Men's Basketball

Kent State Climbs To 5-0 On the Year

Thursday’s Basketball Results
Kent State 89, Concord 59
Akron 82, Youngstown State 60
Notre Dame 64, Toledo 62 (OT)
No. 24 Baylor 76, Ohio 53
UConn 79, Buffalo 68
Minnesota 82, Central Michigan 57
 
Stories courtesy of the Associated Press
 
Kent State 89, Concord 59
Boxscore
KENT, Ohio (AP) Danny Pippen had 17 points as Kent State routed Division II opponent Concord 89-59 on Thursday.
 
Anthony Roberts and Tervell Beck added 15 points each for the Golden Flashes (5-0). Mitch Peterson had seven rebounds. Troy Simons, whose 16 points per game entering the matchup led the Golden Flashes, had only three points.
 
Beck scored 13 of his points in the first half, in just nine minutes, as Kent State led 50-32.
 
Martin Kelly had 16 points and six rebounds for the Mountain Lions. Ethan Heller added 14 points, and Trey Brisco had 13 points.
 
Kent State plays No. 10 Ohio State on the road on Monday in the Buckeye Classic.
 
Akron 82, Youngstown State 60
Boxscore
AKRON, Ohio (AP) Tyler Cheese came off the bench to score 19 points to carry Akron to an 82-60 win over Youngstown State on Thursday night.
 
Loren Cristian Jackson had 19 points for Akron (4-1), which earned its fourth consecutive home victory. Channel Banks added 12 points and Camron Reece had 10.
 
Xeyrius Williams, who led the Zips in scoring heading into the matchup with 16 points per game, scored 7 points (3 of 12).
 
Darius Quisneberry had 17 points for the Penguins (2-3). Jelani Simmons added seven rebounds. Jamir Thomas had 10 rebounds.
 
Naz Bohannon, who was second on the Penguins in scoring entering the matchup with 12 points per game, failed to make a shot (0 of 6).
 
Akron matches up against Louisville on the road on Sunday. Youngstown State matches up against South Carolina Upstate on the road on Saturday
 
Notre Dame 64, Toledo 62 (OT)
Boxscore
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) T.J. Gibbs made two steals in the final 35 seconds of overtime and assisted Rex Pflueger on the go-ahead bcasket with 25 seconds left as Notre Dame rallied for a 64-62 victory over Toledo on Thursday night.
 
Gibbs' first steal led to Pflueger's backdoor basket and a 60-59 Fighting Irish lead. He followed with another steal and added two free throws for a 62-59 count.c
 
A missed 3-pointer by the Rockets' Willie Jackson with four seconds left led to Pflueger adding two more free throws at 1.1 showing to clinch the game.
 
Notre Dame (5-1) won its fifth straight in what was effectively the title contest of the five-team, round-robin Men Against Breast Cancer Invitational.
 
Dane Goodwin led the Irish with 16 points, 14 coming after halftime. Fellow sophomore Nate Laszewski added 10.
 
Laszewski's 3-pointer at the regulation horn off an inbound from Pflueger forced overtime.
 
Gibbs scored 11 points, while Pflueger snatched a career-high six steals.
 
Notre Dame star John Mooney, in his return from a stomach virus that kept him out of Monday's win, netted a season-low seven points, but added 15 rebounds.
 
Marreon Jackson poured in 23 points for Toledo (3-2), while Jackson added 20 rebounds to go with 11 points. Chris Knapke scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Rockets.
 
The Rockets host NAIA program Northwestern Ohio (2-5) on Saturday.
 
No. 24 Baylor 76, Ohio 53
Boxscore
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) Jared Butler kept on scoring for No. 24 Baylor - and gave the Bears reason to keep playing with a purpose.
 
Butler scored 19 points and Baylor pulled away to beat Ohio 76-53 on Thursday in the Myrtle Beach Invitational quarterfinals.
 
MaCio Teague added 17 points, Freddie Gillespie finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds and the Bears (3-1) used a late 15-0 run to cruise to their second straight win. Baylor established a 42-32 rebounding advantage, forced 19 turnovers and turned them into 22 points.
 
