# 2021–22 UMass Minutemen basketball team

The 2021–22 UMass Minutemen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Minutemen were led by fifth-year head coach Matt McCall and played their home games at the William D. Mullins Memorial Center in Amherst, Massachusetts as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 15–16, 7–11 in A-10 play to finish in 10th place. They defeated George Washington in the second round of the A-10 tournament before losing to Dayton in the quarterfinals.
On March 2, 2022, the school fired head coach Matt McCall. On March 25, the school named former Kansas State and South Carolina head coach Frank Martin the team's new head coach.

## Previous season

The Minutemen finished the 2020–21 season 8–7, 6–4 in A-10 play to finish in a tie for fourth place. In the Atlantic 10 tournament they defeated Saint Joseph's in the second round before losing to Saint Louis in the quarterfinals.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Brady Antonopoulos | 0 | G | 6'1" | 165 | Senior | West Brookfield, MA | Walk-on; graduated |
| Mark Gasperini | 10 | C | 6'10" | 255 | GS Senior | Moscow, Russia | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Carl Pierre | 12 | G | 6'4" | 190 | Senior | Boston, MA | Graduate transferred to Rice |
| Ronnie DeGray III | 13 | F | 6'7" | 220 | Freshman | Parker, CO | Transferred to Missouri |
| Tre Mitchell | 33 | C | 6'9" | 240 | Sophomore | Pittsburgh, PA | Transferred to Texas |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Trent Buttrick | 0 | F | 6'8" | 240 | GS Senior | Bloomsburg, PA | Penn State |
| Greg Jones | 10 | F | 6'7" | 225 | GS Senior | Bronx, NY | Southern Connecticut |
| CJ Kelly | 12 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Senior | Long Island, NY | Albany |
| Rich Kelly | 22 | G | 6'1" | 175 | GS Senior | Shelton, CT | Boston College |
| Michael Steadman | 24 | F | 6'11" | 215 | RS Senior | Union City, CA | Montana |
| John Kelly | 44 | F | 6'7" | 195 | Junior | Shelton, CT | Fairfield |

### 2021 recruiting class

There were no incoming recruits for the class of 2021.

## Roster

Source

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:30 p.m., NESN+ | | UMBC | W 77–60 | 1–0 | Mullins Center (2,903) Amherst, MA |
| November 12, 2021* 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Yale | L 71–91 | 1–1 | Payne Whitney Gymnasium (1,590) New Haven, CT |
| November 15, 2021* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | Penn State | W 81–56 | 2–1 | Mullins Center (3,022) Amherst, MA |
| November 18, 2021* 5:30 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. Weber State Jersey Mike's Classic | L 73–88 | 2–2 | McArthur Center St. Petersburg, FL |
| November 19, 2021* 3:00 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. UNC Greensboro Jersey Mike's Classic | W 93–90 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | McArthur Center (341) St. Petersburg, FL |
| November 21, 2021* 2:30 p.m., CBSSN | | vs. Ball State Jersey Mike's Classic | L 86–89 | 3–3 | McArthur Center (376) St. Petersburg, FL |
| November 24, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NESN+ | | UMass Lowell | W 92–81 | 4–3 | Mullins Center (1,492) Amherst, MA |
| November 27, 2021* 2:00 p.m., Peacock | | Rutgers | W 85–83 | 5–3 | Mullins Center (1,881) Amherst, MA |
| December 4, 2021* 12:00 p.m., NESN | | Harvard | W 87–77 | 6–3 | Mullins Center (2,333) Amherst, MA |
| December 7, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NESN | | at Northeastern | L 76–82 | 6–4 | Matthews Arena (1,252) Boston, MA |
| December 11, 2021* 4:30 p.m., FloSports | | vs. North Texas Basketball Hall of Fame Classic | L 57–66 | 6–5 | Dickies Arena Fort Worth, TX |
| December 19, 2021* 7:00 p.m., NESN | | Fairfield | W 77–73 $^{OT}$ | 7–5 | Mullins Center (1,322) Amherst, MA |
| December 22, 2021* 1:00 p.m. | | NJIT | Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols at NJIT | Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols at NJIT | Mullins Center Amherst, MA |
| A-10 regular season ||||||
| January 5, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Richmond | L 72–80 | 7–6 (0–1) | Robins Center (5,004) Richmond, VA |
| January 8, 2022 12:00 p.m., NESN+ | | Duquesne | L 74–78 | 7–7 (0–2) | Mullins Center (1,978) Amherst, MA |
| January 11, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Davidson | L 67–77 | 7–8 (0–3) | John M. Belk Arena (2,495) Davidson, NC |
| January 15, 2022 4:30 p.m., USA | | Rhode Island | L 68–81 | 7–9 (0–4) | Mullins Center (2,181) Amherst, MA |
| January 20, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Saint Louis Rescheduled from December 30 | W 91–85 | 8–9 (1–4) | Mullins Center (1,665) Amherst, MA |
| January 23, 2022 2:30 p.m., USA | | at Saint Louis | L 59–90 | 8–10 (1–5) | Chaifetz Arena (5,136) St. Louis, MO |
| January 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at La Salle | W 77–71 | 9–10 (2–5) | Tom Gola Arena (1,389) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 30, 2022 2:00 p.m., USA | | George Mason | L 62–72 | 9–11 (2–6) | Mullins Center (2,321) Amherst, MA |
| February 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Rhode Island | W 78–67 | 10–11 (3–6) | Ryan Center (5,847) Kingston, RI |
| February 9, 2022 7:00 p.m., NESN | | George Washington | L 68–77 | 10–12 (3–7) | Mullins Center (3,842) Amherst, MA |
| February 12, 2022 12:00 p.m., NESN | | Saint Joseph's | W 69–67 | 11–12 (4–7) | Mullins Center (3,127) Amherst, MA |
| February 16, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at St. Bonaventure | L 71–83 | 11–13 (4–8) | Reilly Center (3,452) Olean, NY |
| February 19, 2022 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | La Salle | W 80–74 | 12–13 (5–8) | Mullins Center (2,009) Amherst, MA |
| February 23, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Dayton | L 61–82 | 12–14 (5–9) | UD Arena (13,407) Dayton, OH |
| February 26, 2022 4:30 p.m., USA | | VCU | L 62–77 | 12–15 (5–10) | Mullins Center (2,758) Amherst, MA |
| February 28, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Fordham Rescheduled from January 2 | L 73–85 | 12–16 (5–11) | Rose Hill Gymnasium (754) Bronx, NY |
| March 2, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Fordham | W 81–73 | 13–16 (6–11) | Mullins Center (2,186) Amherst, MA |
| March 5, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at George Mason | W 83–80 $^{OT}$ | 14–16 (7–11) | EagleBank Arena (3,652) Fairfax, VA |
| A-10 tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2022 6:00 p.m., USA/Peacock | (10) | vs. (7) George Washington Second round | W 99–88 | 15–16 | Capital One Arena Washington, D.C. |
| March 11, 2022 6:00 p.m., USA/Peacock | (10) | vs. (2) Dayton Quarterfinals | L 72-75 | 15-17 | Capital One Arena Washington, D.C. |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Source