UMass Comes Up Short Against Miami-Ohio
The Minutemen battled in front of an electric crowd, but fell 86-77 at the Mullins Center on Tuesday night,
UMass had its chances Tuesday night.
The Minutemen erased an early deficit, took a second-half lead and forced No. 22 Miami Ohio to execute late before falling 86-77 at the Mullins Center.
With the loss, UMass drops to 15-12 overall and 6-8 in Mid-American Conference play. With four games remaining, the Minutemen sit seventh in the MAC standings. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament in March. Miami remains unbeaten at 26-0 overall and 13-0 in league play, holding first place.
UMass fell behind 13-6 early but found its rhythm behind Isaiah Placide, who delivered a Division I career-high 19 points. The sophomore went 6-for-9 from the field and knocked down five three-pointers, the most he has made as a Minuteman.
Leonardo Bettiol added 18 points and nine rebounds, while Danny Carbuccia finished with 15 points, six assists and a steal. Marcus Banks Jr. chipped in 11 as four Minutemen reached double figures.
Free throws killed the Minutemen, who made just nine of the 16 they took (56%) while the RedHawks converted 24-33 (73%).
Miami stretched its lead to 28-20 midway through the first half before UMass responded with a 15-9 run, fueled by four Placide three-pointers, to cut the margin to 37-35. The RedHawks closed the half on an 8-1 run to carry a 41-36 advantage into the break.
Out of the locker room, back-to-back Carbuccia threes cut the deficit to four. Bettiol’s three-point play brought UMass within one, and Banks later tied the game at 60-60 with 10:21 to play. Moments later, Carbuccia found Placide inside for the Minutemen’s first lead of the night at 62-60.
The teams traded punches through the middle portion of the second half. Placide tied the game again at 68-68 with just over seven minutes remaining.
From there, Miami closed with control. The RedHawks used an 18-9 run to finish the game, converting key possessions while limiting UMass to one field goal over a critical stretch.
Peter Suder led all scorers with 23 points for Miami.
UMass shot well enough to compete, finishing with 10 made three-pointers for the third straight game and totaling 36 points in the paint. The Minutemen grabbed 33 rebounds and received 23 points off the bench. Still, Miami’s late execution proved decisive.
An electric crowd of 7,524, the largest at the Mullins Center since March 9, 2014, saw UMass hang with the nation’s only unbeaten team before the RedHawks pulled away.
What’s next: UMass remains home to host Buffalo on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Mullins Center. The program will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1995-96 Final Four team, and the game will stream on ESPN+.
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