Minutemen Face Boston College Friday in Marquee Matchup at TD Garden

• Friday marks the 49th meeting between the two sides, with Boston College holding a 26-22 lead.

• UMass staged a 32-1 run bridging the end of the first half and beginning of the second to turn a six-point deficit into a 25-point lead, on the way to a 71-60 win at Troy in the season opener for both sides on Monday evening.
• Four Minutemen finished with double-figure points, led by 18 points and 13 rebounds from Junjie Wang. Jordan Clayton added 16 points and eight rebounds.
• Noa Zemljic scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in his first-collegiate game while Dwayne Wimbley Jr. added 10. The win came over the two-time defending Sun Belt Champions.
• The Minutemen finished with 10 blocks on the evening, led by a career-high seven from Abdullah Ahmed. Danny Carbuccia dished a game-high eight assists.

• The Eagles come into Friday off a dominating 76-50 win against Wagner on Tuesday to open their season.
• Senior Money Williams led the team with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. The Montana transfer went 11-for-15 from the charity stripe.
• The Eagles are led by first-year head coach Luke Murray, who was most recently an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut. Murray played a role in two national championships with the Huskies.
• The Eagles, who feature 10 transfers and two freshmen, were picked 17th in the preseason ACC poll. 

• UMass would improve to 2-0 for just the second time in the last seven seasons.
• The Minutemen would beat Boston College for a fifth straight time, with their last loss coming on Dec. 4, 2010.
• UMass would improve  to 3-0 against the ACC over the last two seasons (also defeating Boston College last year).

• The Minutemen began the season with a win at two-time defending Sun Belt Champion Troy, 71-60, as part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.
• UMass begins the season with two straight games away from home (road or neutral) for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
• This season’s opener on Nov. 2 at Troy marked the Minutemen’s earliest game in program history.
• Abdullah Ahmed had seven blocks in his UMass debut at Troy. The seven blocks marked the most in the country on the opening day of college basketball.
• Junjie Wang’s 18 points and 13 rebounds marked his third career double-double (including his time at San Francisco). His 13 rebounds were also a collegiate high.

Year FIVE Under Coach Martin

• Massachusetts basketball enters its fifth season under head coach Frank Martin in 2026-27.
• Under Martin’s leadership the Minutemen enjoyed their best campaign since 2014 in 2023-24, finishing with a 20-11 overall record and securing a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship
• Martin ended the 2023-24 campaign ranked third in program history with a 35-27 record through his first two seasons with the Minutemen, sitting just below Bruiser Flint and Travis Ford.
• Coach Martin started his time in Amherst by leading the Minutemen to their best record under a first-year head coach since 1996 and the Myrtle Beach Invitational title during the 2022-23 campaign.
• Martin holds a 353-264 (.572) collegiate coaching mark, picking up 171 of his wins in 10 seasons at South Carolina while recording 117 wins in five seasons at Kansas State. He is 65-63 at UMass.Martin picked up his 300th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 25, 2023 with a 85-76 win over Richmond.
• Martin picked up his 350th collegiate coaching win on Feb. 3, 2026 with a 95-89 win over Central Michigan.

• The Minutemen head home next Wednesday to host UMass Lowell in their home opener. Opening tipoff on Nov. 11 is set for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).