The Massachusetts men’s basketball team came into its match against Central Michigan hoping for a win over a bottom ranked conference opponent. Tuesday’s game was far from it, but it was a treat for basketball fans: two shooting guards, Logan McIntire and Marcus Banks Jr., held a shooting duel for the ages as UMass (15-9, 6-6 Mid-American) prevailed over the Chippewas (7-16, 3-8 MAC) 95-89 in the final moments.
The conference game was 40 minutes of an intense perimeter battle. In a normal game, McIntire and Banks Jr. would’ve cooled off after their initial shooting flurries. In an extraordinary game, one of them would’ve cooled off or been run off the line while the other continued their onslaught.
On Tuesday night, what occurred at the Mullins Center was as much a Wild West showdown as it was a basketball game. Neither shooter backed down, instead trading increasingly improbable bursts of threes until two new program records were set: Banks Jr. with 10 threes (a Minutemen record) and McIntire with 12 (a Central Michigan record).
In crunch time, neither player let up. After Banks Jr. hit two threes in a row to give UMass a two-point lead, McIntire responded with one of his own. Banks drove to the rim and banked in a floater, matching his Chippewa counterpart who pulled up for a mid-range jumper earlier. When the UMBC transfer hit three triples in a row, riling the Mullins Center crowd into a frenzy, the Kentucky Wesleyan transfer hit one from the top of the key to send the arena into silence.
“I’ve been a part of some crazy stuff,” Martin said. “I’ve never been a part of a game where two guys put on a shooting exhibition [like] those two guys put on … When [my Kansas State team] played Oklahoma [Michael] Beasley’s year, Beasley had 34 and Blake Griffin had 30. That’s probably the closest thing I’ve been at where two guys are just completely dominating.”
Though neither shooter showed signs of slowing down, the final sequences of the game involved the others on the court. A pair of Central Michigan turnovers led to successive Minutemen dunks, and UMass pulled away behind superior interior play and game management.
It was clear from the opening tip that the Minutemen, particularly Banks Jr., had come to put the ball in the hole. UMass leaned on him and Bettiol in the early minutes as the Chippewas struggled to keep up with its pace and physicality. Banks Jr. sank three of his first four threes.
McIntire responded quickly. The 6-foot-5 two guard slid to the right corner and received the ball cleanly in his shooting pocket from a driving Phat Phat Brooks, nailing his first three. A few plays later, he hit another from nearly the same spot. After a third three, this time curling off a screen to the left wing, McIntire shot his fourth in isolation. It rattled in, and head coach Frank Martin had seen enough, calling timeout.
“We let [McIntire] get going,” Martin said. “Once you let a guy like that get going, then they started running all kinds of stuff for him, and then our attention to detail getting through screens wasn’t very good.”
The Minutemen adjusted their defense, assigning Jayden Ndjigue to hound McIntire off the line, but it wasn’t enough. The Central Michigan guards threw the ball into the paint, forcing the UMass help defenders to decide between leaving some daylight for another potential triple or abandoning their guards at the rim.
This conundrum continued into the second half, with either decision seeming to lead to a Chippewa bucket. Central Michigan led by double digits shortly past halftime, with McIntire getting to 26 points off eight made threes. No other Chippewa player had scored in double figures at that point, but no Minuteman had stepped up to answer, with Banks Jr. sitting with three fouls.
Once the UMBC transfer checked back into the game, the Mullins Center crowd collectively drew its breath. Solid play from the big men had kept the Minutemen within striking distance, but the home squad had no response for McIntire, who continued to hit three after demoralizing three.
As if on cue, Banks Jr. found an open look from the right wing and unfurled two consecutive perfect jumpers. The UMass offense erupted back to life, kickstarted by his threes and electric play from Danny Carbuccia.
Carbuccia, often the motor of this Minutemen offense, took his playmaking to another level on Tuesday. The freshman point guard was unstoppable in the open court, finding a big down low or shooter on the wing without fail. In the second half alone, Carbuccia had 13 assists. On the night, he put up a school record 17.
Banks Jr. finished with 37 points on 10-of-15 shooting from behind the arc, while Central Michigan’s McIntire finished 12-of-16 for 40 points. For UMass, Bettiol and Daniel Hankins-Sanford added 22 and 19, respectively.
Next up, the Minutemen head to Myrtle Beach to play Coastal Carolina in the second game of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge on Feb. 7. That game will tip off at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
Coleman Smith-Rakoff can be reached at [email protected].
