Tuesday, January 20
Buffalo, N.Y.
6:30 p.m.
University at Buffalo
vs
Akron
Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
Bulls get Ready for National Broadcast Against UMass
1/22/2026 4:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (13-6, 3-4 MAC) welcome the UMass Minutemen (12-8, 3-5 MAC) to Alumni Arena for their first meeting as conference opponents. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. on CBSSN. Josh Whetzel and Bob Gaughan will be on the radio call on Buffalo 1520/Rochester 1280 and on the Varsity Network App.
Be sure to wear blue to the game for our Blue Out! The first 250 fans and students will receive University at Buffalo scarves!
LAST TIME OUT
The Bulls are coming off an 82-63 loss to the Akron Zips on Tuesday evening. In the loss, Derrick Talton Jr. became the first Bull since the 2023-24 season to play all 40 minutes in a game. The grad transfer was also the first player to reach double-digit assists in single game this season for Buffalo as he finished with 10 of their 15 assists on the night. Ryan Sabol led the Bulls with 26 points as he went 5-for-12 from three-point range. This marked his 16th career 20-point performance and his 14th game with five or more threes.
ABOUT THE MINUTEMEN
• Massachusetts Head Coach Frank Martin is in his fourth season with the Minutemen where he's led them to a 59-55 (.518) overall record. Prior to his time at UMass, he spent 10 seasons at South Carolina from 2012-22 where he went 171-147 (.538). From 2007-12, he was at Kansas State where he guided the Wildcats to a 117-54 (.684) record. In his 19-year career, he's 347-256 (.575)
• The Minutemen were selected fifth in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll with 98 points. They also received a MAC Tournament Championship vote. Daniel Hankins-Sanford was named to the Preseason All-MAC Second Team.
• The Minutemen are led by Leonardo Bettiol (17.2 ppg & 7.5 rpg) and Danny Carbuccia (6.0 apg).
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• The Bulls and Minutemen's only previous game was on Feb. 18, 1993, where the 19th ranked Minutemen visited the Bulls. UMass came away with the 96-67 win.
• Friday evening will feature four of the top scorers in the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo's Daniel Freitag leads the conference with 20.4 ppg as hie teammate Ryan Sabol is sixth with 17.6. UMass's leading scorer is Leonardo Bettiol's 17.2 ppg is eighth as Marcus Banks is ninth with 16.1 ppg.
• Tim Oboh has made quite the improvement in his sophomore season during conference play. In 2024-25, Oboh averaged 4.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg with 6 total blocks. This season he is averaging 10.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg with 10 blocks.
• Dating back to 2004-05 on available records, this is the first time the Bulls have had six 30-point performances in a single season as Daniel Freitag has done so four times as Ryan Sabol has done it twice this season. The 2012-13 squad finished with five such performances. Over the last three previous seasons, Buffalo only had four 30-point performances.
• Ryan Sabol recorded his 14th game of his career with five or more three-pointers in a single game against Penn State Behrend when he went 7-for-8, tying his career-high in made three-pointers for the fourth time. He has 36 games with at least three three-pointers in his time in the blue and white.
• The Bulls have made 10+ three-pointers in six of their last eight games, averaging 10.8 per game. In that stretch, they're 86-of-214, good for a .402 three-point percentage. On the season, Buffalo has made at least eight three-pointers in 15 of their 19 games as they're averaging 9.6 per game.
• Ryan Sabol surpassed the 1,000-point mark on Saturday at Miami (OH) with his 20-point performance. Sabol did so in his 80th game played in the blue and white. He became the 27th Bull in program history to reach this milestone and the first since 2021 MAC Defensive Player of the Year Josh Mballa did so from 2019-22 as he tallied 1,045 points.
• In conference play, the Bulls are averaging the third-fewest turnovers per game at 10.7. At Western Michigan on Dec. 20th, they tied a program record for fewest turnovers in a game with four. Against Kent State last Tuesday, they finished with just five turnovers, tied for the fourth fewest in program history. Their +1.71 turnover margin is the third-best in the MAC.
• Buffalo has made 338 free throws this season. Of their 1,524 points this season, 22.2% have come from the free throw line, that is a conference best as Kent State (21.9%), Northern Illinois (21.6%) and Bowling Green (21.4%) are the only other schools above 20%.
• UB has made 182 three-pointers so far this season. 35.8% of their points have come from three-point range, the third-best mark in the MAC behind Miami's Akron's 36.7% and Miami's 36.0%.
• The Bulls are No. 15 in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
• Ryan Sabol is the only Bull to score 10+ points in every conference game this season. He's averaging 19.1 ppg, good for seventh in the MAC.
• UB has recorded 21 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
• Daniel Freitag leads the MAC in free throw makes and attempts with 122 and 149, respectfully. He's top-10 in the country in both categories.
• Daniel Freitag (367) and Ryan Sabol (335) have accounted for 46.1% of Buffalo's 1,524 points on the season. They are the highest scoring duo in the MAC as UMass's Leonardo Bettiol (343) and Marcus Banks (322) make up 41.4% of the Minutemen's points.
• On the season, Daniel Freitag has the best +/- on the team at +111. Noah Batchelor is just behind at +107 with Ryan Sabol third with +95.
For all the latest on UB men's basketball, follow @UBuffaloMBB on Twitter/X, @ubuffalo_mbb on Instagram and like the UB Men's Basketball Facebook page.
