Saturday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 102, Miami 75
Central Michigan 73, Western Michigan 52
Eastern Michigan 90, Buffalo 77
Northern Illinois 76, Ball State 66
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 102, Miami 75
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - Six Zips scored in double figures as Akron rolled past the Miami RedHawks 102-75 at home Saturday.
With the win, Akron remains perfect in the MAC (7-0) and at the JAR (10-0). The Zips have started the past two season 7-0 in conference action, the best start to MAC play for an Akron squad led by head coach John Groce.
The Zips (14-5, 7-0) had six players score in double figures, led by Tavari Johnson, who had 15 points and six assists. Nate Johnson added 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals and Seth Wilson chipped in with 14 points. Isaiah Gray (13), Bowen Hardman (12) and Amani Lyles (10) rounded out the list of double figure scorers.
Akron has had four or more players hit double figure scoring in 10 games with the win over the RedHawks. The Zips have also scored at least 85 points in in 11 games, which include the past six MAC games, and are a perfect 11-0 when doing so.
The Zips were electric from beyond the arc, hitting 15 triples on the day. Seth Wilson drilled four while Hardman extended his streak of consecutive games with a made 3-pointer to 12. Scott and Hardman are now tied for the longest streak of consecutive games with a made 3-point shot.
Akron out-rebounded Miami (OH) 41-24 in Saturday's game, led by nine boards from Shammah Scott. The Zips also pulled down 12 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second chance points.
The Akron defense was effective at taking away the basketball in Saturday's game, forcing 15 Miami (OH) turnovers while committing 13. Those takeaways turned into 22 points on the offensive end of the floor. Nate Johnson's four steals led the way individually for the Zips.
After jumping out to a 27-13 advantage, Akron went on a 9-0 run with 8:30 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Wilson, to increase its lead to 36-13. The Zips then added one point to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 52-28 advantage. Akron relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down 10 shots to account for 30 of its 52 points.
Following intermission, Akron kept widening that lead, expanding it to 61-31 before going on a 7-0 run, finished off by Amani Lyles' layup, to grow the lead to 68-31 with 16:29 to go in the contest. The RedHawks narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Zips still cruised the rest of the way for the 102-75 win. Akron got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 23 of its 50 total points.
The Zips travel to Northern Illinois to battle the Huskies on Tuesday, January 28 for a 7 p.m. ET start.
Central Michigan 73, Western Michigan 52
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Using suffocating defense, Central Michigan built a 14-point halftime lead then coasted to a 73-52 victory over Western Michigan in the third Toilet Paper Toss Saturday evening at McGuirk Arena. The game drew a sellout crowd of 5,361, which ranks as the fourth largest crowd in McGuirk Arena history.
Central Michigan (9-10, 3-4 MAC) held Western Michigan to 32.2 percent (19-59) shooting and the Broncos hit just 5-24 of their 3-point shots. The Chippewas also outscored WMU 36-22 in the paint and 21-6 in bench scoring.
Chippewa head coach Tony Barbee said his team's defense and game atmosphere were the key factors in the victory.
Central Michigan won its third consecutive Toilet Paper Toss game against Western Michigan. It was the second straight year that it registered a 20-point victory over Western Michigan at home. Barbee was complimentary of the McGuirk Arena atmosphere.
On the floor, four Chippewas reached double figure scoring. Jakobi Heady scored a game-high 16 points, his 17th double figure scoring contest in 19 games this season. Kyler VanderJagt added 13 points, Cayden Vasko finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Bryan Ndjonga added 10 points and six rebounds. Anthony Pritchard finished with eight points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Western Michigan (5-14, 2-5 MAC) was led by Markhi Strickland's 14 points and Owen Lobsinger's 10 points and nine rebounds.
Central Michigan built a 34-23 halftime lead using suffocating defense as Western Michigan was held to its lowest scoring output in a half this season (23 points), was limited to 23.3 percent (7-30) field goal shooting, and converted just 2-12 on 3-pointers.
A 14-0 run gave CMU a commanding 23-11 first half lead. The Chippewas never trailed again after the run. VanderJagt put CMU up 12-11 with a 3-pointer at the 13:55 mark. Jakobi Heady hit two free throws, and a 3-pointer by Pritchard from the corner gave CMU a 17-11 lead with 12:01 in the first half. Then Pritchard found Quentin Heady for a layup, and VanderJagt finished off a fast break layup in traffic. Vasko scored on a driving layup and CMU led 23-11 with 9:23 to go in the first half.
Before halftime, Central Michigan used an 8-0 run to expand its lead to 15 points (31-16) with 4:17 to play in the first half. Pritchard scored on a tipin, Heady converted two free throws, then Pritchard found Ndjonga for a dunk that got the crowd involved. Heady followed with a driving layup for a 31-16 lead.
The second half featured more of the same for Central Michigan. Western Michigan cut the lead down to as few as 10 points (40-30 with 15:15 to play) but could get no closer.
The Chippewas went up by as many as 21 points (69-48) with 2:57 on a VanderJagt free throw.
For the second consecutive game, Ugnius Jarusevicius did not play. Central Michigan started Jakobi Heady, Quentin Heady, Bryan Ndjonga, Cayden Vasko, and Anthony Pritchard.
