Buffalo and Toledo Continue Hot Streaks in MAC Play
Tuesday's Scoreboard
Buffalo 83, Eastern Michigan 69
Toledo 85, Western Michigan 81
Kent State 88, Ball State 80
Northern Illinois 93, Bowling Green 62
Akron 71, Ohio 68
Miami 70, Central Michigan 61
Stories Courtesy of the Associated Press
Buffalo 83, Eastern Michigan 69
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Jeremy Harris scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to help Mid-American Conference leader Buffalo beat Eastern Michigan 83-69 on Tuesday night for its eighth straight victory.
CJ Massinburg added 18 points, Nick Perkins 17 and Wes Clark 13 for Buffalo (15-5, 7-0), which has scored 80-plus points in eight straight games.
The last time UB won eight straight was at the end of 2014-15 season after six consecutive regular-season games and two MAC tournament victories.
Buffalo led 39-17 at halftime after holding Eastern Michigan to 6-of-26 shooting (23.1 percent). The Bulls made six 3-pointers in the half and attempted 15 free throws.
Paul Jackson scored 20 points -- all in the second half -- for Eastern Michigan (11-9, 2-5), which hasn't won at Alumni Arena since Feb. 4, 2004. Tim Bond had 13 points and seven boards. The Eagles finished at 38.5 percent.
Toledo 85, Western Michigan 81
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Tre'Shaun Fletcher scored 22 points, Jaelan Sanford added 21 and made a key block late to help Toledo beat Western Michigan 85-81 on Tuesday night.
Marreon Jackson had five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points for the Rockets (14-6, 6-1 Mid-American Conference), who have won a season-best six straight.
Thomas Wilder scored a career-high 40 points for Western Michigan (11-9, 3-4), which has lost four of its last five games.
A 5-0 spurt pulled the Broncos to 81-80 with 22 seconds left. Sanford made two from the line to stretch the Rockets' lead to 83-80 with 11 seconds to go. Wilder made a free throw and then intentionally missed the second attempt. The ball went out of bounds and Western Michigan kept possession with seven seconds left, but Sanford blocked Wilder's layup attempt and made two free throws to seal it.
Kent State 88, Ball State 80
Box Score
KENT, Ohio -- Kevin Zabo scored seven of his 21 points in overtime and Danny Pippen finished with a double-double to power Kent State to an 88-80 victory over Ball State on Tuesday night.
Pippen scored 11 with 16 rebounds for the Golden Flashes (10-10, 4-3 Mid-American Conference), who beat the Cardinals for a 15th straight time. Adonis De La Rosa finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, Jaylin Walker scored 17 with seven boards and Jalen Avery and BJ Duling added 10 points each.
Kent State led 38-31 at halftime, but Ball State (12-8, 3-4) grabbed the lead, 42-41, on a Trey Moses free throw with 3:20 gone in the second half. The Golden Flashes trailed 49-45, but Walker nailed 3-pointers to begin and end a 10-0 run and forge a 55-49 lead. From there, Ball State got seven points from Sean Sellers and five from Tayler Persons, including a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left in regulation, to send the game to overtime tied at 71.
Ishmael El-Amin's layup gave the Cardinals a 75-74 lead with 3:18 remaining, but Pippen hit a jumper to ignite a 10-0 run to seal the win for Kent State.
Persons tallied 19 points and seven assists to pace Ball State. Sellers added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Northern Illinois 93, Bowling Green 62
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. -- Eugene German didn't miss a shot and finished with 19 points as Northern Illinois routed Bowling Green 93-62 on Tuesday night.
German was 7 of 7 from the field and made all five of his free throws. Lacey James added 15 points for Northern Illinois (10-10, 3-4 Mid-American Conference), which had five players in double-figure scoring and snapped a two-game skid.
Rodrick Caldwell scored 13 points and Demajeo Wiggins had 11 to lead Bowling Green (12-8, 3-4). The Falcons have lost three of their last four games.
A 23-6 run stretched the Huskies' lead to 62-40 with 9:10 to play. Noah McCarty scored all seven of his points during the spurt, and James added four and capped it with a dunk.
Northern Illinois shot 38 of 62 (61 percent) from the field and made all nine free-throw attempts. The Falcons shot 40 percent from the floor, just 6 of 21 from long range (28.6 percent), and missed 11 free throws.
Akron 71, Ohio 68
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio -- Jimond Ivey scored 11 of his 17 points in the final six minutes and Akron held off Ohio 71-68 on Tuesday night.
Ivey added six rebounds and four assists on an emotional night for the Zips, who ditched the traditional white home jerseys and wore purple in honor of pancreatic cancer awareness. The players all sported Peters on the backs of their jerseys in honor of Dan Peters, the Zips' director of basketball operations who succumbed to the disease in 2014.
Malcolm Duvivier hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 for Akron (10-9, 3-4 Mid-American Conference), while Daniel Utomi contributed 13 points and eight rebounds and Mark Kostelac scored 10 on 5-of-6 shooting.
Gavin Block scored 18 -- on 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range -- with seven rebounds to pace the Bobcats (9-10, 2-5). Teyvion Kirk added 16 points and six assists and Doug Taylor scored 11 with six boards and four blocked shots.
Ohio never led but managed to forge four ties, the last one at 58-all with 5:35 left in the game. But Kostelac had a layup and Ivey nailed a 3-pointer and added two buckets to push the Zips lead to 67-58. The Bobcats closed to within a point, but Ivey and Virshon Cotton both hit two free throws in the final 20 seconds to preserve the win.
Miami 70, Central Michigan 61
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Nike Sibande scored a career-high 22 points and made all four of his 3-point shots as Miami (Ohio) defeated Central Michigan 70-61 Tuesday night.
Logan McLane added 13 points and eight rebounds for Miami (11-9, 4-3 Mid-American Conference), Isaiah Lands-Coleman added 12 points on four 3-pointers. Darrian Ringo, ranked seventh nationally in total assists, dished 10, the sixth time this season he's reached double-digit assists.
The RedHawks made 11 of 23 3-pointers and had 17 assists on 25 made field goals in the road win, their fifth this season. Miami was 1-13 on the road last season.
Kevin McKay led Central Michigan (13-7, 2-5) with 17 points -- all in the second half -- and eight rebounds, Shawn Roundtree added 15 points and Cecil Williams 14. The Chippewas were 9 of 28 from behind the 3-point arc and shot 38 percent from the floor in all (23 of 61).
Luke Meyer, MAC West Player of the Week, was held to three points (1-of-3 shooting) in 20 minutes.
