Saturday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Central Michigan 62, Bowling Green 59
UMass 70, Eastern Michigan 67
No. 24 Miami 85, Northern Illinois 61
Ohio 95, Buffalo 83
Toledo 73, Ball State 55
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Central Michigan 62, Bowling Green 59
Box Score
Recap coming soon…
UMass 70, Eastern Michigan 67
Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. -- The University of Massachusetts men's basketball team defeated Eastern Michigan, 70-67, on Saturday night at the Mullins Center (4,753).
The Minutemen (14-9, 5-6 MAC) led through most of the game, with the Eagles (9-13, 3-7 MAC) taking over the lead at 5:19 of the second half. UMass quickly reclaimed the lead and held on for their third win in the last four games.
Graduate student Leonardo Bettiol posted his fifth double-double of the year, putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds, and added a team-high three steals. Jayden Ndjigue totaled a career-best 19 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Ndjigue had four assists, while Danny Carbuccia tallied a team-leading six.
Eastern Michigan had four players in double figures with Gregory Lawson leading the way with 20. Mohammad Habhab posted 15 points and a team-best nine rebounds. Addison Patterson and Jon Sanders finished with 10 points apiece.
Danny Carbuccia, Marcus Banks Jr., Jayden Ndjigue, Leonardo Bettiol, and Daniel Hankins-Sanford started for the Minutemen.
The Minutemen jumped out to an early 9-2 lead including four points by Bettiol.
A Banks Jr., three at 13:04 pushed the UMass lead to 20-11. Luka Damjanac finished a layup to keep UMass in front by four, 22-18 at 9:20.
A pair of Ndjigue free throws broke a 22-22 tie at 7:05. Dwayne Wimbley Jr., found space down low and converted a layup for a 32-24 lead at 4:31.
K'Jei Parker closed the scoring in the first half with a pair of free throws, giving the Minutemen a 38-30 lad after 20 minutes of play.
Ndjigue scored four of UMass' first seven points i the second half and the Minutemen led 45-39 at 14:22.
Bettiol hit back-to-back shots to keep the Minutemen in front, 50-46, at the 11:28 mark. Jon Sanders hit a pair of free throws for Eastern Michigan to tie it at 55-55 with 6:55 to play in the second half.
Bettiol made a tough layup and completed the and one free throw at 5:04 to regain the lead, 59-57.
Ndjigue's layup at 2:16 gave the Minutemen a 63-59 lead.
After a layup from the Eagles, Ndjigue responded with his own to pull ahead 65-63 with 1:16 remaining.
Hankins-Sanford slammed home a Carbuccia pass for a 67-65 lead 39 seconds left and then Banks Jr. (one) and Parker (two) hit free throws to eventually win the game.
The Minutemen open February with a 7 p.m. home game against Central Michigan on Tuesday, Feb. 3 (tickets).
No. 24 Miami 85, Northern Illinois 61
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio– The undefeated Miami RedHawks were locked in a tight battle with Northern Illinois in the second half Saturday afternoon.
And then, all of a sudden, they weren't.
Trailing by five points with 15 minutes to play, No. 24/25 Miami closed the game on a dominant, lopsided, clinical, ridiculous, insert-your-adjective-here 38-9 run to pull away from the visiting Huskies for an 85-61 win and improve to 22-0 (10-0 MAC).
Brant Byers led five players in double figures for the Red and White with 21 points, while Peter Suder chipped in 19 points and Antwone Woolfolk added a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Miami turned up the defensive intensity after halftime, holding NIU (7-14, 3-7 MAC) to just 23 points over the final 20 minutes to claim their 28th-straight home victory and send a Millett Hall-record crowd of 10,640 home happy. The Huskies shot 50% from the floor before intermission but just 32% in the second half.
Miami led 11-9 ahead of the game's first media timeout before the visitors answered back with a 9-0 run to go on top. Northern Illinois stretched the margin to as much as 10 at 26-16 before the RedHawks responded with a 7-0 spurt, capped by a Justin Kirby three-pointer with 8:35 to play in the first half. Kirby then threw down a dunk on the next trip to bring the crowd to life and keep Miami close; the rookie finished with 10 points off the bench.
Still, NIU maintained its lead for much of the half before the RedHawks finally edged ahead 36-35. Byers scored the final five points of the period to help Miami take a slim 40-38 advantage to the locker room.
And pick it up, the RedHawks did.
It started with Suder, who stayed on the floor despite picking up his third foul a matter of seconds after halftime and scored the first six points for Miami after the break.
But even though the RedHawks led 46-45 at that point, NIU wouldn't go away. The Huskies scored the next half-dozen points to go ahead 52-47 with 14:44 to go.
Little did they know how quickly the game would turn.
Woolfolk had a lot to do with that, getting to the line on multiple possessions and then hammering a transition dunk to bring Miami within 52-51. ("He spearheaded us in the second half; he got us going," Steele said.) A minute later, the 6-9 senior forward kicked the ball out to Byers for an ensuing extra pass to Eian Elmer at the top.
Splash.
The crowd exploded, and the RedHawks would never trail again.
On Miami's next possession, a baseline out-of-bounds play triggered a four-point play for Suder, and the rout was on.
A driving layup for Woolfolk. A deep triple for Byers. And just like that, Miami had not only erased a deficit but grabbed a double-digit lead, all in the space of four minutes.
NIU wouldn't get closer than eight points the rest of the way, and —with 'MVP' chants raining down— Suder capped a dominant second half for the Red and White by burying a three-pointer on Miami's final possession to account for the 24-point final margin. Miami shot 56.7% from the field after halftime (17-of-30) after converting on 41.2 of its shot attempts in the first stanza, and forced a total of 17 NIU turnovers while only committing nine miscues of their own.
When the dust had settled, the RedHawks matched the lowest scoring total they've allowed any Division I opponent this season, and both Steele and Woolfolk were pleased with the progress on that end of the floor.
Miami will travel to take on Buffalo on Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
Ohio 95, Buffalo 83
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Ohio men's basketball team (12-11, 6-5 MAC) returned to action Saturday afternoon (Jan. 31), where the Bobcats were led by redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons with a career high-24 points, defeating Buffalo (14-8-4-6 MAC), 95-83, inside Alumni Arena.
Ohio was led by Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) with 24 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Simmons went 10-of-16 from the field and 4-of-7 from the line. Senior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) was next with 19 points and nine rebounds, playing most of the second half with four fouls. Freshman guard JJ Kelly (Chambersburg, Pa.) tied a career high 17 points, going 6-of-13 from the field and 2-of-7 from three, while senior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) added 16 points, dished out 11 assists and went 10-of-11 from the line.
Overall, Ohio shot 53 percent from the field, 5-of-19 from three and were 20-of-26 from the line, while Buffalo shot 55.8 percent from the field, 42.9 percent from three and were 19-of-27 from the line. Ohio outrebounded Buffalo 34-30, while the Bobcats dished out 19 assists to UB's 15. The Bobcats also forced 13 turnovers and scored 12 points off them, while the Bobcats only turned the ball over six times.
Buffalo got on the board first with a three, but the Bobcats would go on a 10-1 run with threes from Hadaway and senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) would help put Ohio up 12-8 going into the first media timeout. Out of the break, the Bulls would take a 14-12 lead, but a driving layup from redshirt freshman forward Kiir Kuany (Melbourne, Australia) would tie the game at 14-14 with 11:37 left in the first half. After a free throw from Kuany gave Ohio a one-point lead, the Bulls tied the game back up with one of their own. The Bobcats would then go on an 8-2 run with layups from Simmons and Hadaway and free throws from redshirt senior guard Dior Conners (Columbus, Ohio) to give Ohio a 23-17 lead entering the under-eight media break.
After Buffalo cut the Ohio lead to three, an 8-1 run from the Bobcats increased their lead to 33-22 with 4:47 remaining forcing UB to burn a timeout. Out of the break, the two teams traded baskets, with UB cutting the Bobcats' lead to 35-28 with 3:15 remaining in the half. After the Bulls cut the Ohio lead back to seven, a three from Sheldon and four points from Simmons put the Bobcats up 44-30 with a minute to go in the half. After a free throw from UB stopped the Ohio run, two more free throws from Kelly put the Bobcats up 46-31 headed into halftime.
At the half, Ohio shot 54.8 percent from the field, were 3-of-12 from three and were 9-of-12 from the line, while Buffalo shot 39.1 percent from the field, were 2-of-9 from three and were 11-of-15 from the line. Both teams pulled in 16 rebounds, while the Bobcats dished out 12 assists and forced seven Buffalo turnovers.
Simmons led Ohio at the half with 16 points and six rebounds, while Hadaway added nine points and five boards and Paveletzke added six points and six assists.
UB opened the half on a 4-0 run before Hadaway responded with a driving layup, followed by a fastbreak dunk to put the Bobcats up 50-35. The two teams continued to trade baskets over the next three minutes, with the Bobcats taking a 54-41 lead into the first media break. Out of the break, Buffalo would chip away at the Ohio lead, making it a six-point game with 12:53 to go before a driving layup from redshirt freshman guard Jesse Burris (Delaware, Ohio) gave the Bobcats an eight-point lead with 11:48 remaining.
After Buffalo cut the lead back to six, back-to-back layups from Hadaway and Simmons put the Bobcats back up 10. The two teams continued to trade baskets, with a jumper from Sheldon putting the Bobcats up 72-62 at the under-eight media timeout. Out of the break, free throws from Simmons and a three from Kelly put Ohio up 13, before a layup from the Bulls cut the Ohio lead to 77-66 with six minutes remaining.
After Buffalo cut the Ohio lead to seven, a three from Kelly put Ohio back up 10, but the Bulls matched it with a three of their own, sending the game to the final media timeout with Ohio leading 80-73. Out of the break, four-straight points from Hadaway and Paveletzke gave the Bobcats an 11-point lead. After free throws from Paveletzke and an offensive rebound and three-point play from Kelly, the Bobcats took an 89-76 lead with a minute to go. Buffalo would then match it with a three, however, Paveletzke and the Bobcats would hit their free throws down the stretch, securing the 95-83 victory.
Up next, the Bobcats return to Athens on Tuesday, Feb. 3 when Ohio hosts Western Michigan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+.
Toledo 73, Ball State 55
Box Score
TOLEDO, Ohio - Junior Sonny Wilson tallied a game-high 19 points and seven assists to lead the Toledo men's basketball team to a convincing 73–55 victory over Ball State in Savage Arena. The win moved the Rockets to 12–10 overall and 6–4 in the Mid-American Conference, while the Cardinals fell to 7–14 (3–6 MAC).
Senior Sean Craig delivered another solid all-around performance for Toledo, tallying 15 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. added 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Sophomore Jaylan Ouwinga also provided a spark off the bench with 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds, while junior Austin Parks tallied six points and tied his career high with five blocked shots.
Wilson set the tone early, scoring 13 points in the first half as the Rockets built a 39–27 halftime advantage. Toledo shot 57.7% in the first half and used a 14–4 run midway through the half to build a cushion they never relinquished.
Toledo held Ball State to just 31.4% shooting, the lowest by a Rocket opponent this season. The Cardinals made only 4-of-20 shots (20.0%) from behind the three-point arc and committed 14 turnovers.
Kayden Fish scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Cardinals offensively.
Toledo will host third-place Kent State (16-6, 7-3 MAC) on Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 7:00 p.m. The Rockets will then begin a three-game road stretch with a trip to Harrisonburg, Va. to face James Madison (10-11, 3-6 SBC) on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 4:00 p.m. UT will then visit Western Michigan (13-8, 4-5 MAC) on Wednesday, Feb. 11 and Bowling Green (8-13, 2-7 MAC) on Saturday, Feb. 14.
