By Malcolm Price
1 8 2025
| University of Massachusetts Men’s Basketball Notes & Information | |
| Matchup | Massachusetts vs. Dayton |
| Date | Times | Jan. 8 | 7 p.m. |
| Location | Amherst, Mass. | Mullins Center |
| @UMassMBB | |
| @umassbasketball | |
| UMass Men’s Basketball | |
AMHERST, MASS. – The Minutemen welcome perennial A-10 favorite Dayton on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. in Amherst, Mass. The game will be broadcast on Peacock with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
This week for the Minutemen
The Matchup
- Wednesday’s matchup marks the 35th meeting between the two programs with UMass holding a 14-20 record all-time.
- Massachusetts is now 17-21 in A-10 play and 25-13 at home with Coach Martin at the helm.
Last Time out
- The Minutemen fell 64-72 to Richmond on Saturday, Jan. 4 at the Mullins Center. Four minutemen finished the game in double figures, but Massachusetts could not close out the victory in the A-10 home opener.
- Jaylen Curry led all scorers with 18 points, adding eight rebounds and a pair of assists on the afternoon. With the performance Curry has now scored in double figures in 11 games this season.
- Backcourt mate Rahsool Diggins followed closely behind, recording 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field.
- Jayden Ndjigue did a little bit of everything totaling 11 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals. The Ayer, Massachusetts native shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Scouting the Flyers
- Dayton comes into Wednesday off an 82-62 loss to George Washington on Saturday, Jan. 4.
- The Flyers feature four upperclassmen in Nate Santos (14.3 ppg), Enoch Cheeks (12.9), Zed Key (11.6) and Malachi Smith (11.6) who each average double-figures.
- Redshirt Junior Malachi Smith has recorded nine double-digit scoring performances this season, making his return after suffering a season-ending knee injury just seven minutes into the 2023-24 campaign.
- Senior forward Nate Santos returned for his senior season, shooting 40.5% from three-point range while reeling in 5.3 rebounds per game.
- The game features a matchup between childhood friends and high school teammates in Head Coaches Frank Martin and Anthony Grant. The Miami, Fla. natives played and coached at Miami Senior High School for South Florida coaching legend Marcos “Shakey” Rodriguez.
Last Season: By THE NUMBERS
- 1 – The Minutemen featured the A-10’s no. 1 offense leading the conference in scoring for the entirety of the conference schedule.
- 2 – UMass coached it’s first duo to All-Conference First Team recognition since Stephane Lasme and Rashuan Freeman during the 2006-07 season.
- 4 – UMass earned its first top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship since the 2007-08 season.
- 9 – The Minutemen averaged an NCAA best 9.0 points per game off post-ups. first time.
- 9 – UMass won 9 or more non-conference games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.
- 11 – Massachusetts won 11 conference games, marking the first season with 11 or more such victories since 2006-07.
- 20 – The Minutemen secured the programs first 20-win season since 2013-14.
Athletes Incoming
- The Minutemen welcome 10 newcomers, four of which enter as transfers.
- Massachusetts enters 2024-25 campaign with the A-10’s no. 4 ranked incoming class according to 247sports, bringing in a host of impressive athletes across multiple positions including Shahid Muhammad, Daniel Rivera, Malek Abdelgowad, Nate Guerengomba, Lewis Walker and Amadou Doumbia.
- College of Southern Idaho transfer Shahid Muhammad boasts a 47 inch vertical and 7-4 wingspan while swatting 106 shots over 30 games for the Golden Eagles.
- Rivera comes from Bryant University where he averaged 2.2 blocks per game, ranking third in Bulldog program history with 73 in a single season.
- The two transfers combined for 179 blocks and 434 rebounds a season ago.
- Murray State transfer Malek Abdelgowad makes it a trio of versatile additions in the front court, averaging 3.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 11.2 minutes per game last season.
CURRY COMING BACK FOR YEAR 2
- Jaylen Curry returns to Amherst after a freshman campaign which saw him earn A-10 All-Rookie honors while averaging 7.6 points and 2.1 assists per game.
- The sophomore played in all 30 games for the Minutemen as a freshman.
- Curry recorded double-digit scoring performances in nine conference games a season ago, including a career-high 18 points and four made three-pointers at Loyola Chicago (1/17/24).
- Curry looks poised to take over full-time point guard duties in year two, looking to build off multiple explosive offensive moments as a freshman.
- A high-level recruit Curry was rated as a top-20 point guard nationally and the no. 12-ranked recruit in Florida by 247Sports out of high school.
Year Three Under Coach Martin
- Massachusetts basketball enters its third season under head coach Frank Martin in 2024-25.
- Under Martin’s leadership the Minutemen enjoyed their best campaign since 2014 last year, finishing with a 20-11 overall record and securing a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
- Martin ranks 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 328-238 (.581) 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.
- Head coach Frank Martin picked up his 300th collegiate coaching win on Jan. 25, 2023 with a 85-76 win over Richmond.
On The Bench
- Head coach Frank Martin boasts a talented staff full of experienced assistants featuring three former head coaches, two former McDonald’s All-Americans and a former NBA lottery pick.
- Associate Head Coach Allen Edwards was the head coach of the Wyoming Cowboys from 2016-20. Edwards’ teams recorded 60 wins over four seasons, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns.
- Assistant Coach Matt Figger spent the last three seasons at UT Rio Grande Valley after four seasons leading Austin Peay.
- Assistant Coach Brian Steele enters his second second UMass after spending time on head coach Frank Martin‘s staff at South Carolina. Steele was a three-year letter winner at South Carolina as a student-athlete and served as a student assistant during the 2015-16 season in addition to the 2016-17 Final Four campaign.
- Director of Player Development Anthony Evans spent five seasons as the head coach at FIU following six years as the head coach at Norfolk State. At FIU, Evans’ teams ranked in the top-10 percent nationally from 2015-17 in the NCAA Academic Progress Report and coached multiple Conference USA all-league and all-defensive players.
- Director of Player Personnel Doug Edwards ed the Seminoles to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1990-93. The Miami, Fla. Native scored 1,604 points in his career and is the only player at FSU to score 500 or more points in three consecutive seasons. Edwards earned All-SEC Second-Team honors as a senior before being drafted with the 15th overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1993 NBA Draft.
- Coaches Allen Edwards, Matt Figger and Anthony Evans combined hold 360 wins and two coach of the year awards at the division I level.
- Head Coach Frank Martin coached now associate head coach Allen Edwards and director of player personnel Doug Edwards at Miami Senior High School.
Up Next
- The Minutemen travel for faceoff with George Mason on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. in Fairfax, Va. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live updates and links available at umassathletics.com or @UMassMBB on X (Twitter).
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