Game 22, 2025-26: at Miami OH (1/27)

[Juice Stand]

Leo Freakin' Bettiol. When he signed on, I thought he would be some scoring depth up front, maybe the 1st or 2nd guy off the bench to spell DHS, but holy cow. I had no clue that he would be our best player, and by quite a wide margin. He continues to get better. Leads us in scoring, rebounding, 2nd in FG% to Clerc, and up to 74.6% from the line. Turnovers and fouls can be a problem, but he's been incredible.

I'm mildly disappointed that we lost, but I also expected it and am pleased that we hung tough with an undefeated top 25 team in their gym. Just thought I'd throw a Leo appreciation post out there.

[HighPeaks101]

UMass should travel the morning of an evening game for the rest of the season. Definitely their best effort to date!

[BillGASox1]

UMass lost the game b/c the RedHawks had 7 players on the court, two in striped unis.
Our starters and subs did a great job. Look forward to MAC Tournament

[Juice Stand]

Jay Burnham on the pre-game radio said UMass got up early and flew out there today. Usually they get there the day before. Hopefully we're not tired.

They could not fly out yesterday so they left at 6:45 this morning. The airport they were supposed to land at was closed so they landed in Cincinnati. However their bus was at the other airport an hour away. So they never got ther until 2 PM and di not have a chance to do a shoot around. So I guess they are doing pretty good.

That's wild. For them to play as well as they did given the travel circumstances, opponent, and rowdy atmosphere is encouraging. Can they carry it forward? I don't know, but I give them a ton of credit.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Unfortunate end, but that was a fun game to watch. Team played well and hard. Most everyone showed up, with of course Leo, DHS and Banks really showing out. A few plays here, a few individual efforts there, and it is a win.

A few nitpicks are warranted: the timing of the timeout at the end, a few questionable calls both ways, the bad rebounding sequence by Luca.

If they play this hard the rest of the way, there's hope for a run into and through the MAC.


It was really fun watching that game.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

didn't expect them to win last night so I'm not too disappointed but they cannot lay an egg Saturday - that's a game they HAVE to win.

[tdmass]

You can't find fault with last night's effort and gritty play. I'll take this effort the rest of the way and I think we'll be OK and I believe Leo Bettiol is the best low post player we've had in 25 years!

[InnervisionsUMASS]

You can't find fault with last night's effort and gritty play. I'll take this effort the rest of the way and I think we'll be OK and I believe Leo Bettiol is the best low post player we've had in 25 years!

That's high praise, considering Freeman, Lasme, Lalanne, Mitchell and Coen all played here in the last 25 years.


I'd go with Ray Ray and Lasme. Had Mitchell stayed for years 3 and 4, it would have probably been him. Leo is fantastic, nothing wrong with your choice!

[Steve81]

Speaking of Stephane, I have his banner dunking over BC Oates that had the winning bid for around $120 in the day. A few years ago he replied and said when I found something to replace it would take it down and give it to him. He has gone radio silence on me. MassCO, Signman, anyone have a contact so I can ship it to him?

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

Great game, bummed we lost. The refs had some bad calls but UMass also committed a lot of stupid fouls. I hate blaming refs for a loss and I won’t do it here. If Buffalo ended up winning on that phantom 3 point foul the other night, I’d take a different tune on that scenario. I didn’t like the flopping and crying from Miami though.

Someone mentioned earlier, but the minutes from Placide and Wimbley hurt, mostly Wimbley. Silly fouls and missed a wide open layup that you knew would come back to haunt them.

Overall, I think the guys just got gassed at the end and Miami is a good team that pulled it out. One of the best games the team played all year. The 0-4 start really hurts. Need to win these next 2

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

probably would have been more of a contested shot but the typical time to dribble the length of the court for these guys is about 4.5 seconds - I believe they got the rebound right around 4.5 seconds - I thought at the time, Placid shot it too soon, and now looking at the play over again, he could have gotten at least between half court and a few feet above the 3 point line rather than launching it right before half court - these guys bury 30 foot jumpers all day long - big difference between 30-35 footer and a 50ft heave. Still a lower percentage shot and most likely wouldn't have made it anyway but I just thought he shot it a second too soon

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Speaking of Stephane, I have his banner dunking over BC Oates that had the winning bid for around $120 in the day. A few years ago he replied and said when I found something to replace it would take it down and give it to him. He has gone radio silence on me. MassCO, Signman, anyone have a contact so I can ship it to him?

Sending you a PM, he still would like it.

[Old Cage]

Speaking of Stephane, anyone have a contact so I can ship it to him?

Steve - He is active here: https://x.com/Slasme There is a small box at the top of the page where you can message him.

EDIT: IV - It looks like you beat me to it by seconds. I hope you have a more direct way for Steve to make a connection.

[inthescoop]

We shot better than them. We rebounded better than them. We lead the majority of the game. Both teams played tough D but somehow, they got 38 free throws against our 17. That's all it comes down to - Miami being undefeated is the only thing keeping the MAC relevant right now and the conference called Buffalo Wild Wings.

[MikeUMA]

I believe Leo Bettiol is the best low post player we've had in 25 years!

Leo is good but yikes, major "recency bias" there.