Tuesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 87, Ball State 82
Bowling Green 65, Eastern Michigan 60
Central Michigan 73, Buffalo 69
Kent State 105, Toledo 65
Miami 87, Northern Illinois 58
Western Michigan 82, Ohio 73
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 87, Ball State 82
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. -The Akron men's basketball team got a 42-point performance from the bench on the way to an 87-82 victory against the Ball State Cardinals on the road Tuesday.
The Zips (22-6, 14-1) had four players score in double figures, led by Tavari Johnson, who had 21 points. Shammah Scott added 18 points and five assists off of the bench and Amani Lyles chipped in as well with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks from the bench.
Nate Johnson pulled down three offensive rebounds to pace the Akron offense which grabbed 10 boards and turned them into 12 second chance points.
After playing to an 18-18 tie, Akron went on a 14-0 run with 13:26 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Lyles, to take a 32-18 lead. The Zips then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 47-39 advantage. Akron got a great contribution from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 27 of its 47 total points.
Following intermission, Akron kept widening that lead, expanding it to 64-54 before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by Tavari Johnson's layup, to grow the lead to 69-54 with 12:03 to go in the contest. The Cardinals narrowed the margin somewhat before the game was over, but the Zips still held on for the 87-82 win. Akron took care of business in the paint, recording 26 of its 40 points in the lane.
The Zips return to James A. Rhodes Arena to host Kent State on Friday, February 28 for a 9 p.m. start. Akron and Kent State will be featured on ESPN2.
Bowling Green 65, Eastern Michigan 60
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team picked up their third-straight road victory Tuesday night (Feb. 25), topping the Eastern Michigan Eagles in a 65-60 final. The Falcons held EMU to just 19 first half points and didn't allow the Eagles to take the lead at any point in the game. The win marks three consecutive road wins for BGSU while also being the first back-to-back conference wins for the Orange and Brown as well. Bowling Green has now won five of their last seven and have improved to 6-9 within the MAC with three games remaining in the regular season.
Javontae Campbell led the way for the Falcons on both sides of the ball. Campbell recorded five steals, bringing his season total to 83 to break the program's single-season steals record. He also led the team in points and assists while tying for the team-lead in rebounds. Campbell registered 25 points in the game, his fourth-straight 20-point game for the Falcons and seventh of the season.
The Falcons won the opening tip of the game. Derrick Butler located Jamai Felt in the paint for a layup and the first points of the game. EMU answered with a jumper for a quick 2-2 tally.
The back-and-forth continued with a DaJion Humphrey layup followed by an EMU layup. Javontae Campbell swiped a steal for the Falcons and converted an and-one. Butler added a transition layup for a 5-0 BGSU run. EMU added a layup before the first media timeout of the game for a 9-6 Bowling Green advantage.
Out of the break, Campbell raised the BGSU count with two at the line. A layup EMU answered the points. The back-and-forth continued with Marcus Johnson finding Campbell for a layup, but EMU responded with a layup on their end.
Humphrey ended the run of layups with a three for the Falcons before another Eagles layup. Another Bowling Green three, this time from Butler, pushed the BGSU lead to 19-12 at the under-12 media break.
Coming out of the timeout, Eastern Michigan made two at the line, but the Falcons followed with a 6-0 run. Threes from Butler and Humphrey created the run, forcing an EMU timeout for the under-8 break with BGSU up 25-14.
The Eagles paused the run with a layup after the timeout. Braelon Green brought the Bowling Green response, joining the scoring with a layup of his own. Campbell sank two more at the line
The run continued for the Falcons with a big slam by Green and another three from Humphrey for a 15-2 stretch and 34-16 advantage at the final media timeout of the first half.
After the media break, EMU hit a three to stop the BGSU run, ending an EMU scoring drought that spanned nearly five minutes of game time. Campbell made one at the line for a 35-19 halftime score.
Eastern Michigan opened the second half with two threes and a dunk for an 8-0 run, cutting the deficit down to 35-27 with a BGSU timeout. After the timeout, the run reached 10-0 with a 35-29 score at the under-16 media timeout.
EMU added to their run after the media stoppage, extending to 12-2 with the score at 35-31. Campbell ended the run with one at the line, but an Eastern Michigan layup and three followed to tie the game at 36-36.
Wilguens Jr. Exacte made the first field goal of the half for the Falcons, getting a layup to go off an inbound, but an EMU jumper answered to tie it back up at 38-38.
Campbell broke the tie with a triple before an Eagles dunk kept the score at a one-point difference at the under-12 media timeout with BGSU up 41-40.
