Wednesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Buffalo 63, Ball State 53
Bowling Green 68, Northern Illinois 52
Kent State 95, Eastern Michigan 91
Toledo 90, Western Michigan 79
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Buffalo 63, Ball State 53
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – The University at Buffalo men's basketball program (15-10, 4-7 MAC) swept the season series against the Ball State Cardinals (8-16, 3-8 MAC) on Wednesday night with a 63-53 win. This marked the first time the Bulls swept the Cardinals in a season since the 2021-22 season.
Tim Oboh has Ball State's number this season as both his 20-point performances this year have been against the Cardinals. Oboh was 8-for-10 from the floor while going 4-of-5 from the free throw line. He added a game-high eight rebounds. He set a career-high four blocks on the night.
Angelo Brizzi scored 17 points with Ryan Sabol adding 12. Kyle Jones played over 17 minutes for the first time since November and he had a solid defensive performance. He grabbed four boards while snatching a pair of steals in the win.
For the third time this season, the Bulls held their opponents to 53 points. They also did so against DePaul (Nov. 11) and Canisius (Nov. 29), all of which coming on the road.
The Bulls captured the early momentum in the contest as they were 5-of-6 to start the game. Leading 12-10, they added to their lead courtesy of an 8-0 run to go up 17-10 after a Kyle Jones made free throw. They extended the lead to 20-11 following a Brizzi three. The Bulls hit a cold spell from the floor as they missed eight straight field goals as the Cardinals found themselves back in the game. Sabol got the Bulls out of the cold stretch as he capitalized on a Talton steal to extend their lead to 26-22. The Cardinals had the ball in the final possession of the first half, but a failed three-point attempt gave the Bulls the 30-27 halftime lead.
Out of the break, Buffalo pushed their lead to 38-30 with just under 17 minutes left in the second half. A quick 5-0 run by Ball State narrowed their margin to three, but that was as close as the game would get. Sabol buried a three-pointer to get Buffalo's lead to 48-39 with 12 minutes to go. Every time the Cardinals made it a two possession game, the Bulls had an answer. Sabol iced the game as he made both free throws on the one-and-one as they took home the 63-53 win.
Bowling Green 68, Northern Illinois 52
Box Score
DeKALB, Ill. - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team got back in the win column Wednesday night (Feb. 11) with a 68-52 road victory over the Northern Illinois Huskies. The Falcons put together a dominant first half, holding NIU to 19 points, to spark a 19-point halftime lead. Bowling Green rolled that momentum into the second half, growing the lead as large as 25 over the course of the game. The win marks the fourth consecutive over NIU for the Falcons, moving Bowling Green to 6-6 within the MAC this season and 15-10 overall going into Saturday's (Feb. 14) Battle of I-75 at the Stroh Center.
Northern Illinois won the opening tip, but a Javontae Campbell steal forced an early turnover. It wasn't until nearly two minutes into the game, the clock at 18:14, for the first points coming from two NIU free throws.
The Falcons went to work from there with a 10-0 run. Campbell tallied back-to-back layups to start the run. A Troy Glover II block on the defensive end turned into a Glover slam on the offensive end off a Campbell lob. Towns worked in with a layup before slamming down a second Campbell lob, this time off a Campbell steal, for a 10-2 BGSU lead and an NIU timeout.
BGSU kept the run going out of the break with Campbell locating Aiden Goins for a layup. The Huskies ended the run with a three, sparking a 5-0 burst to cut into the lead. Goins restarted BGSU's scoring with two at the line for a 14-7 score at the under-12 media timeout.
After the timeout, Justin Thomas made two free throws to add to BGSU's lead. Mayar Wol drained a three to push the run to 5-0, but NIU matched from behind the arc. Thomas swung momentum back to the Falcons with a slam off an offensive board. Towns later added a jumper to keep the BGSU lead at 23-14 with the action pausing for the under-8 media break.
