UMass Hoops Drops Opener Vs. Marshall

The Minutemen fell to the Thundering Herd 78-72 at the Mullins Center on Monday.

(UMass Athletics)

UMass brought Marcus Banks Jr., in this offseason to provide some much-needed shooting.

One official game into his career with the Minutemen and it’s clear the 6-foot-3 guard will bring just that.

Banks, who led the America East in three-point shooting during his last two seasons at UMBC, was the offensive leader for UMass in the season-opener against Marshall in Amherst on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for Banks and UMass, he couldn’t take all of the shots or even all the free throws for the Minutemen, who fell to Marshall 78-72.

Banks finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting, but UMass couldn’t overcome 15 missed free throws (21-36) or losing the rebounding battle 40-28.

“We just couldn’t make free throws, couldn’t score on the interior and couldn’t rebound,” UMass head coach Frank Martin said afterward.

“And, we turned it over 20 times.”

And even Banks struggled shooting the ball in the second half, going 3-for-6 overall and just 1-for-6 from three after intermission.

Leonardo Bettiol helped out with 15 points and five rebounds while K’Jei Parker added 13 points and six assists.

Wyatt Fricks led a balanced Marshall attack with 16 points while Cal Hollenbeck chipped in with 12 and Noah Otshudi added 10.

After trailing for all but the game’s first two minutes, Banks banked home a jumper one minute into the second half to give the Minutemen their first lead - 40-39 - since the start.

The game went back and forth in the opening minutes of the second half. A Banks three-pointer would give UMass a 48-46 lead five minutes in, but it would be the last Minutemen lead of the game.

The Marshall lead would swell to eight - 66-58 - seven minutes later.

UMass didn’t quit and eventually cut the lead to two - 69-67 - with four minutes to play, but eight straight points by the Thundering Herd over the next 100 seconds gave them a double-digit lead to ice the game.

“Marshall plays a unique defensive style,” Martin said. “One of the problems with these early-season matchups is that you have no idea what the other team is going to do.

“I thought early in the game, we really struggled with trying to attack their defense.”

The Minutemen battled in the first half. Trailing by 13 points midway through the half - 29-16 - UMass closed the half on a 21-9 run, capped by Banks’ deep three at the buzzer that made it 38-37, Marshall at the break.

Banks led the Minutemen with 11 points in the first half, making four of his first five shots, including three of his first four from three. Bettiol had nine points and four rebounds on 3-of-3 shooting in the first half.

UMass made 13 of its 24 (54%) first-half field goal attempts and shot 50 percent from three (4-8). But the Thundering Herd shot 88 percent from the free throw line (7-8) while UMass was just 54 percent from the stripe (7-13) in the first stanza.

Marshall outrebounded UMass 18-15 in the first half.

UMass scored the game’s first four points, but a 7-0 Marshall spurt gave the Herd a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the half.

Three straight triples - from Noah Otshudi, Cal Hollenbeck and Wilson Dubinsky - stretched Marshall’s lead to 23-11 with 10:34 remaining in the half. Banks ended the run with a three-pointer for the Minutemen, but Hollenbeck responded with one of his own.

After a jumper from Parker, Dubinsky drilled another three to give Marshall its 29-16 lead before the UMass run to end the half. Bettiol was key during the stretch, scoring five straight points by himself twice during the run.

“We do know we have 30 of these left,” Martin said. “We have to take this game and learn everything we can from it and continue to approach it like we have all summer and all preseason.”

The Minutemen return to action on Saturday, when they host Albany at the Mullins Center at 6 p.m.

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