Campbell made a layup to push the BGSU lead to three. An EMU three tied it, but an Exacte three matched the points before an Eastern Michigan jumper for a 46-45 Falcon lead.
Campbell found space in the paint for a jumper, starting a 7-0 BGSU run. Johnson made his first bucket of the game, demonstrating touch around the rim, before Humphrey drilled a three, giving the Falcons a 53-45 advantage at the under-8 break.
The Eagles added a layup after the break. Campbell matched the points on the BGSU end, but a 5-0 EMU run followed. Butler ended the run with a three for the Orange and Brown with an Eastern Michigan jumper answering for a 58-54 score at the final media timeout of regulation.
The first points out of the break came from Green, getting a transition layup to go off a Campbell assist. Campbell followed with a steal and score. EMU added a bucket with a timeout, pausing the action with the Falcons ahead 62-56 with a minute-and-a-half left in the game.
With 40 seconds remaining, EMU cut the lead down to 62-58 and used their final timeout. Campbell added two at the line for BGSU with 29 seconds on the clock. Another Campbell steal turned into another point at the line with 11 seconds left for a 65-58 score.
EMU added a layup in the final seconds to make it a 65-60 Bowling Green victory.
The Falcons will be back at the Stroh Center on Saturday (March 1) for their final Saturday contest of the regular season and Senior Day. Bowling Green will host Ball State in the contest with a 2 p.m. tip at the Stroh Center.
Central Michigan 73, Buffalo 69
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Jakobi Heady notched his third double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Anthony Pritchard finished with 18 points and six assists to lead the Central Michigan men's basketball team to a 73-69 win over Buffalo Tuesday at McGuirk Arena.
With the win, Central Michigan improves to 13-15 overall and 6-9 in the MAC. Buffalo drops to 8-20 overall and 3-12 in MAC play. The Chippewas won their first game of the season when trailing at halftime and improved to 1-9 in such contests. The victory also moved Central Michigan into a tie for ninth place in the MAC standings with three games remaining.
Next up for Central Michigan is a key road game at Eastern Michigan on CBS Sports Network on Friday at 6 p.m.
After trailing for the majority of the game and Buffalo leading by its largest margin of the game, eight points (50-42) with 11:13 to go, Central Michigan outscored the Bulls 11-2 over a three-minute second half span to tie the game at 52-52 with 8:22 to play on a Pritchard layup. Minutes later, the Chippewas finally took the lead at 57-55 when Cayden Vasko hit a 3-pointer.
From that point on, Central Michigan held off Buffalo the rest of the way for the win. The Bulls cut the deficit down to one point (68-67) on a Tyson Dunn 3-pointer with 1:32 to play, but Kyler VanderJagt answered with a free throw. Then after Buffalo missed a shot, VanderJagt drove to the basket for a key layup and commanding four point lead with 24 seconds to play.
Jakobi Heady made 7-13 field goals and grabbed five offensive rebounds, Pritchard hit 7-8 free throws, Ugnius Jarusevicius scored 14 points (6-12 FG) and hit two 3-pointers, and VanderJagt finished with 12 big points.
Central Michigan shot 47.5 percent (28-59) from the floor and scored 21 points off Buffalo turnovers.
Buffalo used a 9-0 run to go up 30-24 at the 5:34 mark as Bryson Wilson scored all nine points in the run, including six free throws and a 3-pointer.
Trailing 35-28, the Chippewas went on a 6-0 run right before halftime. Quentin Heady scored on tipin and Pritchard hit four free throws, but Buffalo's Anquan Boldin Jr. swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 38-34 lead.
At halftime Barbee had a message for his team.
Off the bench, Wilson finished with a game-high 22 points (6-13 FG) and hit 8-8 free throws to lead Buffalo. Ryan Sabol added 11 points and three 3-pointers, and Anquan Boldin Jr. contributed 10 points.
The win avenged a 75-69 loss at Buffalo on Jan. 28 and snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bulls. Buffalo entered the game after winning 15 of the last 16 games.
Central Michigan started Pritchard, Vasko, Jarusevicius, Jakobi Heady and VanderJagt.
Kent State 105, Toledo 65
Box Score
KENT, Ohio – Kent State Men's Basketball (19-9) is officially headed back to the 2025 Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland this March following a 105-65 win over the University of Toledo on Tuesday night.
Kent State out of the gate hot and never stopped outscoring Toledo 54-30 in the first half, and 51-35 in the second. It was the first time Kent State scored 100 points or more in a conference game since Feb. 19, 2002, when they defeated Marshall University 116-76 in the M.A.C. Center. Additionally, it was Kent State's second time scoring 100 points this season, and their first time against a DI opponent. The last time the Golden Flashes scored 100 against a MAC opponent was on March 6, 2017, in the MAC Tournament winning 116-106 over Central Michigan in overtime.
