The University of Massachusetts men’s basketball team will conclude its regular season at home against Ohio on Tuesday, March 3. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff at the Mullins Center in Amherst and will be streamed on ESPN+. Updates and additional information can be found on the team’s official website and social media channels.
This matchup marks the fifth meeting between Massachusetts and Ohio, with UMass holding a 3-1 advantage despite an 86-83 loss to Ohio earlier this season. In that previous contest, senior forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford led UMass with 16 points and nine rebounds.
UMass enters the game after a loss to Bowling Green, where they initially took a strong lead with a 17-0 run but ultimately fell 81-62. Leonardo Bettiol led the Minutemen with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Dwayne Wimbley Jr., making his first career start, scored a personal best of 10 points.
Ohio currently holds a record of 15-14 overall and is 9-7 in conference play following their recent defeat by Toledo. Senior Jackson Paveletzke leads Ohio with averages of 16.5 points and 5.1 assists per game, ranking fourth in the conference for assists. Aidan Hadawy contributes an average of 14 points and leads the team in rebounding with 7.6 per game, also ranking fourth in the conference.
Frank Martin is in his fourth season as head coach at UMass for the upcoming year (2024-25). Under his leadership last season, UMass finished with its best record since 2014—20 wins and an Atlantic 10 Championship top-four seed. Martin now ranks third all-time in program history for wins through two seasons as head coach at UMass, behind only Bruiser Flint and Travis Ford.
Martin began his tenure by leading UMass to its best first-year head coaching record since 1996 and won the Myrtle Beach Invitational during his first campaign (2022-23). He has accumulated significant experience over his career, including ten seasons at South Carolina (171 wins) and five seasons at Kansas State (117 wins), reaching both his 300th win on January 25, 2023 against Richmond (“Head coach Frank Martin picked up his 300th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 25, 2023 with a 85-76 win over Richmond.”) and his milestone of win number 350 on February 3, 2026 against Central Michigan (“Martin picked up his 350th collegiate coaching win on Feb. 3, 2026 with a 95-89 win over Central Michigan.”).
Recent performances have seen several notable individual achievements from Minutemen players:
“Dwayne Wimbley Jr. made his first-career start at Bowling Green Saturday and ended with a career-high 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting.”
“Leonardo Bettiol scored 24 points at Bowling Green on 9-of-12 shooting, while adding nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.”
Daniel Hankins-Sanford recorded “a career-high twenty rebounds—the most by any Minuteman since Jim Town had twenty-seven against Boston College in December of nineteen seventy-six.”
Statistically this season:
UMass has played eleven games decided by three or fewer points.
The team has participated in four overtime games.
UMass averages eight point three made three-pointers over its last six games.
Their plus-five rebounding margin ranks second in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
They are third in offensive rebounds per game (twelve) as well as total rebounds per game (thirty-seven point thirty-seven).
UMass ranks second in assists per game within the MAC (seventeen point thirty), which also places them twenty-fifth nationally.
Four players average double figures: Leonardo Bettiol (seventeen point eight), Marcus Banks Jr. (sixteen point four), Daniel Hankins-Sanford (eleven point six), K’Jei Parker (eleven point two). Bettiol is sixth while Banks Jr. is ninth among MAC scoring leaders.
Bettiol’s field goal percentage stands out at sixty percent—first in league rankings—and he averages eight rebounds per contest.
Hankins-Sanford’s nine double-doubles are third-most among MAC players; Bettiol’s seven rank fourth.
After Tuesday’s matchup against Ohio concludes their regular season schedule, UMass will have a bye before potentially advancing to Cleveland for next week’s MAC Tournament depending on results from other games.
