Tuesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 91, Toledo 81
Buffalo 89, Bowling Green 79
Central Michigan 100, Eastern Michigan 65
No. 24 Miami 86, UMass 84
Kent State 72, Ohio 57
Northern Illinois 85, Western Michigan 65
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 91, Toledo 81
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - Down 49-41 at the half, the Akron men's basketball team scored 50 points while holding Toledo to 32 in the second half to secure a 91-81 victory at James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday night.
With the win, Akron has secured 27 consecutive wins at the JAR. The Zips have also been victorious over Toledo in four straight games.
Akron (17-4, 8-1) had five players score in double figures, led by Tavari Johnson, who had 25 points, seven assists and two steals. Amani Lyles tacked on 19 points and four assists, Eric Mahaffey helped out with 13 points and eight rebounds off of the bench, Evan Mahaffey had 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals while Zach Halligan scored a career-high 10 points while adding four rebounds and a career-high three steals.
Johnson has scored 20 ore more points in five consecutive games, the second time this season he's recorded that feat. Lyles has also scored in double figures in 16 consecutive games.
Akron out-rebounded Toledo 37-25 in Tuesday's game, paced by Evan Mahaffey's nine boards. The Zips also collected 17 offensive rebounds and scored 20 second chance points.
Akron forced 15 Toledo turnovers while committing 12 themselves in Tuesday's game. The Zips turned those takeaways into 17 points on the other end of the floor. Zach Halligan led the way individually with three steals.
After falling behind 19-17, Akron went on a 6-0 run with 13:39 left in the first half to take a 23-19 lead. The Zips then surrendered that lead and entered halftime down 49-41.
Akron came out of halftime clicking on all cylinders, going on an 8-0 run to even the score at 49 all with 15:55 to go in the contest. The Zips kept the rally going and took the lead for good on Shammah Scott's layup with 03:44 left to grab the 91-81 victory. Akron took care of business in the paint, recording 34 of its 50 points in the lane.
Akron stays at the JAR as rivial Kent State comes to town on Friday, January 30, for a 6 p.m. start. The rivalry game will be featured on CBSSN.
Buffalo 89, Bowling Green 79
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – In dominant fashion, the Bulls (14-7, 4-5 MAC) picked up an 89-78 road victory over the Bowling Green Falcons (13-8, 4-5 MAC) on Tuesday evening.
Ryan Sabol keeps moving up the Buffalo all-time scoring list as he finished with 22 points to move into 20th place with 1,080 points in the blue and white. He passed Mitchell Watt (2008-12, 1,061), Jeremy Harris (2017-19, 1,062) and Harold Kuhn (1949-52, 1,065). Ronaldo Segu (2018-22) is currently 19th all-time with 1,115 points. Sabol also added five assists.
The Bulls finished with five players in double figure scoring for just the third time this season with Angelo Brizzi (14), Tim Oboh (13), Derrick Talton Jr. (13) and Daniel Freitag (12) joining Sabol. Oboh snatched a team-high seven boards.
The Buffalo offense shot 55.8% from the field including 53.8% from three-point range. The Bulls rattled home 14 three-pointers, tying a season high.
The Bulls had an efficient first half as they were 15-of-25 (60.0%) from the floor, including 7-of-13 (53.8%) from three-point range. The Bulls quickly got out to a 5-0 lead, which they held until Bowling Green went ahead, 14-11 with 14:42 to go in the half. The three points would be the Falcons' largest lead of the night. The Bulls slowed down Bowling Green's offense as Buffalo would retake the lead. A 20-7 run by Buffalo forced a Falcons' timeout with 6:35 left in the half as they trailed 31-21. At the half, the Bulls led the Falcons, 39-32.
As Bowling Green started to come back in the game, Talton went on an 8-0 run by himself in just over 90 seconds. In that span he also drilled a pair of threes to give the Bulls a 61-51 lead. Buffalo controlled the majority of the game, but a short lapse in the second half allowed Bowling Green to take a 64-63 lead with 7:21 left in regulation on a 10-0 run. This was their first lead since 19-12 with 12:06 to go in the first half.
With the Stroh Center crowd erupting, Sabol quieted the home fan base with a corner three that also drew the foul to put the Bulls in front, 67-64 with 6:58 remaining. The Bulls led for 34:39 as they went on to snatch the victory from Bowling Green, 89-78.
The Bulls are back in action on Saturday as they host the Ohio Bobcats at 2 p.m.