Lunden McDay scored 16 points and Jason Preston added 12 for the Bobcats (3-2), who have lost two in a row to the ranked teams in the eight-team field. No. 17 Villanova beat Ohio 78-54 on Saturday.
 
The Bobcats trailed the entire second half and cut their deficit to single digits only once, when McDay's layup with 8 1/2 minutes remaining pulled them within 57-48. Butler - who has led Baylor in scoring in all four games - started the Bears' run of 15 straight points with two free throws with 8:01 to play and scored eight points during the game-breaking burst.
 
Ohio will take on the Coastal Carolina-Utah loser Friday in a consolation game.
 
UConn 79, Buffalo 68
Boxscore
CHARLESTON, SC – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team hung tight against American Athletic Conference foe UConn, but in the end the Bulls fell on the short end, losing 79-68 in the first game of the Charleston Classic.

The Bulls struggled from the floor, shooting just over 36% from the field and just under 21% from three-point range.  UB was able to force UConn into 17 turnovers in the game, its highest total of the season.

Buffalo got out to a quick start as a 10-0 UB run midway through the opening half put the Bulls ahead 19-12, their largest lead of the game. A jumper from junior Jayvon Graves put UB ahead 27-21, but UConn would go on an 11-5 run to tie up the contest.  The game remained tied at the break, 34-34.

The Huskies shot 54.8% from the floor in the second half.  With the game tied at 38-38, UConn went on a 10-2 run to take an eight-point lead. UConn extended its lead to nine, but the Bulls had one final push in them.  Trailing 63-55, a quick 7-2 run pulled the Bulls back within three.  However, UConn's Brendan Adams answered with a three and the Huskies pulled away late.

Three Bulls finished in double figures led by 15 points each from senior Antwain Johnson and sophomore Josh Mballa.  For Mballa it was a career high in scoring as he was 7-of-9 from the floor before fouling out.

Graves added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.  Senior Davonta Jordan finished the night with eight points, five rebounds, and a team-high five assists. Redshirt freshman LaQuill Hardnett had his best game of his young career with four points and eight rebounds off the bench.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Bulls as they will face Towson tomorrow evening in the second game of the Charleston Classic at 7pm.  That game will air live on ESPNU.
 
Minnesota 82, Central Michigan 57
Boxscore
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Starting the second half with possession, Minnesota worked the ball around the offensive zone for nearly 30 seconds before Daniel Oturu found Gabe Kalscheur open in the corner for a 3-pointer.
 
Kalscheur hit the shot and the Gophers continued to find success from 3 in their return home.
 
Marcus Carr had 19 points and Minnesota tied the second-best 3-point mark in school history with 14 made 3s in an 82-57 win against Central Michigan on Thursday night.
 
Payton Willis scored 18 points and Kalscheur added 15 for the Gophers (2-3), who were 14 of 30 from beyond the arc, the third game this season with double-digit made 3s. Kalscheur was 5 of 11 from 3-point territory, while Willis was 4 of 6.
 
Oturu added nine points, 12 rebounds and three blocks for the Gophers.
 
Kevin McKay led Central Michigan (4-1) with 16 points and eight rebounds. Dallas Morgan added 10 points for the Chippewas, who shot a season-low 33.3 percent (22 of 66).
 
The increased emphasis on the 3 comes with Carr and Willis in their first season with Minnesota after transferring, respectively, from Pittsburgh and Vanderbilt. The Gophers were among the nation's least-productive teams from 3 last season and had just four games with double-digit made 3s.
 
The last time Minnesota had as many as 14 made 3s in a game was in 2002. The school record is 16, set against Michigan State in 2001.
 
Central Michigan kept the game close early by going inside and rebounding. David DiLeo converted a field goal in the paint to draw the Chippewas within 23-20. From there, the Gophers went on a 15-0 run to put the game out of reach. Willis hit a pair of 3s during the stretch.
 
Central Michigan went without a field goal in the final 2:35 of thze first half as Minnesota built a 19-point advantage at halftime. The Gophers led by as many as 29 in the second half.
 
Central Michigan returns home on Saturday to face Trinity Christian for the first time, though the Chippewas are 17-0 against non-Division I teams under coach Keno Davis.