The University of Massachusetts men’s basketball team will face Akron on Friday, February 13, at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio. The game is set for a 9:00 p.m. tip-off and will be streamed on CBS Sports Network.
This meeting marks the third matchup between Massachusetts and Akron, with each team having won once in their previous two encounters. The teams last played on December 30, 2019, when the Minutemen lost to the Zips 85-79.
Massachusetts comes into this contest after a close triple-overtime loss to Coastal Carolina, falling 94-91 in the second round of the MAC-SBC Challenge. In that game, Marcus Banks Jr. scored 21 points and hit a buzzer-beater to force a third overtime. K’Jei Parker led UMass with a career-high 31 points, while Leonardo Bettiol contributed 17 points and secured his sixth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Daniel Hankins-Sanford recorded a career-best 20 rebounds—the most by a UMass player since Jim Town had 27 in December 1976—and added 10 points for his ninth double-double this year.
Akron hosts Massachusetts following its own defeat against Troy in the MAC-SBC Challenge, losing by ten points (79-69). Under head coach John Groce’s leadership over nine seasons, Akron has compiled an overall record of 187-93 (107-51 MAC). Tavari Johnson leads both Akron and the conference with an average of 20.4 points per game, while Amani Lyles tops his team in rebounding at an average of 7.5 per game—seventh best in the league. The Zips currently hold a record of 19-5 overall and are leading their conference at 10-1.
Frank Martin is now in his fourth season as head coach for Massachusetts basketball during the current campaign. Last season, Martin guided UMass to twelve wins overall and seven victories within conference play. Guard Rahsool Diggins earned All-Atlantic 10 Third Team honors after averaging a team-high of nearly seventeen points per game as a senior under Martin’s direction. In previous seasons with Martin at the helm, UMass achieved its best performance since 2014—including twenty wins during the 2023-24 season and securing a top-four seed in their championship tournament.
UMass has played many closely contested games this year; twelve MAC games have been decided by an average margin under four points each, including eight decided by three or fewer points (with UMass splitting those evenly). The team’s rebounding margin (+5.5) ranks second among all teams in their conference as does their average rebounds per game (37.84). They also stand out nationally—ranking twenty-ninth—with an average of seventeen-and-a-half assists per contest.
Four Minutemen players are averaging double-digit point totals: Leonardo Bettiol (17.6), Marcus Banks Jr. (16.8), Daniel Hankins-Sanford (11.9), and K’Jei Parker (11.6). Bettiol leads both his team and ranks first in field goal percentage within their league at just over fifty-nine percent; he also stands third for rebounds per game across conference teams.
Looking ahead after Friday’s contest against Akron, Massachusetts will return home to host Miami (OH) on Tuesday, February 17 at Mullins Center; that matchup will air on ESPN+.
