Thursday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Ball State 84, Mansfield 54
Buffalo 83, Green Bay 76
Kent State 110, Cornell 102
Miami 129, Trinity 49
Wisconsin 97, Northern Illinois 72
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State 84, Mansfield 54
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The Ball State men's basketball team scored 36 of the game's final 44 points to cruise to an 84-54 win over Mansfield on Friday night at Worthen Arena.
The Cardinals (2-0) closed strong for the second straight game after also doing so in Monday's win over Louisiana.
Leading 48-46 with 11:57 to play in the game, Ball State clamped down on defense and got the offense going to dominate the final 12 minutes of the contest. Davion Hill's fast break layup with 8:49 on the clock gave the Cardinals a double-digit lead at 58-48, and they would cruise from there.
Junior Armoni Zeigler paced the hosts with 20 points, nine rebounds and five steals while going 8-for-11 from the field and 4 of 4 at the free throw line. Hill followed with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Hill's brother David is a guard for the Mountaineers who scored two points in the game.
Joining Zeigler and Hill in double figures for the Cardinals were Elmore James IV (11 points), Cam Denson (10 points, six rebounds) and Devon Barnes (10 points). Kayden Fish chipped in seven points, while Juwan Maxey tallied four points, four rebounds and three assists.
A trio of Ball State student-athletes made their collegiate debuts, including Jai Anthoni Bearden and Easton Foster who both made field goals. Preston Copeland grabbed a pair of rebounds in five minutes of court time.
The hosts won the battle of the boards 42-33 and enjoyed a 50-28 advantage in points in the paint. Ball State committed fewer turnovers (21-13) than Mansfield and also had more points off turnovers (25-11), fast break points (19-6) and bench points (29-10) on the night.
The Cardinals shot 50.8 percent (32-63) from the field, 26.1 percent (6-23) on 3-pointers and 51.9 percent (14-27) at the charity stripe. The Mountaineers were limited to 37.7 percent (20-53) on field goals including 11.1 percent (2-18) from distance.
Ball State will next play Wisconsin on Tuesday night for its first road game of the regular season. The Badgers are ranked No. 24 in the preseason AP poll.
Buffalo 83, Green Bay 76
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team (2-0, 0-0 MAC) defeated the visiting Green Bay Phoenix (0-2, 0-0 Horizon) on Friday evening, 83-76. With the win, the Bulls are 2-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Derrick Talton Jr. and Daniel Freitag led the Bulls offensively with 21 and 20 points. Talton finished 9-of-13 from the floor while adding four assists and four rebounds. Freitag's 20 points were a career high. In just a little over 14 minutes of action, Tim Oboh had a solid outing with 12 points and four rebounds. He also drew a game-high eight fouls.
The Phoenix managed to stay in the game as they were 11-of-27 from deep as the Bulls were just 6-of-16.
Despite getting outscored from three-point range, the Bulls dominated the paint as they scored 36 points down low to Green Bay's 24.
Buffalo grabbed nine offensive rebounds to Green Bay's four which translated to the Bulls outscoring the Phoenix, 12-2, in second chance points.
The Bulls led for 14:13 in the first half in the tight contest. Their biggest lead in the half reached six points with 9:10 left as Oboh made a free throw. With under four minutes to go in the half, the Phoenix grabbed a 26-24 lead as they made a three. The Bulls fought back to regain the lead as they closed the half on an 8-2 run. Noah Batchelor splashed in a three-pointer with 9-seconds before the halftime horn to put the Bulls in front, 32-28.
The Bulls nearly led for the entire second half as the Phoenix snatched the lead for 2:41. After Freitag opened the half with a pair of free throws, Green Bay went on a quick 7-0 run in just over a minute that forced a UB timeout. Trailing, 35-34, the Bulls retook the lead after a Talton fast break layup. Talton stayed hot as he went on a 6-0 run himself to push Buffalo's lead to 44-37. The lead vanished quickly as Green Bay's Caden Wilkins knocked down three straight threes to give them a 46-44 lead. At the 11:59 media timeout, the Bulls trailed 48-47, but after a pair of Freitag free throws, the Bulls gained the lead and never looked back. Buffalo's lead reached 11 points with just over three minutes remaining. Green Bay fought back, but the Bulls put the game on ice as they went 6-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes.
The Bulls are back in action on Tuesday as they'll hit the road for the first time this season to play the DePaul Blue Demons (2-0, 0-0 BIG EAST).
Kent State 110, Cornell 102
Box Score
KENT – The Kent State Men's Basketball team (1-1) tied a single game program record dropping 18 three-pointers on their way to 110 points to defeat Cornell University and earn their first win of the season on Friday night. 110 to 102 was the final score as the Golden Flashes shot 53.6% from the floor in a what became a track meet early in the contest.
