AMHERST — The 2025-26 men’s basketball season did not get off to the start that UMass coach Frank Martin might have liked.
The coach, who began his fourth year at UMass Monday night, wasn’t happy with the outcome, but said that it’s up to the coaches and players to fix things.
“Obviously, I’m not a very chipper loser. But, we do know we have 30 of these left,” Martin said after the Minutemen dropped a 78-72 decision to Marshall in the first game of the Mid-American Conference/Sun Belt Conference Challenge.
“We have to take this game and learn everything we can from it,” Martin said after the game, “and continue the approach we’ve had all summer and all preseason.”
The Minutemen did some things right Monday, including battling back from a 13-point deficit midway through the first half to take a 41-40 lead on a pullup jumper by K’Jei Parker, who finished with 13 points and was one of eight first-time Minutemen, to take the lead for the first time since it was 4-2 with 17 minutes, 39 seconds left in the first half.
Marcus Banks Jr., one of those eight newcomers, hit a 3-point shot with 14:57 left in regulation to give UMass a 48-46 lead. Marshall, who won 20 games a year ago, responded with a 12-5 run that flipped the script. Wyatt Fricks, who led Marshall with 16 points, dunked to tie the game and then, after Daniel Hankins-Sanford missed a shot, Marshall’s 7-foot-4 center Matt Van Komen shared the rebound and Jalen Speer drained a 3-pointer at the other end. That made it 51-48, and the Minutemen never caught up.
“These guys have been unbelievable the way they’ve prepared and the competitiveness that they bring every day in the gym,” Martin said. “Marshall plays a unique defensive style. 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. I thought we did a better job in the second half. The bottom line is two things. Number one, Strategically, they’re so aggressive on the perimeter with their switches, you have to score on the interior. We couldn’t get Daniel Sanford or Leo Bettiol to help us on the interior. When we started driving the ball and cutting in there, we couldn’t score. We just missed layups.”
Banks Jr. had a game-high 18 points for UMass and was 4-for-10 from 3-point range. He was one of three UMass newcomers to score in double figures. Leonardo Bettiol had 15 points, while Parker finished with 13.
While Martin and his coaching staff will, over the next couple of days, dissect the game tape from Monday, some of the stats jump right off the page.
UMass committed 20 turnovers and gave up 20 points off of those turnovers. The Minutemen were outrebounded 40-28, and 30-18 on the defensive boards. Marshall was 10-for-30 from 3-point range to UMass’ 5-for-16.
But the statistic that stands out was the fact that UMass made more free throws (21) than Marshall attempted (19). The Thundering Herd were 14-for-19, while UMass was a more-than-chilly 21-for-36. Had UMass shot a similar percentage to Marshall from the line, the game would have been tied. If UMass made six more foul shots, the percentage would have basically matched Marshall’s percentage for the game. And 27-for-36 is not exactly shooting lights out.
“It was a little frustrating when the ball doesn’t go in,” said Banks Jr. “When the ball doesn’t go in, we have to focus on the other things that we have to take care of. Getting stops, whatever coverages we have to be in. Having each other’s back on the defensive end because ultimately, the ball’s not going to go in every night. We can make sure that we get stops.
“It was a long night, but that’s what we’ve got to focus on for practice and the next game,” Banks Jr. said.
Guard Jayden Ndjigue, one of the two returning veterans, was only 1-for-4 from the floor and 6-of-10 from the line for eight points.
“I feel like it’s kind of hard to grade myself, especially because we lost. When we have losses like this, I think about what I could have done better,” Ndjigue said. “What more could I have done to help our team to not be in the position we were when the final buzzer sounded and have us be up instead of down.”
The Minutemen will be back in the gym on Wednesday, preparing for a visit by UAlbany Saturday at 6 p.m. The Great Danes lost to Marquette in their opener 80-53.