At long last, the 11-year hiatus of the Massachusetts basketball team’s rivalry against Boston College came to an end on Wednesday night in Springfield.
It wasn’t always convincing, but UMass (7-3) withstood the Eagles (5-6) when it mattered most. After building up a fairly comfortable 14-point lead, the Minutemen had no answers for driving guards and a severe lack of offense during a blazing 23-2 Boston College run in the second half. Once the sizable lead was promptly transformed into a seven-point deficit, they reeled it back in to claim a gritty 76-74 triumph for their fourth consecutive victory.
The clinching two points of the contest coming from the free throw line is ironic considering UMass’ continued struggles there — a trend that only continued with a rough 13-of-24 night at the line. After receiving a handoff from Leonardo Bettiol, Marcus Banks Jr. picked his spot for a dribble pull-up jumper in the mid-range. He was whacked across the arm, earning him two free throws that didn’t even graze the rim with 5.1 seconds to play.
“I was just trying to get the best shot available for our team,” Banks Jr. said. “And then on the foul, instantly I knew, I got to knock these two down. This is the opportunity we needed, we’re looking for [and] we got it. Step up to the plate and make the play. Big-time players make big-time plays and all five of us did that tonight on the court.”
After the Eagles advanced the ball across half court to take a timeout, they were left with 2.8 seconds to make magic happen down by two points. A convoluted pattern of movement opened up graduate guard Chase Forte well beyond the 3-point line. Daniel Hankins-Sanford worked around his screener and closed out Forte in a moment’s notice. As a result, the would-be game-winner was released with plenty of time to spare and the long arm of Hankins-Sanford very much in the way. The wild attempt left Forte falling sideways and the shot bouncing harmlessly off the front rim.
“Two seconds, [Forte] was one of the options, there were a couple options,” Boston College head coach Earl Grant said. “Probably a hard situation to be in for the inbounder. He’s got five seconds to make a decision. The first option was something else, they took it away … We would’ve went for a two, but we needed to go for the best shot that presented itself to us.”
For Banks Jr., the game-winning free throws were just the tip of the iceberg. He finished the game with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting and 60% from three. He set the tone by nailing an early three to account for the Minutemen’s first points of the game, and he never looked back. In the second half, he lived up to his last name with a banked three off the glass after getting fouled in the process. After the Eagles snatched the lead, Banks knocked another crucial one down to regain a 69-68 advantage with just over three minutes left.
Hankins-Sanford’s impact may fly a bit under the radar given Banks Jr.’s monstrous night, but he played a massive role in the victory. He played strong and with no fear, which is exactly what head coach Frank Martin has been asking from him. He could often be found cutting at the back door and catching the ball in stride to finish off aggressive layups at the rim. He also threw down a ferocious slam right down broadway on an assist by K’Jei Parker. He scored 17 points during his productive night.
It was another one of those games for Jayden Ndjigue, who always seems to do all the intangible things that it takes to win basketball games. This time, it came in the form of blocks and offensive rebounds. In the back half of the first frame, Ndjigue snuck up behind Boston College’s Donald Hand Jr. and matched his vertical inch-for-inch, pinning the ball to the backboard to save two points. Just two minutes later, Ndjigue sprung into action after Hankins-Sanford left a free throw off the side of the iron. He took the inside track and somehow engineered a one-handed collection of the ball whilst falling out of bounds, before flinging it out to Banks simultaneously for another made three.
“He’s phenomenal, man, he’s a wonderful kid,” Martin said. “In a world that everyone wants to read stats and points per game and put videos on their “inside-out double-triple somersault step back three,” whatever team he plays for is going to win, just mark it down … We’re winning, and he has a lot to do with winning.”
UMass got the job done, but it’ll still be hoping to clean up a number of areas. Free throw making is the obvious one, but the quantity of fouls at the other end is another. The Minutemen committed 25 fouls, 17 of which came in the second half, leading four unique players into deep foul trouble with four fouls each. They’ll also certainly want to refrain from giving up a large lead thanks to a long string of turnovers, bad shot selection and a lack of defensive focus.
There’s no time to rest for UMass, as it will now travel down south to face Florida State on Saturday, Dec. 13 in its last game before conference play begins. Tipoff at Amerant Bank Arena is set for 12 p.m. as the Minutemen take on their second consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. The game can be watched live on ACC Network.
Cameron Pellegrino can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @cam_pellegrino.