Central Michigan hits the road for a Tuesday, Jan. 28 game at Buffalo, then plays back-to-back home games on Saturday (vs. Bowling Green, 7 p.m.) and Tuesday, Feb. 4 (vs. Miami, Ohio, 7 p.m.)
Eastern Michigan 90, Buffalo 77
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team won its third-straight game, overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit to upend the University at Buffalo, 90-77, Saturday, Jan. 25, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
Helped by improved defensive pressure, the Eagles outscored the Bulls, 48-32, in the second half, overcoming a 57-47 deficit with 15:57 remaining.
Christian Henry (Chicago, Ill./The Skill Factory/Panola College) led the Eagles with 18 points, six assists, and a career-high six rebounds while Yusuf Jihad (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington/Oakland) netted 15 points, including 12 first-half points, to provide a key boost for Eastern off the bench in a game that featured seven lead changes and 13 ties.
Eastern started off solid from the floor, putting in three of its first four attempts from three-point range but trailed 16-13 six minutes in. After that, Eastern Michigan went on an 18-10 run for the next six minutes, where the Eagles got in front, 31-26, after Jihad got into double-digit territory with 10 points just 12 minutes into the game.
The Eagles trailed, 45-42, heading into the locker room. At halftime, the Eagles had three players in double digits in an offensively-dominated first half.
Eastern Michigan struggled to start the second half. Buffalo went on a 12-5 run to take the lead 57-47 before the Eagles called a timeout. From there, EMU went on a 15-5 run to come even with UB at 62-62 with 10:27 to play. A 9-0 spurt for Eastern put the Eagles up, 78-71, with 3:22 left.
Eastern Michigan closed the game on a 12-5 run to win 90-77 over the Bulls and give the Eagles their fourth win in conference play.
Eastern Michigan travels to Miami University for a 2 p.m. game Tuesday, Jan. 28, in Oxford. Eastern is seeking their fourth straight win when they play Miami. EMU has not won four straight games in MAC play since Feb. 13 to March 8, 2018, when it won six straight games to end the regular season and a game in the 2018 MAC Tournament against Akron.
Northern Illinois 76, Ball State 66
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – Despite having just two players available taller than 6-foot-5, both of whom fouled out with over seven minutes to play, the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team topped Ball State, 76-66, on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 25) at the NIU Convocation Center.
Nasir Muhammad (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) led the way with 19 points, including 5-of-6 from three, James Dent Jr. (Springfield, Ill./Springfield Southeast) and Quaran McPherson each had double-doubles with identical 18-point, 10-rebound outings while Quentin Jones (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic) also scored in double figures with 11 points and a game-high six assists.
The pair of double-doubles from Dent and McPherson marks the first time two Huskies have recorded double-doubles in the same game against a Division I opponent since Anthony Crump (11 points, 14 rebounds) and Kaleb Thornton (10 points, 11 assists) against Western Michigan on Feb. 11, 2023.
NIU (5-14, 1-6 MAC) outrebounded Ball State, 41-36, and held the Cardinals to 38.6 percent (22-of-57) shooting from the field, and 36 percent (9-of-25) from three.
With the contest tied at eight in the early going, NIU used a 9-0 burst to move in front, 17-8. Triples from Jones and McPherson, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from McPherson, gave NIU a 17-8 lead with 12:16 left in the opening half.
Another trifecta from McPherson helped the Huskies lead grow to nine again, 20-11, but five-straight points by the Cardinals trimmed the NIU advantage back to just four with 7:44 to play before the intermission.
Leading by eight, Dent converted a four-point play, followed by another triple, as the Huskie lead ballooned to 36-21 with 3:49 remaining in the half.
Ball State (9-10, 3-4 MAC) trimmed the Huskie advantage down to 40-29 at the break. Dent led all scorers with 14 points in the first half, McPherson added 12 for the Huskies while Ball State was led by 13 points from Ethan Brittain-Watts. NIU held Ball State to just 33.3 percent (10-of-30) shooting in the opening stanza and outrebounded the Cardinals, 26-16, in the first 20 minutes.
Trifectas from Tsvet Sotirov (Rolling Meadows, Ill./Rolling Meadows) and Muhammad to begin the second half pushed the NIU advantage to 46-29 and forced an early Ball State timeout.
After a pair of three from Ball State brought the Cardinals back to within 11, Muhammad knocked in his second triple of the half, third of the game, as the Huskies led 49-35 with just over 16 minutes to play.
Another three from Muhammad gave the Huskies a 56-40 lead with 11:56 left. McPherson then added a bucket to put the Huskies up 18, their largest lead of the contest.
Ball State clawed back within a dozen with just over six minutes to play, but that is as close as the Cardinals would get until the final seconds as NIU claimed the home victory.
Brittain-Watts finished with a team-high 16 points for Ball State, Jermahri Hill and Juanse Gorosito each scored 12, Payton Sparks added 11 points and Mickey Pearson Jr. netted 10.
NIU will be home again on Tuesday night, Jan. 28, when the Huskies host Akron. Tickets for Tuesday's game, and all remaining Huskie basketball home contests, are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225).
