Saturday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Buffalo 80, Rhode Island Tech 64
Kent State 102, Cleveland State 95
Miami 76, Air Force 61
Toledo 90, Detroit Mercy 83
Little Rock 68, Ball State 62
Davidson 91, Bowling Green 87
No. 12 Louisville 106, Ohio 81
Recap courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Buffalo 80, Rhode Island Tech 64
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (4-0, 0-0 MAC) defeated the RIT Tigers (0-1, 0-0 Liberty League) at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon, 80-64. This is just the second time in their Division I era that Buffalo has started the season 4-0, the first came in 2018-19.
The Bulls' leader in scoring was Daniel Freitag as he scored a career-high 27 points. He got to the charity stripe 15 times as he knocked down 14 of his attempts. The last Bull to make at least 14 free throws in a game was Javon McCrea on Jan. 16, 2013, against Kent State when he went 15-for-15. Freitag added a game-high five assists to go with nine drawn fouls.
Noah Batchelor had another solid performance for UB as he scored 14 points with seven rebounds. He splashed in a career-high four three-pointers. He finished the day with a plus/minus margin of +33, a game high. Angelo Brizzi rounded out the Bulls who scored in double-figures as he added 10 points. Brizzi, Derrick Talton Jr. and Tim Oboh each led the team with two steals each.
Earning their collegiate debuts in the win were Matas Buteliauskas and Daniel Shao.
RIT jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in just the first minute of action. The Tigers managed to take three different leads on the afternoon, their last coming at 15-14 with 12:45 to go in the first half. The Bulls shifted their offense into high gear as they outscored the visitors, 36-13 to close the half. Headed to the locker room, the Bulls led, 50-28. The Bulls held RIT to just a 37.9 field goal percentage in the half.
The Tigers got the better of the Bulls in the second half as they outscored the home team, 36-30. RIT shot 56.5% from the floor in the second half as they started 8-for-9 from the floor. Buffalo's largest lead of the game came at the opening of the second half when they took a 52-28 lead on their opening possession. Despite the game tightening up, Buffalo held a healthy lead in the second half courtesy of scoring around the basket. The Bulls outscored the Tigers, 38-24, in the paint.
The Bulls are back in action on Tuesday evening as they host the Vermont Catamounts at 6:30 p.m.
Kent State 102, Cleveland State 95
Box Score
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. – Kent State Men's Basketball (3-1) posted their third straight win over the Cleveland State University Vikings on Saturday afternoon in their first game of The Greenbrier Tip-Off River Division. A high scoring affair, Kent State was able to outlast their regional rivals to earn their ninth straight victory over the Vikings.
Following a slight delay to adjust the event floor, the game tipped off around 1:20 p.m. Jahari Williamson opened the offense scoring the first 10 points for KSU. He and CSU's Dayan Nessah quicky led their teams with double-digits each. Following an early run and lead by the Vikings, the Golden Flashes responded with a 16-8 run over 4:57 to lead 30-29 with eight minutes left in the first half. The game slowed as the Golden Flashes and Vikings went blow-for-blow and foul-per-foul to close the first 20 minutes. Following a series of hard-fought possessions Kent State took a 44-41 lead into the break. Williamson had 19 of his 23 points in the first half. The second half began even with the Flashes and Vikings going 18-18 in the first eight minutes. With 10:20 to play Cleveland State tied the game 63 all. Kent State battled with cousins Rob Whaley Jr. and Delrecco Gillespie making hard drives to the rim. Gillespie, Williamson, and Medley all make clutch free throws down the stretch as Kent State ultimately had 46 FT attempts. The Blue and Gold out lasted CSU by a 102-95 final.
Kent State's 46 free throw attempts mark the third in program history for a single game and ended up a difference maker (34-46). The Flashes tallied over 100 points for the second time in four games in the win and are averaging 98.8 PPG. Five Flashes scored double digits on the way to 102: Gillespie (30), Williamson (23), Whaley Jr. (15) Cian Medley (13), and Morgan Safford (11). Safford is just 13 points away from 1,000 in his college career. Those five Golden Flashes are all averaging double digits per game.
Kent State will continue play in The Greenbrier Tip-Off on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 12:00 p.m. against Wright State University. This will be their second and final game of the event.
Miami 76, Air Force 61
Box Score
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Miami University men's basketball team (3-0) secured a 76-61 win over Air Force (0-4) at Clune Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Brant Byers totaled a game-high 18 points, while Evan Ipsaro (12) and Luke Skaljac (10) added double figures in scoring. Antwone Woolfolk led everyone on the floor with a career-high 13 rebounds and matched his career best with three blocks. Ipsaro led all players by matching the best assist total (seven) of his career, and Skaljac led the RedHawks in steals (two). Caleb Walker led the Falcons with 17 points.
Miami jumped out to an 18-8 lead thanks to a flurry of triples from Eian Elmer, Byers, Skaljac and Almar Atlason. The Falcons responded by cutting the deficit to just four points at 18-14 with 11:02 remaining in the first half. A transition three from Peter Suder, a layup from Byers and a pass from Trey Perry for a Kyle Waltz shot from beyond the arc pushed Miami's advantage back to double-digits at 26-15.
A pair of tip-in layups from Suder and Woolfolk, as well as Byers' second three of the first half, kept the RedHawks in front 38-26. Suder knocked down a jump shot with six seconds left to send Miami into the intermission with a 40-26 lead. Atlason's second three of the day, as well as back-to-back shots from downtown by Byers, pushed Miami ahead 51-35 with 15:53 to play.
The Falcons answered with a 14-2 run to cut the Miami lead to 53-49. Woolfolk's timely steal that led to him scoring a transition layup and a triple from the top of the three-point line shortly after propelled Miami to a 10-0 scoring run at 63-49. Skaljac contributed a three and a mid-range jumper during the scoring run.
A shot from behind the arch, a push shot off the backboard and a step-back jump shot from Ipsaro gave Miami a comfortable lead at 74-56 with under two minutes to play. Skaljac knocked down a jumper with 14 seconds remaining to help finish off the Falcons and give the RedHawks a 76-61 victory.
Miami returns home to host Mercyhurst on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
Toledo 90, Detroit Mercy 83
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 90-83 win over Detroit Mercy on Saturday afternoon in Savage Arena to improve to 2-2 on the season.
The Rockets showcased a balanced offensive attack with five players scoring in double figures. Freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. led the way with 20 points and seven assists, while junior Sonny Wilson added 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Senior Sean Craig and Austin Parks were equally impressive, each contributing 17 points with Parks going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field. Senior Kyler Vanderjagt also scored 11 points and grabbed five boards.
Detroit Mercy (1-3) was paced by Orlando Lovejoy's 18 points and TJ Nadeau's 15 points.
Toledo shot an efficient 52.5% from the floor and converted 21-of-30 free throws to help them withstand a late surge from the Titans.
The Rockets held a slim 41-37 lead at halftime and used a 6-0 spurt to take a 75-68 advantage with 5:04 to play. UT's lead didn't dip below five points the rest of the way.
Toledo will look to continue its winning ways when it hosts Youngstown State on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 7:00 p.m. at Savage Arena. Streaming will be on ESPN+.