Kent State exploded out of the gate going a 12-3 in the opening five minutes. Cornell started to close the gap before the Golden Flashes went back to work with a driving layup from Delrecco Gillespie, and a three from Cian Medley. With just over 11:00 to play in the first half, the Big Red brought the game to six points with a trio of threes. The triples continued to fall for both teams well into the first half with the Golden Flashes and Big Red combining for 113 points in the first 20 minutes. KSU took the lead into the half 58-55. The Blue and Gold opened the second half with 13-2 run. Despite leading by as much as 14 with just over 11:00 minutes to play, Cornell stayed red hot from beyond the arch. The Golden Flashes kept their foot on the gas as Medley, Gillespie, and Omer Hamama made key plays on both sides of the floor to pull away in the closing minute. Kent State earned the 110 to 102 win.
Kent State's 18 threes tied a single game program record set on Nov. 23, 2013, as the Flashes defeated USC Upstate at home 79-78. It is also the most points the Blue and Gold have scored in a game since last season's 105-65 blowout win over Toledo on Feb. 25, 2025. KSU scored 58 points in the first half, and 52 in the second to edge the Big Red. Morgan Safford's 34 points were the most he has scored in a Kent State uniform. He is 33 points away from 1,000 collegiate career points. Omer Hamama made his first collegiate start at point guard in the ballgame going on to tally a new career best 10 assists in just 19 minutes played. Gillespie tallied his second double-double in as many games dropping 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Medley rode a trio of threes to 12 points for his first double digit performance of the season. Whaley Jr.'s 10 points achieved in the closing minutes have him sitting at double digits in back-to-back games.
Kent State will have a quick turnaround as Monday, Nov. 10 will see the UNC Wilmington Seahawks come to town to continue the non-conference schedule. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Miami 129, Trinity 49
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio– The Miami University men's basketball team placed seven players in double figures en route to a dominant 129-49 win over Trinity Christian Friday night. Kyle Waltz led the RedHawks (2-0) with 23 points, while Tyler Robbins contributed a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. The game served as an exhibition for the visitors, who remain 1-1 on the year.
Miami started with a quick 7-0 run after Almar Atlason buried a three-pointer and Peter Suder and Brant Byers followed with inside baskets. Atlason drilled his second triple of the game to force a TCC timeout at 12-2. A 14-3 burst later in the half, including 10 points from Waltz, pushed the score to 31-7.
Three-pointers by Eian Elmer, Robbins and Byers in a span of just over two minutes put the Red and White ahead 42-13 with eight minutes remaining in the period. A Trey Perry layup and a pair of buckets from Peter Suder capped a 15-0 run and gave the home team a 34-point cushion. Robbins added two late baskets and Evan Ipsaro got to the rim on back-to-back possessions to end the half and put Miami on top 59-22 at the break.
The RedHawks picked up where they left off after intermission with a four-point play from Atlason. A driving baseline dunk by Byers made it 73-26, and consecutive three-pointers by Waltz and Elmer expanded the lead to 82-30 at the under-12 media timeout.
A run of shots from behind the arc by Eli Yofan, Luke Skaljac, Ipsaro and Perry helped Miami reach the century mark at 100-36 with 8:50 to play. Perry continued to hit from downtown, knocking in back-to-back threes to make it 106-38.
A Robbins three-point play put Miami up 117-43 with under four minutes to go. Brady Ganley hit Miami's 21st and final three-pointer of the night to give the RedHawks a 126-49 advantage. Three free throws from Ethan Wright accounted for the last points of the game, giving Miami an 80-point win (the third-largest margin of victory in program history).
Miami shot a blistering 70% from the three-point line (21 of 30, tied for the fifth-highest percentage in Miami history), and 11 different RedHawks made at least one three-pointer.
With 21 threes knocked down, the RedHawks' shooting performance ranks as the third best all-time in Miami program history.
The RedHawks posted their second-highest scoring total in program history (141 points vs. Defiance on Dec. 30, 2024).
With 51 total boards, Miami topped the 50-rebound mark for the first time since December 2023 vs. Wilberforce.
Miami finished the game shooting 68.3% from the floor (43 of 63, the third-highest percentage in Miami history).
Atlason led the Red and White with six assists, while Ipsaro had a game-high four steals.
The RedHawks won their 17th consecutive home game.
Miami travels to Air Force next Saturday, Nov. 15 to take on the Falcons. Tip time in Colorado Springs, Colo. is set for 2 p.m. ET.
