In the first year as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the UMass men’s and women’s basketball teams each earned a spot in the MAC Tournament. Both squads will make the trip to Rocket Arena in Cleveland later this week.
The men’s team’s path to the tournament wasn’t easy, sneaking in as the eighth seed for the last spot in the conference. Despite holding the same MAC record as Ball State, who was left out of the tournament, the Minutemen earned their spot off a tiebreaker.
As the eight seed, UMass is matched up against top-seeded Miami of Ohio, who was the 21st team in the NCAA’s history to finish the regular season with an undefeated record (31-0).
In the regular season, the Minutemen played the RedHawks twice, with the first matchup ending in a narrow, 86-84 loss for UMass on the road. The second time around, the game was again very competitive, with Miami winning 86-77 in the Mullins Center.
“We’re trying to learn as much as we can from the first time we played, to try and take advantage of some things that maybe we weren’t good at the first couple times,” Minutemen head coach Frank Martin said. “We’ve got to make [the RedHawks] score through difficulty. They’re still going to score, but we’ve just got to make it really hard and take away the easy things from them.”
Scoring has been where Miami has set itself apart this season, finishing the year with the second-highest scoring offense in the country (90.9 points per game). The high-powered offensive attack has been wildly efficient as well, leading the nation in field-goal percentage at 52.6%.
The Minutemen will need to show out on both ends if they hope to win the David vs. Goliath-esque matchup, with little room for error. Luckily for their chances, one of the team’s key contributors will be returning from injury at the perfect time.
Daniel Hankins-Sanford missed the final three games of the regular season while battling tendonitis, but practiced on Sunday and will be returning to the lineup for the MAC Tournament.
The senior won’t be at 100% health-wise, but his versatility on offense and defense will be a welcome addition back into the rotation for UMass.
“He’s the only guy on our team that possesses size and athleticism,” Martin said. “And we need him to play like a senior. We need him to go out there and play like a guy who’s been here for three years, that understands his commitment to help us figure out a way to rebuild this program.”
The men’s team will take the court for the quarterfinal round as the tournament’s first game of the day on Thursday, March 12, with tipoff set for 11 a.m.
On the women’s side, the Minutewomen’s 15-3 record in conference play earned them the third seed, set to take on sixth-seeded Toledo in the quarterfinals.
UMass currently holds a five-game winning streak entering the tournament, with its most recent loss coming against the Rockets on Feb. 18 at home. The 60-52 loss for the Minutewomen was the only time they matched up with Toledo in the regular season, looking for redemption in the conference tournament.
Both teams match up pretty well for what should be a competitive first-round matchup. Each squad ranks within the top three in points allowed per game in the MAC (60.1 for UMass, 63.3 for the Rockets), and top five in offensive field-goal percentage (43.1% and 42.3%, respectively).
“[I’m] just really proud of what we’ve done,” Minutewomen head coach Mike Leflar said at the end of the regular season. “We know we have work ahead of us. We’re going to celebrate these guys… [then] we’ll start working on what’s next.”
UMass has been a great story of team success this season, getting major contributions from a number of its players. Four different Minutewomen were named to an All-MAC team on Tuesday, led by Yahmani McKayle, who was considered one of the top five players in the conference, earning All-MAC First Team honors.
Megan Olbrys made the All-MAC Second Team, while Allie Palmieri was All-MAC Honorable Mention. Ayanna Franks was recognized for her defensive efforts, making the All-Defensive Team.
The first round matchup won’t be an easy one, but UMass has shown it can compete with anyone in the conference. The Minutewomen’s first MAC Tournament game is slated as the last game of four on Wednesday, March 11, with the official tipoff time to be announced.
“It’s been a really big dream of mine to win a conference championship, and this year, we have more of a chance than ever, and I’m so excited,” senior forward Lilly Ferguson said. “I’ve been excited to go to Cleveland for so long, because I know we have so much potential to come back with a championship, and I know that our team is going to do whatever it takes.”