Central Michigan 100, Eastern Michigan 65
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—A dominating 17-0 second half run opened a closely contested game and Central Michigan went on to tie its school record for largest-ever win against a Mid-American Conference opponent with a 100-65 men's basketball victory over Eastern Michigan Tuesday evening at McGuirk Arena.
The 35-point victory tied the school's standing MAC victory margin record set on Feb. 13, 1988 vs. Kent State (80-45). The win also marked Central Michigan's largest-ever in its 208-game series vs. Eastern Michigan. The last time Central Michigan scored 100 points against a MAC opponent was on Feb. 3, 2018 vs. Ohio (101-98 double overtime win).
Next up, Central Michigan hosts its highly anticipated Toilet Paper Toss when it plays Bowling Green on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET. The contest marks the fourth consecutive year that CMU has hosted a Toilet Paper Toss.
Six Central Michigan players reached double figure scoring led by Logan McIntire, who scored a game-high 19 points on 5-10 3-point shooting. Tamario Adley scored 18 points, dished out a team-high six assists and grabbed five rebounds, Nathan Claerbaut scored 17 points (7-14 FG) with eight rebounds, Phat Phat Brooks contributed 14 points (6-7 FG) with four assists, Keenan Garner added 12 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and Jalen Kampen came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points (4-5 FG).
Central Michigan outscored Eastern Michigan 62-29 in the second half. The Chippewas outrebounded the Eagles 33-25, outscored the Eagles 27-4 on points off turnovers, hit 9-19 3-point shots, and scored 21 fast break points to EMU's five.
Leading by three points, Central Michigan went on its 17-0 run to take a 61-41 lead with 11:33 to play. The Chippewas converted four straight free throws, two by Adley and two by Garner, and followed that up with three straight 3-pointers from Brooks and two by McIntire. Then Garner scored on a gritty offensive rebound putback and Claerbaut followed with a dunk after taking a pass from Garner to give CMU its largest lead of the game at 20 points, 61-41. During the five-minute stretch, the Chippewas held the Eagles scoreless and forced three Eagles turnovers during that stretch.
From that point on, the Chippewas had total control of the game. CMU extended its lead to as many as 38 points (100-62) with 57 seconds to play.
Led by Claerbaut's 11 points and Brooks' 10 points, Central Michigan took a 38-36 lead into halftime. With the score tied at 33-33, McIntire hit a 3-pointer for a CMU lead, then he fed Garner for a layup and 38-33 lead with 25 seconds. But EMU's Addison Patterson finished off a 3-point play to cut the margin to two points at the break.
Eastern Michigan hit back-to-back 3-pointers by Mak Manciel and Gregory Lawson to take a 23-17 lead 8:55 to go in the first half. The Eagles went up 31-26 on a layup by Aidan Rubio.
But the Chippewas answered with a 6-0 run and took the lead, 32-31, on a steal and dunk by Tamario Adley. Brooks started the rally with a driving layup, Adley hit two free throws, and then followed them with his dunk.
Manciel sparked Eastern Michigan in the first half as he led the Eagles with 15 points on three 3-pointers. He scored just one point in the second half and finished with 16. Lawson added 14 points and Patterson contributed 13.
It marked Central Michigan's second 100-point game of the season. The last time CMU scored over 100 vs. Eastern Michigan was on March 1, 2003, a 106-89 home win vs. the Eagles.
Central Michigan has now won four of its last five games against Eastern Michigan. The win improves Central Michigan to 6-15 overall and 2-7 in the MAC, while Eastern Michigan drops to 9-12 overall and 3-6 in the MAC. The Chippewas improve to 5-4 in home games.
No. 24 Miami 86, UMass 84
Box Score
Recap coming soon…
Kent State 72, Ohio 57
Box Score
KENT – Kent State Men's Basketball (16-5, 7-2 MAC) tallied their seventh MAC victory on Tuesday evening winning decisively over the Ohio University Bobcats by a final score of 72 to 57. Morgan Safford, Delrecco Gillespie, and Magnus Entenmann all recorded double-doubles as the Flashes pulled away down the stretch for their largest margin of victory in a conference win this season.
