MAC Tourney Provides UMass With One More Chance
Could a disappointing season be saved with an unlikely conference tourney run?
UMass enters this week’s MAC Tournament with its season still alive, even if the road ahead remains a steep one.
Head coach Frank Martin’s message to his team heading into postseason play centers on the urgency that comes with single-elimination basketball.
“Everyone has a greater sense of urgency at this time of year,” Martin said. “Because it’s over for everybody as we move through this week and next week. It’s over for everybody except 60, what is it? 68 teams.”
The Minutemen arrive in Cleveland after a season that showed flashes of promise but ultimately fell short of expectations. UMass finished the regular season 16-15 overall and 7-11 in the MAC, needing a win in the final game just to secure a spot in the conference tournament field.
Despite the uneven results, Martin believes his team proved throughout conference play that it can compete with anyone in the league.
“Other than the second half of that Bowling Green game, we actually played fairly well in conference play,” Martin said. “I know we didn’t win enough games. I get that.
“I didn’t go to bed at night and say, ‘I’m going to sleep like a baby because I’m proud of how hard we played.’ I struggled to sleep every one of those games we couldn’t figure out a way to put to bed.”
UMass’ first opportunity to change that narrative comes against top-seeded Miami (Ohio), which enters the league tournament as the only remaining unbeaten team in the entire country.
The RedHawks beat the Minutemen in both regular season meetings, but UMass had legit chances to win both. Martin allowed for the possibility that Miami took the Minutemen for granted in the first meeting, an 86-84 win for the RedHawks, but not for the second one, an 86-77 Miami win that was tight until the final minutes.
“When they came and played us here, they didn’t take anything for granted,” Martin said. “They played really well and so did we. We’re in a tie game at 68 late in the game and we couldn’t figure out a way to close it.”
The conference tournament matchup gives UMass an opportunity to disrupt Miami’s perfect season and add a meaningful win to a résumé that currently lacks one.
While talk of an NCAA Tournament berth may seem distant given the Minutemen’s overall record, the math of March remains simple. A win over the league’s top seed would keep the season alive and suddenly reopen possibilities that currently feel impossible.
For now, the focus remains far simpler.
“There’s a confidence with our guys that we’re good enough to beat whoever’s in front of us,” Martin said. “Now we just have to be a little better at what we do.”
UMass will try to take the first step toward extending its season Thursday.
“It’s win or go home.”
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