CONWAY, S.C. — Coastal Carolina returns to the HTC Center on Saturday afternoon for a non-conference match-up against UMass in round two of the 2025-26 MAC-SBC Challenge, as the Chanticleers step away from Sun Belt Conference play for a 1 p.m. tip on ESPN+.
Saturday's contest will be played under a "Blackout" theme and marks Coastal's first meeting with the Minutemen in nearly four decades. UMass earned a 90-73 win over the Chants at the 1988 Florida Today Classic in Melbourne, Fla., the lone previous meeting between the programs.
Coastal Carolina looks to bounce back after a narrow 70-66 loss to Arkansas State on Wednesday night. The Chanticleers led by seven points in the final two minutes before the Red Wolves closed the game on a late 14-3 run, capped by a putback in the final seconds.
Joshua Beadle led Coastal with 16 points, while
AJ Dancler added 12.
Rasheed Jones finished with eight points and a career-high eight assists, and
Reggie Hill chipped in eight points on a pair of 3-pointers.
Despite the setback, Coastal has been competitive deep into games throughout the season. Eleven of the Chanticleers' last 13 contests have been decided by six points or fewer, with Coastal posting a 7-4 record in those games. Five of the Chants' seven Sun Belt home games have also been decided by five points or fewer.
The Chanticleers have found success from the perimeter of late, knocking down double-digit 3-pointers in four consecutive games and going 7-4 this season when making at least 10 triples. Dancler has made multiple 3-pointers in seven straight games and is shooting 41.4 percent from beyond the arc during that stretch. He has hit at least one 3-pointer in 12 consecutive games, while Jones owns the team's longest streak at 13 straight games with a made 3.
Coastal enters Saturday with a 6-4 record at home this season.
UMass comes to Conway having won six of its last eight games and sits at 6-6 in the Mid-American Conference. The Minutemen are averaging 80.1 points per game and have topped the 90-point mark seven times this season, including three 100-point performances.
Leonardo Bettiol leads UMass in both scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.8 rpg), while Marcus Banks (16.7 ppg), Daniel Hankins-Sanford (12.0 ppg) and K'Jei Parker (10.8 ppg) also average double figures. Danny Carbuccia ranks among the national leaders in assists at 6.4 per game, as the Minutemen average 17.8 assists per contest as a team.