After a start that saw both teams toss up early bricks, the Flashes got out to a slight lead thanks to Gillespie, Safford and a bench three from Entenmann. Turnovers were the theme in the first half with Ohio taking advantage to tie the game at 18 in with eight to play in the first. Kent State retook a lead with Quinn Woidke and Cian Medley drawing key fouls. Dezmon Briscoe pulled in a pair of important boards in the closing minutes of the first half. The first 20 minutes closed with KSU leading 28-24. The Flashes were off to a fast start in the second half increasing their lead to 36-28 forcing an Ohio timeout. With 7:11 to play Ohio tied the game back up at 48 all. With 5:26 to play Medley drew an and one that turned into a four-point swing for the Flashes after an added technical foul on Ohio head Coach Jeff Boals. Entenmann and Gillespie allowed for the Flashes to take control on the glass down the stretch as they opened the lead up to 11 points with 2:13 left to play. Safford grew his total to be the leading scorer on free throws as the game came to a close.
Three Kent State players recorded a double-double for the second time this season as Morgan Safford (18 points, 10 rebounds), Delrecco Gillespie (15 points, 12 rebounds), and Magnus Entenmann (12 points, 10 rebounds) lit up the score sheet. For Safford it was his first of the season, and for Entenmann his career first. Gillespie continues to lead the nation tallying his 18th in 21 games. Cian Medley dropped 13 points while dishing out eight rebounds. Kent State is 22-4 when Medley has five or more assists. With the victory KSU has beaten Ohio in back-to-back games.
Kent State will renew their series with the school down the road this Friday, Jan. 30. Tip-off between the Golden Flashes and Zips is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. inside James A. Rhodes Arena. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.
Northern Illinois 85, Western Michigan 65
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. – Four players scored in double figures as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball downed Western Michigan, 85-65, on Tuesday night (Jan. 27) at the NIU Convocation Center. Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) led the way with 21 points, Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) and Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) each scored 16 points while Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) added 10 points and eight assists.
NIU shot 50 percent (32-of-64) from the field, including 50 percent (15-of-30) from three-point range. The Huskies shot 57.1 percent (20-of-35) from the floor in the second half, which included 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three. NIU recorded 19 assists with just nine turnovers.
NIU (7-13, 3-6 MAC) scored the first 10 points to open the contest as Valentine connected on a pair of triples in the opening four minutes.
Western Michigan (8-13, 2-7 MAC) netted the next six points before a triple from Ducommun pushed the Huskie lead back to seven, 13-6, with 13:40 to play in the half.
Ducommun made seven triples in the contest, the most in a game by a Huskie since David Coit made eight on Nov. 25, 2023, at DePaul.
The Huskies used an 8-0 burst to take a 21-8 lead just past the midway point of the opening stanza. Cobb opened the run with a floater before Daemar Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills) and Valentine added triples. Western Michigan responded with the next seven points, trimming the NIU lead to 21-15 with 7:48 left in the opening 20 minutes.
A triple from Walters started a 9-2 spurt for NIU as Isaiah Washington (Fayetteville, N.C./Winston-Salem Christian) added an old-fashioned three-point play and Ducommun knocked in a corner triple, off a feed from Cobb, as the Huskies took a 30-17 lead with just over four minutes to play before the intermission.
Walters and Hassan 'Tre' Washington (Providence, R.I./Prise Academy) each finished with eight rebounds.
NIU's lead was 11 before Western Michigan scored the final six points of the half, trimming the Huskie lead to 35-30 at the break. Valentine led all scorers with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes, Brady Swartz and Justice Williams each had seven to lead the Broncos.
The hosts opened the second half on an 11-3 run as Walters made three-straight buckets for the Huskies, Ducommun added a triple and Cobb scored off a turnover as NIU pushed its lead to 46-32 with 14:55 to play.
The Broncos were back within 10 after a pair of free throws, but Valentine made a long two to jumpstart a 10-0 run for NIU. Ducommun added a pair of triples, sandwiched around a basket from Cobb, as the Huskie lead grew to 60-40 midway through the second half.
Following a Western Michigan timeout, Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) added a bucket as the run grew to 12-0.
The Broncos used an 8-3 burst to trim the Huskie lead to 65-48 with a little over seven minutes to play, but that is as close as Western Michigan would get as the Huskies cruised to a 20-point victory.
Swartz finished with 16 points for the Broncos, Williams and Trey Lewis each added 10 points.
NIU will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 31, when the Huskies travel to Oxford, Ohio, to face 24th-ranked, and undefeated, Miami. Tip-off against the RedHawks is slated for 2:30 p.m. CT.
