Ball State scored on its first three possessions, but the Minutemen stayed within a possession.
The margin eventually reached four at 71-67 with just over two minutes to go and then 72-67.
But the Minutemen responded with six points over consecutive possessions, via a Placide three-point play, then three-pointer, to take a 73-72 lead with 36 seconds remaining.
However, Ball State's Armoni Zeigler converted a driving layup for a 74-73 lead, and after a timeout, the Minutemen couldn't get a shot off.

Numbers To Know

4: Tuesday marked the fourth overtime game of the season. The Minutemen are 0-4.
19: Placide scored a Division I career high 19 points for the second time in the last three games.
27: Placide played a DI career high 27 minutes on the evening.
49: UMass collected 49 rebounds, holding a 49-41 edge.

Up Next

The Minutemen head to Bowling Green on Saturday for a 2 p.m. opening tipoff. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

Isaiah Placide

Leonardo Bettiol

Danny Carbuccia

K'Jei Parker

Players Mentioned

Leonardo Bettiol

Danny Carbuccia

Dimitri Clerc

Daniel Hankins-Sanford

K'Jei Parker

Isaiah Placide

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics