Saturday's Men’s Basketball Results
Bowling Green 101, UMass 100 (OT)
Buffalo 85, Ball State 72
Kent State 77, Northern Illinois 73
Miami 76, Akron 73
Ohio 68, Eastern Michigan 67
Toledo 78, Central Michigan 75
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Bowling Green 101, UMass 100 (OT)
Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team took the UMass Minutemen to overtime behind a spectacular game from Javontae Campbell Saturday (Jan. 3). Trailing by three with 10 seconds left in regulation, Campbell drew a three-point foul, making all three attempts at the line despite UMass' efforts to ice him with a timeout. After forcing overtime, Campbell and the Falcons rallied to a thrilling 101-100 overtime win over UMass behind Campbell's 47 points, tied for the fifth-most in program history, the most since 1964 and the most ever by a Falcon in a road game. The win moves Bowling Green to 11-4 on the season while being 2-1 to begin MAC play.
Javontae Campbell started the scoring in the game with a layup followed by a UMass three. Javon Ruffin made one at the line for an early 3-3 tie. The Minutemen sank a pair of threes with a Campbell layup separating the baskets for a 9-5 score. A jumper from Wol kept the back-and-forth going, but UMass answered in similar fashion. Ruffin hit the first three for the Falcons followed by a UMass layup for a 13-10 Minutemen lead at the first media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Josiah Shackelford went to the line, making one. Campbell worked for an old-fashioned three-point play the next time down, putting the Falcons in front, 14-13, at the under-12 media timeout.
UMass started the scoring out of the break, but a Shackelford jumper matched. Makhi Leach added a layup, increasing the BGSU lead, but back-to-back UMass buckets swung the score back to the Minutemen. Sam Towns responded with a layup, reclaiming the lead for the Falcons, 20-19, with the lead continuing to change hands going into the under-8 media break.
Towns jumpstarted the scoring after the pause with a second-chance layup. UMass matched with two at the line, but Aiden Goins tallied two at the stripe as well. A layup for Campbell stretched the BGSU lead to five, but UMass answered with a 6-0 run to push ahead 27-26 at the final media timeout of the first half.
The run reached 8-0 for UMass after the timeout with a Campbell layup ending the burst. The Minutemen made two at the line with Campbell matching one for a 31-29 score. Campbell added a layup with just under two minutes left in the half to tie it up, 31-31. Campbell broke the tie with two at the line to grant the Falcons the lead, but a three for UMass pushed them back in front. A Campbell free throw tied it up once again, 34-34, giving him BGSU's final 10 points of the half with the score holding to the midway point.
Campbell started the second half scoring with a layup, but UMass responded with a bucket to keep it tied. Campbell kept it going with back-to-back layups, stretching his scoring run to 16 points for the Falcons and the BGSU lead to 40-36.
The Minutemen hit a three before a Wol jumper, ending the Campbell scoring run for BGSU. Two more from Campbell, this time at the line, followed one UMass free throw for a 44-40 score. A back-and-forth followed with a Wol alley-oop dunk off a Campbell pass separating five UMass points for a 46-45 score at the first media timeout of the second half.
The Minutemen tied it up at 46-46. Campbell worked for a layup, but a UMass three answered. Wol matched with a triple of his own, putting the score at 51-49 BGSU. The Wol three sparked an 8-0 BGSU run with Shackelford converting an and-one before a Wol dunk, forcing a timeout from UMass with a 56-49 BGSU advantage. After the timeout, UMass hit a pair of threes with a Towns basket between to narrow the gap to 58-55 at the under-12 media timeout.
Each team added a free throw after the pause with Shackelford knocking down Bowling Green's. Campbell later sank two more free throws for the Falcons. Towns hit one as well before a 7-0 UMass run to push ahead, 63-62, at the under-8 media timeout.
The run for the Minutemen reached 12-0 with a 68-62 score. Shackelford went up-and-under for a layup to end the run, but UMass answered with a layup of their own. The teams went to the line, extending the score to 72-67 at the under-4 media timeout with BGSU's three all coming from Campbell.
UMass made one free throw after the break before two from Wol. UMass worked for a jumper to keep the back-and-forth going, but a three from Wol closed the gap to a possession, 75-72. The Minutemen tallied a basket with a timeout, up 77-72 with just over a minute remaining. UMass added a bucket after the break, but a three from Ruffin cut the score to 79-75 with a BGSU timeout. The Minutemen hit two at the line, but a three from Campbell cut the score down to 81-78 with another BGSU timeout.
UMass made one free throw, but an and-one for Campbell trimmed the deficit to one, 82-81. UMass made a pair at the line, but Campbell drew a goaltending call to stay within one. UMass went back to the line for two followed by BGSU's full timeout with the score at 86-83. Campbell drew a three-point foul, making the first two before a UMass timeout. After the break, Campbell made another to tie it up at 86-86, forcing overtime.
Ruffin started the overtime scoring with a triple to quickly put the Falcons in front. Two at the line from Campbell extended the lead before UMass and Wol traded threes for a 94-89 score.
Each team added a layup with Towns making Bowling Green's. UMass made two at the line to pull back within a possession, 96-93, before a three tied it up at 96-96. Wol broke the tie with a tip-in to put the Falcons back on top. Campbell followed with two at the line for a 100-96 advantage. The Minutemen drove for a layup before fouling the Falcons. Shackelford made one before a UMass jumper to pull within one, 101-100.
The Falcons will continue their road trip on Tuesday (Jan. 6), heading to Kent State for a 7 p.m. tip against the Golden Flashes. From there, Bowling Green will return home to host Akron on Jan. 9 for a nationally televised game in the Stroh Center, scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.
Buffalo 85, Ball State 72
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – To open the 2026 calendar year, the University at Buffalo men's basketball team (13-2, 3-0 MAC) defended Alumni Arena against the Ball State Cardinals (4-10, 0-2 MAC) on Saturday afternoon. With the decisive 85-72 win, the Bulls improved to 3-0 in Mid-American Conference play for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 2018-19.
Tim Oboh's superb sophomore campaign continued on Saturday. The Englishman scored a career-high 21 points with five rebounds and a pair of blocks. He finished 8-of-10 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Ryan Sabol scored a game-high 22 points, burring four threes. On the season, the Bulls have now had 16 20-point performances, matching last season's total.
Angelo Brizzi and Noah Batchelor had exceptional nights from the floor as they finished with 15 and 12 points, respectfully.
Buffalo's offense continues to fire on all cylinders as they shot 56.9% from the floor. For the fourth consecutive game, the Bulls have made at least 10 three-pointers. They were 10-for- 22 (45.5%) on the afternoon. In this four-game span, they're 47-for-107 from deep, good for 43.9%.
Ball State won the opening tip and scored on their possession. The 2-0 lead was the only lead of the game for the Cardinals. The Bulls then rattled off a 13-0 run in a four-minute span as they shot 5-for-6 to start the game. Buffalo's defense was stifling, holding Ball State to just 32.0% (8-for-25) from the field in the first half. The Bulls forced nine first half turnovers leading to seven points. Prior to the halftime horn, Sabol snatched a defensive rebound and went coast to coast as he made a contested layup to put the Bulls in front 41-25 at the half.
Buffalo's balanced attack in the second half sealed the deal. In the second half, they shot 65.2% (15-for-23) from the floor and 62.5% (5-of-8) from three-point range. 18 of the Bulls' 34 points in the paint came in the second frame courtesy of Oboh, Batchelor and Brizzi. Ball State tightened up their offense, as they shot 46.7% from the floor in the half with just three turnovers, but it was too little too late. Buffalo launched their lead to 24 halfway through the period. The Bulls won on Kids' Day, 85-72.
The Bulls finished with six dunks on the afternoon, marking a season best.
Buffalo's +12 in points in the paint tied a season-best from when they did so against Green Bay on Nov. 7th.
The Bulls are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 10th when they travel to Athens, Ohio to face the Ohio Bobcats at 2 p.m.
Kent State 77, Northern Illinois 73
Box Score
KENT – Kent State Men's Basketball (11-3) moved to 2-0 in Mid-American Conference play on Saturday afternoon defeating the Huskies of Northern Illinois University by a final score of 77-73. The Golden Flashes were able to overcome a difficult shooting day to stay just a ahead of NIU down the stretch.
The Blue and Gold took control out of the gate with cousins Delrecco Gillespie and Rob Whaley Jr. combining for a quick 14 points. Despite finding many good looks from deep the lid stayed on the rim for the Golden Flashes well into the first half. KSU was stonewalled at 22 points as Northern Illinois began to chip away at the lead. The Flashes were able to start heating up with under six minutes to play in the first with Morgan Safford making their first three of the game at the 4:37 mark. Though Kent State took a 47-29 lead into the break, the Huskies came out hot to start the second frame going on a 13 to 0 run to close the game to within 10. NIU's Makhai Valentine carried the Huskies as they closed the game to five points with 12:30 remaining. NIU ultimately outscored Kent State 47-30 in the second half. The Golden Flashes made several key stops while taking advantage of clutch free throws from Gillespie and Quinn Woidke to hang on for the 77-73 victory.
Saturday's win marked the fifth straight for Kent State over Northern Illinois. The win was also number 299 for Kent State Men's Basketball Head Coach Rob Senderoff as he closes in on a milestone. Gillespie led the Flashes in scoring putting up 28 for his eighth time leading KSU in scoring this season and his 13th game in double-digits. His cousin Rob Whaley Jr. tallied 16 points for his seventh double-digit performance of the season. He was just three points shy of his career high (21). The final Golden Flash to join them on the scoresheet in double-digits was Woidke with 10 points. He continues to lead Kent State's newcomers averaging 9.9 points per game.
Kent State will host the Falcons of Bowling Green State University on Tuesday, Jan. 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. inside the M.A.C. Center.
Miami 76, Akron 73
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio – The Miami University men's basketball team (15-0, 3-0 MAC) edged past Akron (10-4, 1-1 MAC) for a 76-73 win at Millett Hall on Saturday. Brant Byers poured in a game-high 26 points and Eian Elmer followed closely behind with 19 points of his own. Luke Skaljac and Antwone Woolfolk also added 11 points each. Tavari Johnson led the Zips with 22 points.
Woolfolk opened the contest by scoring the first five points for the RedHawks after putting in a layup and three free throws to give Miami a 5-2 lead. Peter Suder found Byers for a triple plus the foul, and Skaljac added a physical layup to push the RedHawks ahead 11-7. The Zips answered by taking an 18-11 lead with 12:51 remaining in the first half.
An Elmer three-pointer and a soaring layup from Byers brought Miami right back into the fight at 20-18. The Zips looked to pull away once again at 28-20 before Elmer threw down a one-handed transition dunk and made his second three of the game to bring the crowd to its feet at 30-25. Skaljac and Woolfolk each put in a shot from behind the three-point line to trail by just one at 32-31. Byers ended the half with a pair of free throws to head into the break trailing 36-33.
Miami opened the second half by outscoring Akron 10-5 to regain the lead at 43-41 after Byers and Elmer sank a pair of deep shots. Byers went on to get fouled from the three-point line, putting in each free throw, and added a tip-in shot to hold on to the lead at 48-46. Two free throws and another three from Elmer kept the RedHawks on top at 53-51 with just over 12 minutes of action to go.
Akron went on to take the lead, but Byers and Woolfolk added two more threes to keep it close at 62-61. Down 67-63, Skaljac knocked down two free throws and a three to reclaim a 68-67 lead. Suder scored a shot off the glass on the next possession to make it a three-point game at 70-67. With the score at 71-70 in favor of the RedHawks, Akron had the opportunity to even the score but missed a free throw. The Zips came no closer, as the RedHawks went on to secure a 76-73 victory to remain undefeated.
Miami hosts Western Michigan on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. inside Millett Hall.
Ohio 68, Eastern Michigan 67
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Despite being down 20 points early in the second half, the Ohio men's basketball team (8-7, 2-1 MAC) battled the entire way back Saturday afternoon (Jan. 3), with senior guard Jackson Paveletzke hitting the game-winning three as time expired against Eastern Michigan (7-8, 1-2 MAC) to send the Bobcats back to Athens with the 68-67 win.
With five seconds to go and with Eastern Michigan up two, the Eagles missed two free throws setting up a defensive rebound from senior forward Aidan Hadaway, and the Bobcats stormed down the court, Paveletzke pulled up with 0.2 seconds remaining with two EMU players in his face, draining the basket at the buzzer for the Ohio win.
Overall, Ohio shot 43 percent from the field, 26 percent from three and were 11-of-15 from the line, while Eastern Michigan shot 40 percent from the field, 44 percent from three and were 18-of-27 from the line. EMU outrebounded the Bobcats, 38-35, while the Bobcats recorded seven steals, forced 11 turnovers and dished out nine assists.
Redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) led the Bobcats with 15 points, going 5-of-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from the line. He also added six rebounds in the win. Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) added 14 points, going 5-of-11 from the field, 2-of-5 from three and 2-of-2 from the line, while Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) added 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) added nine points, three three-pointers and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Elijah Elliott (Orlando, Fla.) scored six points and had three rebounds and redshirt freshman guard Jesse Burris (Delaware, Ohio) added five points.
The Bobcats got on the board first with a layup from Simmons, before EMU went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 lead with under 15 minutes to play in the half. After EMU went up 10, a layup from redshirt freshman forward Kiir Kuany (Melbourne, Australia) stopped the run from the Eagles to cut the deficit to eight at the under-12 media timeout. The Ohio offense was unable to get in a flow out of the break, before a three from Burris stopped the Ohio scoring drought going into the final media timeout. Out of the timeout, EMU capitalized on free throws, taking a 32-15 lead into the break.
At the half, Ohio shot 24 percent from the field, seven percent from three and were 2-of-3 three from the line, while EMU shot 36 percent from the field, 25 percent from three and were 12-of-14 from the line. EMU outrebounded Ohio, 22-15 and forced nine Ohio turnovers, scoring 11 points off them.
EMU opened the half with a three, however, a 7-0 run from the Bobcats with a three from Sheldon cut the Ohio deficit down to 13 early in the half. After the two teams traded baskets and free throws, back-to-back threes from Sheldon cut deficit to 42-34 with 15 minutes to go in the game. Ohio continued to chip away, with a three-point play from Simmons and a driving layup from Elliott cutting the Ohio deficit to six. However, EMU countered with a three to take a 52-43 lead going into the ender-12 media timeout.
After EMU took a nine-point lead, the Bobcats kept chipping away. After a layup from Hadaway, five-straight points from Simmons followed by a three from Paveletzke gave the Bobcats their first lead since the opening minutes of the game with just over six minutes to go. A free throw from Simmons put Ohio up two, before a four-point run from EMU put the Eagles back up two going into the final media timeout.
Out of the timeout, a three from Hadaway cut the deficit to one before a three from EMU put the Eagles back up five, however Paveletzke connected on a floater, cutting the EMU lead to three with under a minute to go. After another basket from Paveletzke cut the deficit to two, the Bobcats fouled with five seconds to go. EMU went on to miss both free throws, allowing Hadaway to get the rebound, setting up Paveletzke to drain the three as time expired to send the Bobcats home with the 68-67 win.
Up next, the Bobcats are back in Athens on Tuesday, Jan. 6 when Ohio hosts new MAC member UMass. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on CBS Sports Network.
Toledo 78, Central Michigan 75
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Senior Kyler Vanderjagt poured in a season-high 23 points and Toledo rallied from a 16-point deficit for a second-straight game en route to a gritty 78–75 road victory at Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon in McGuirk Arena. The victory kept the Rockets (8-6, 2-0 MAC) unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play, while the Chippewas (4-11, 0-3) remained winless in the league.
Vanderjagt powered the Toledo comeback, scoring 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting, knocking down two triples and converting 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. The Grand Rapids, Mich. native played at CMU last year before transferring to Toledo.
Junior Austin Parks recorded his second double-double of the season with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds
. Junior Sonny Wilson also tallied 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Rockets erased a 10-point halftime deficit by shooting 52% from the field in the final 20 minutes, outscoring the Chippewas, 47–34, after the break. Wilson's layup put Toledo in front, 66-64, with 5:41 remaining, its first lead since taking a 6-2 advantage early in the contest. The Rockets never trailed the rest of the way with Wilson's two free throws securing the win with 6.9 seconds left.
Phat Phat Brooks led CMU with 17 points, with Logan McIntire adding 15 points.
Toledo will remain on the road to face Northern Illinois (5-9, 1-2 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 6. The Rockets will then return home to host Miami (15-0, 3-0 MAC) on Friday, Jan. 9 and Ohio (8-7, 2-1 MAC) on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
