Saturday’s Men's Basketball Results
Akron 68, Jackson State 50
Ball State 80, Evansville 43
Eastern Michigan 86, Wright State 82
Arizona 94, Central Michigan 41
St. Thomas 93, Bowling Green 68
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 68, Jackson State 50
Boxscore
EL PASO, Texas - Four Zips scored in double figures while Isaiah Gray and James Okonkwo both recorded double-doubles to help lead the Akron men's basketball team past the Jackson State Tigers 68-50 at Don Haskins Center Saturday.
The double-doubles by Gray, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Okonkwo, who had 10 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks, led the Zips (7-4) in the contest. Shammah Scott helped out with 12 points and six rebounds while Sharron Young added 11 points.
Led by Okonkwo's nine offensive rebounds, Akron did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 24 boards that resulted in 18 second chance points.
The Akron defense held Jackson State shooters to only 28.8 percent from the field, including 28.6 percent from three-point range. The Zips also kept Romelle Mansel to 3-of-13 shooting and nine points in the game.
After falling behind 24-23, Akron went on a 7-0 run with 2:30 left in the first half to take a 30-24 lead. The Zips then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 30-29 advantage. Akron capitalized on nine Jackson State turnovers in the period, turning them into eight points on the other end of the floor.
Jackson State proceeded to take a 37-28 lead before Akron went on an 11-0 run, finished off by Scott's three, to seize a 39-37 lead with 14:10 to go in the contest. The Zips kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 68-50 win. Akron shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting six shots from deep to score 18 of its 38 points.
Akron got double-doubles from both Isaiah Gray and James Okonkwo.
Akron found success from beyond the arc, knocking down nine treys in the game.
The Zips held the Tigers to only 28.8 percent shooting from the field.
Akron tallied 15 total assists in the game.
The Akron bench made an impact by scoring 36 points to its scoring output.
Shammah Scott and Sharron Young came off the bench to score 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Akron had a 58-37 edge on the boards in the win.
The Akron defense forced 17 turnovers.
Akron cleaned up on the offensive glass, collecting 24 offensive boards in the game.
Shammah Scott led the Zips with a game-high 12 points.
James Okonkwo grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds to lead Akron and Isaiah Gray contributed 11.
Akron travels to battle Princeton on Monday, December 30 for a 1 p.m. start.
Ball State 80, Evansville 43
Boxscore
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team stifled Evansville to 29 percent shooting, and Payton Sparks had a season-best offensive performance to lead the Cardinals to an 80-43 win on Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena.
Ball State (5-6) scored the first 11 points of the game and never looked back, taking a 37-17 lead into the halftime break. The 17 points were the fewest the Cardinals have allowed in a half this season, and the 20-point margin was the best halftime edge of the year as well.
Sparks went for 20 points, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block off the bench to propel the Cardinals to their second straight win. Jermahri Hill had a trio of highlight-reel dunks on his way to 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals on the afternoon. Two of the steals led to breakaway slams in the first half.
Jeremiah Hernandez added 12 points, three assists and three steals, while Ben Hendriks (10 points, four rebounds) rounded out the Cardinals in double-figures scoring. A total of 10 Ball State players put points on the board during the contest.
Ball State shot 50 percent (27-54) from the field including 41.2 percent (7-17) on 3-pointers while making 67.9 percent (19-28) of foul shots. Evansville went 16-for-55 on field goals and made only 11.5 percent (3-26) from distance.
The Cardinals won the rebounding battle 42-33 and enjoyed advantages in points in the paint (32-22) and second chance points (13-7). Evansville committed more turnovers (13-6) than Ball State to allow the hosts to hold a 20-3 edge in points off turnovers.
The 37-point margin of victory was the second-most in the series history between Evansville for the Cardinals following a 61-16 decision on Feb. 2, 1930 in the second-ever contest. Ball State limited the Purple Aces (3-9) to their fewest points in previous matchups since 1935.
The hosts forced an NCAA Division I opponent to sub-30 percent shooting for the first time since March 11, 2019 against Eastern Michigan, which was also the last time Ball State held a Division I opponent to 43 points or fewer. The Cardinals topped the Eagles 61-43 in Ypsilanti in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament that day.
Ball State will get a nine-day break between games for Christmas before hosting Anderson on New Year's Eve.
Eastern Michigan 86, Wright State 82
Boxscore
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to upend Wright State, 86-82, Saturday, Dec. 21, at the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
Da'Sean Nelson (Toledo, Ohio/Robert S. Rogers/Kilgore College/DePaul) registered 27 points to go with 13 rebounds while Jalen Terry (Flint, Mich./Beecher/Oregon/DePaul) scored 21 points to help the Eagles secure the victory.
Wright State took an early 12-9 lead before a 7-0 spurt for EMU gave the Eagles a 16-12 lead.
Eastern held the lead for the next four minutes before the Raiders used an 18-5 run to close the half and take a 38-27 advantage into the half.
Despite the 11-point halftime deficit, the Eagles came out hot in the second half, opening the frame on a 15-2 run to take a 42-40 lead.
Neither team led by more than four for the next 12 minutes as the teams traded buckets throughout the second half before EMU took its largest lead of the game at 84-77 when Arne Osojnik (Ljubljana, Slovenia/Dream City Christian) drilled a key three-pointer with 57 seconds left.
Wright State missed a trio of potential game-tying three-point attempts in the final 30 seconds.
Eastern moved to 6-5 overall while Wright State moved to 7-7 on the season.
Eastern Michigan was 29-of-58 (50.0%) from the floor and 9-of-23 (39.1%) from three-point range while Wright State was 31-of-60 (51.7%) from the field and 7-of-17 (41.2%) from deep.
Nelson's career-high 27 points topped his old mark of 24 against Detroit Mercy, Nov. 30.
Nelson's career-high 13 rebounds topped his previous career high of nine, set with DePaul against Marquette, Jan. 28, 2023.
Nelson equaled his career high with nine made free throws, last achieved against Detroit Mercy, Nov. 30.
Terry recorded his third game this season with at least six made three-pointers. Terry increased his scoring average to 16.8 points per game, leading the team.
Yusuf Jihad (Farmington Hills, Mich./North Farmington/Oakland) scored a season-high 11 points, including a big putback lay-up late in the second half, and played a season-high 25 minutes.
Jalin Billingsley (Cleveland, Ohio Lutheran East Georgetown) equaled his career-high with three assists.
Eastern held a 36-25 advantage on the glass, moving to 4-1 this season when out-rebounding its opponent.
The Eagles moved to 5-0 in games decided by five points or less.
Eastern Michigan travels to Davidson for a 2 p.m. game Saturday, Dec. 28.
