After a whirlwind to the top of the college basketball world, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team will have to refocus for the second round of the Mid-American Conference tournament against fourth-seeded Toledo.
“We’re excited and we’ve got to enjoy this one [for] about an hour,” head coach Frank Martin said. “We’ve got to lock in tonight and get ready for the next game.”
The Rockets (18-14, 11-7 MAC) lost their only matchup with the eighth-seeded Minutemen (17-15, 7-11 MAC) by a score of 84-82 on Jan. 20. UMass will need every ounce of depth and energy it gave in that contest to transfer into Friday’s matchup if they want a shot at an NCAA Tournament bid.
“Today, for me, looked like a semifinal game,” WEEI color commentator John Carroll said on Jan. 20. “I think if [the Minutemen] could get there, [Toledo] is a team that I think could win the MAC.”
Martin nodded along with that statement and is now presented with the opportunity that Carroll predicted nearly two months ago.
Something that pushed UMass ahead in its first matchup with the Rockets was a shooting boost from its bench. While premier shooter Marcus Banks Jr. had a slow night from beyond the arc, shooting 2-of-9 from three, K’Jei Parker and Isaiah Placide provided six made triples in the same number of attempts.
On Thursday against No. 20 Miami (OH), the Minutemen shot just 3-of-15 from deep, but they dominated the paint to upset the previously undefeated RedHawks. If they can replicate that interior effort against Toledo less than 24 hours later, it could be a recipe for a MAC final appearance.
The Rockets allow opponents to shoot 56.1% from inside the arc, ranking 329th in KenPom. Additionally, they let opposing teams shoot an average of 5.5 feet from the basket on twos, which is 289th in the country. Letting players get low and score with little resistance sounds like a formula for Leonardo Bettiol to have a big game.
The Abilene Christian transfer dropped 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting against Miami (OH), constantly fighting through contact at the rim and getting himself in prime position for a feed. The All-MAC Second Team center will need other sources of scoring to take the defensive focus away from him, which is exactly what Jayden Ndjigue and Daniel Hankins-Sanford did against Toledo the first time around.
UMass’ starting forward pairing had dueling double-doubles against the Rockets on Jan. 20 and led the charge by impassioning the team in a vocal pregame shootaround. That same leadership showed up in the second half against the RedHawks, where both grizzled veterans ended in double figures scoring-wise and came away with eight rebounds each.
Toledo showed that same experienced tone against Bowling Green in a nail-biting 77-76 win on Thursday. Taking the court right after the Minutemen with a 1:30 p.m. start, the Rockets squeaked out a win by powering through a late Falcons run.
Bowling Green put together a perfectly-timed 7-0 punch – or at least they thought – with a pair of layups from Javontae Campbell and a triple from Javon Ruffin. The Falcons led 74-73 with 44 seconds left; all it took was one last stop to turn the game into a free-throw shooting contest.
MAC Freshman of the Year Leroy Blyden Jr. showed poise beyond his years in this moment, drawing a foul and knocking down both free throws to put his team ahead by one. Blyden Jr. ended the game with 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting, hitting all four of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Sonny Wilson, an All-MAC Second Team guard, was Toledo’s second-leading scorer with 12 points on an off night shooting-wise, going 5-of-16 from the field and 2-of-6 at the free throw line. The junior had the most impactful defensive play for the Rockets in this game immediately following Blyden Jr.’s go-ahead foul shots.
Matched up against Javontae Campbell, Wilson matched the speedy guard stride-for-stride and strongly contested his layup before delivering a textbook box out for the rebound. The Michigan native then drained his only made free throws of the night to seal the game.
This fiery backcourt combined for 38 points on 14-of-24 shooting against UMass on Jan. 20, flying by the Minutemen on dribble drives, which they have struggled to defend all year. The pressure will be on Banks Jr., Ndjigue and Danny Carbuccia to contain these charges to the basket.
Additionally, clean rim protection for Bettiol will be a major factor as he’s been prone to get into foul trouble. He had four fouls in the quarterfinals against Miami (OH) and had to sit for an important stretch with less than five minutes left in the game. Dimitri Clerc and Luka Damjanac managed this stretch well enough defensively to give UMass a chance in crunch time, but they were a far cry from the impact Bettiol could’ve made offensively.
It will be key for the Minutemen to tread water defensively and manage foul trouble well against one of the MAC’s most efficient offenses that will play to its strengths.
UMass tips off against Toledo at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 13 in Rocket Arena. The game will be available to watch live on CBS Sports Network.
Tym Brown can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @tym_brown1.