Five Flashes scored double-digits including VonCameron Davis (21) Jamal Sumlin (20), Marquis Barnett (19), Delrecco Gillespie (16), and Cli'Ron Hornbeak (13). Sumlin's 20 points shattered his earlier career and season high of 13. Barnett's 19 points marked his ninth double-digit game of the season and his second in three games dropping his second highest total. Gillespie's were his second highest point total of the season following a game in which he scored a career high. Hornbeak led KSU on the boards with nine. Sumlin led the Flashes in assists with seven.
Kent State will travel to take on the University of Akron on Friday, Feb. 28. Tipoff between the Golden Flashes and Zips is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Miami 87, Northern Illinois 58
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team shut down Northern Illinois 87-58 Tuesday night. Eian Elmer and Brant Byers each scored a game-high 22 points. Nasir Muhammad led the Huskies with 17 points. The RedHawks improve to 21-7 (12-3 MAC), while Northern Illinois falls to 5-23 (1-14 MAC).
Elmer put the RedHawks up 5-0 with a three and a layup at the start of the game. The Red and White didn't slow down, as a couple of layups from Suder and a Byers triple gave Miami a 14-0 lead. The Huskies answered by scoring their first bucket of the night at 14-2 with 13:36 remaining in the first half. A deep shot from Luke Skaljac on an acrobatic pass from Evan Ipsaro pushed the RedHawk advantage to 19-4.
A flurry of layups and an emphatic dunk from Byers stretched Miami's advantage to 30-13 with the intermission approaching. Northern Illinois scored the next six points to trail 30-19. The Red and White responded with a 10-0 run to claim over a 20-point lead at 40-19. Miami entered the half ahead 46-28.
Coming out of the break, Mekhi Cooper and Elmer combined for 12 points to increase the scoring gap to 60-33. Byers' third three of the night and a Dan Luers layup gave the RedHawks their first 30-point lead of the evening at 65-35. Potter added an alley-oop dunk and a layup to keep Miami in control 71-38 with just over 10 minutes left on the scoreboard.
Skaljac scored a three, and Elmer buried his fourth and fifth triples of the game, making it an 80-47 ball game with under six minutes to play. The RedHawks went on to take down the Huskies 87-58.
The RedHawks face off with the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m. in Athens.
Western Michigan 82, Ohio 73
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's basketball team got a career-high 34 points from Chansey Willis Jr. and double-doubles from JaVaughn Hannah and Donovan Williams as it grabbed a critical 82-73 win over Ohio on Tuesday evening at University Arena.
Willis' career-high 34 points came on 12-of-19 shooting and included four three-pointers. The junior also equaled his career high in assists with eight. It was the highest scoring game by a Bronco since Lamar Norman Jr. netted 36 in a win at Houston Christian on Nov. 18, 2022.
Western Michigan (10-18, 7-8 MAC) enjoyed a plus-10 margin in rebounding (42-32) thanks in large part to Williams and Hannah. Williams secured his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Hannah had 14 points and a career-high 10 boards for the first double-double of his career.
Willis scored nine of Western Michigan's first 11 points as it got out to an 11-4 start. Ohio (15-13, 9-6) briefly closed the gap to 11-9, but the Broncos used a 10-2 run to open up a 21-11 lead at the 12:05 mark of the first half.
The Bobcats engineered a 13-2 response to grab a 24-23 edge. The next five points went to the Broncos to help the hosts go back on top, 28-24. WMU took a 36-33 advantage into the locker room.
Ohio netted the first five points after halftime to climb back in front, 38-36. At 45-40, Western Michigan used an 8-2 spurt to wrestle the lead back, 48-47. The Bobcats tallied six straight points to take a 57-53 edge with 12 minutes remaining.
Over the next five minutes, the Broncos put together a 17-7 run to take a 70-64 lead. Ohio whittled the margin down to two, 70-68, but Western Michigan responded with seven consecutive points to push the margin to nine, 77-68. From there, WMU closed out the contest at the free throw line.
The Brown and Gold shot 50.8 percent (30-of-59) for the evening, while Ohio connected on 41.8 percent (28-of-67) from the floor.
Western Michigan hits the road on Saturday afternoon as it travels to DeKalb, Ill., to take on NIU. Tip between the Broncos and Huskies is scheduled for 4:30 pm on ESPN+.