Click here for ticket information.
Click here for information on the Bulls Championship Fund and how you can help UB Athletics.
Be sure to wear blue to the game for our Blue Out! The first 250 fans and students will receive University at Buffalo scarves!
LAST TIME OUT
The Bulls are coming off an 82-63 loss to the Akron Zips on Tuesday evening. In the loss, Derrick Talton Jr. became the first Bull since the 2023-24 season to play all 40 minutes in a game. The grad transfer was also the first player to reach double-digit assists in single game this season for Buffalo as he finished with 10 of their 15 assists on the night. Ryan Sabol led the Bulls with 26 points as he went 5-for-12 from three-point range. This marked his 16th career 20-point performance and his 14th game with five or more threes.
ABOUT THE MINUTEMEN
• Massachusetts Head Coach Frank Martin is in his fourth season with the Minutemen where he's led them to a 59-55 (.518) overall record. Prior to his time at UMass, he spent 10 seasons at South Carolina from 2012-22 where he went 171-147 (.538). From 2007-12, he was at Kansas State where he guided the Wildcats to a 117-54 (.684) record. In his 19-year career, he's 347-256 (.575)
• The Minutemen were selected fifth in the 13-team league in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll with 98 points. They also received a MAC Tournament Championship vote. Daniel Hankins-Sanford was named to the Preseason All-MAC Second Team.
• The Minutemen are led by Leonardo Bettiol (17.2 ppg & 7.5 rpg) and Danny Carbuccia (6.0 apg).
THE BULL-ETIN BOARD
• The Bulls and Minutemen's only previous game was on Feb. 18, 1993, where the 19th ranked Minutemen visited the Bulls. UMass came away with the 96-67 win.
• Friday evening will feature four of the top scorers in the Mid-American Conference. Buffalo's Daniel Freitag leads the conference with 20.4 ppg as hie teammate Ryan Sabol is sixth with 17.6. UMass's leading scorer is Leonardo Bettiol's 17.2 ppg is eighth as Marcus Banks is ninth with 16.1 ppg.
• Tim Oboh has made quite the improvement in his sophomore season during conference play. In 2024-25, Oboh averaged 4.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg with 6 total blocks. This season he is averaging 10.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg with 10 blocks.
• Dating back to 2004-05 on available records, this is the first time the Bulls have had six 30-point performances in a single season as Daniel Freitag has done so four times as Ryan Sabol has done it twice this season. The 2012-13 squad finished with five such performances. Over the last three previous seasons, Buffalo only had four 30-point performances.
• Ryan Sabol recorded his 14th game of his career with five or more three-pointers in a single game against Penn State Behrend when he went 7-for-8, tying his career-high in made three-pointers for the fourth time. He has 36 games with at least three three-pointers in his time in the blue and white.
• The Bulls have made 10+ three-pointers in six of their last eight games, averaging 10.8 per game. In that stretch, they're 86-of-214, good for a .402 three-point percentage. On the season, Buffalo has made at least eight three-pointers in 15 of their 19 games as they're averaging 9.6 per game.
• Ryan Sabol surpassed the 1,000-point mark on Saturday at Miami (OH) with his 20-point performance. Sabol did so in his 80th game played in the blue and white. He became the 27th Bull in program history to reach this milestone and the first since 2021 MAC Defensive Player of the Year Josh Mballa did so from 2019-22 as he tallied 1,045 points.
• In conference play, the Bulls are averaging the third-fewest turnovers per game at 10.7. At Western Michigan on Dec. 20th, they tied a program record for fewest turnovers in a game with four. Against Kent State last Tuesday, they finished with just five turnovers, tied for the fourth fewest in program history. Their +1.71 turnover margin is the third-best in the MAC.
• Buffalo has made 338 free throws this season. Of their 1,524 points this season, 22.2% have come from the free throw line, that is a conference best as Kent State (21.9%), Northern Illinois (21.6%) and Bowling Green (21.4%) are the only other schools above 20%.
• UB has made 182 three-pointers so far this season. 35.8% of their points have come from three-point range, the third-best mark in the MAC behind Miami's Akron's 36.7% and Miami's 36.0%.
• The Bulls are No. 15 in the most recent College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
• Ryan Sabol is the only Bull to score 10+ points in every conference game this season. He's averaging 19.1 ppg, good for seventh in the MAC.
• UB has recorded 21 20-point performances this season. Last year they finished with just 16 such games.
• Daniel Freitag leads the MAC in free throw makes and attempts with 122 and 149, respectfully. He's top-10 in the country in both categories.
• Daniel Freitag (367) and Ryan Sabol (335) have accounted for 46.1% of Buffalo's 1,524 points on the season. They are the highest scoring duo in the MAC as UMass's Leonardo Bettiol (343) and Marcus Banks (322) make up 41.4% of the Minutemen's points.
• On the season, Daniel Freitag has the best +/- on the team at +111. Noah Batchelor is just behind at +107 with Ryan Sabol third with +95.
For all the latest on UB men's basketball, follow @UBuffaloMBB on Twitter/X, @ubuffalo_mbb on Instagram and like the UB Men's Basketball Facebook page.
Click here for ticket information.
Click here for information on the Bulls Championship Fund and how you can help UB Athletics.
Players Mentioned
Guard/Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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