Soon after the timeout, Josiah Shackelford swiped a steal and slammed down a two-handed dunk in transition. Glover later followed with an and-one to push the Bowling Green lead to 28-16 at the final media timeout of the first half.
Wol worked for a 5-0 burst on his own after the stoppage before the next NIU basket, but he went back to work with another 5-0 run, making it a 10-2 stretch of Wol versus the Huskies. NIU tallied a free throw for the last point of the half, sending the teams to the locker room with a 38-19 BGSU lead.
Towns tallied Bowling Green's first points of the second half with a layup, but it came as part of a 7-2 NIU stretch to begin the half. Wol ended the run with a transition slam off an outlet pass from Shackelford. Campbell followed with a layup the next time down for a 44-26 Falcon advantage at the first media timeout of the second half.
Out of the timeout, Campbell sank two at the stripe for BGSU. He followed with a steal and score and then a three-pointer for a 7-0 run on his own. NIU ended the run, but a Campbell inbound lob to Shackelford for a layup followed. The Huskies added back-to-back layups before the under-12 media timeout for a 53-33 BGSU lead.
Northern Illinois tallied the first points out of the break, but Thomas matched with a layup to keep the BGSU lead at 20. Glover added one at the line before an NIU three, but a Thomas jumper again kept the BGSU lead at 20. From there, a three from Javon Ruffin and a layup from Goins made for a 5-0 BGSU run and a 63-38 lead at the under-8 media timeout.
After the stoppage, NIU added two at the line. Shackelford made one for BGSU, but an NIU layup followed. The back-and-forth continued with a Thomas swipe and slam for the Falcons, making it a 66-44 score at the final media timeout in regulation.
Goins registered a layup for the Falcons, but NIU registered an 8-0 run down the stretch to narrow the gap to the 68-52 final score.
The Falcons will return home to the Stroh Center on Saturday (Feb. 14) for the second leg in the Battle of I-75. The game will be an Orange Wave for BGSU along with the Bird Reveal for the mascots following the game.
Kent State 95, Eastern Michigan 91
Box Score
KENT– Kent State Men's Basketball (18-7, 9-3 MAC) utilized a surging second half against Eastern Michigan to secure a 95-91 victory on Wednesday night. Morgan Safford poured in a career-high 23 points while going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line to lead the Golden Flashes past the Eagles. He along with four other Flashes dropped double-digits. The game featured 11 ties and 17 lead changes as both teams traded blows throughout the contest.
Eastern Michigan shot a scorching 64.52% from the field in the first half, with Addison Patterson leading the charge. The Eagles' hot shooting allowed them to build a 47-40 halftime advantage despite Kent State connecting on six of 13 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Kent State came out with renewed energy to start the second half, cutting into the deficit early. The Golden Flashes pulled even at 70-70 on a Cian Medley jumper with 6:55 remaining, capping an impressive comeback. The teams exchanged leads over the next several minutes with neither squad able to pull away. Jahari Williamson gave Kent State a 73-72 lead on a three-point play with 6:04 to go, converting all three free throws. Quinn Woidke provided a crucial three-pointer with 3:51 left to extend the Kent State lead to 80-77. After Eastern Michigan's Mohammad Habhab tied it at 80-80, Woidke converted two free throws to put the Flashes up 82-80 with 2:56 remaining. Safford then gave the Golden Flashes breathing room with a jumper in the paint and a free throw pushing the advantage to 87-83 with 1:36 to play. Kent State made 11 of its final 12 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. Medley added two free throws with 1:15 remaining to extend the lead to 88-83. After Green pulled EMU within three at 88-85, Safford converted four straight free throws over the final 41 seconds to ice the game.
Safford led the way with a Kent State career-high 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. He was a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe. Gillespie notched his still nation leading 20th double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds while going 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. Williamson matched Gillespie's 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting, connecting on 3-of-6 from three-point range. Medley added 13 points, five rebounds and a game-high 10 assists for the Flashes. Woidke contributed 13 points off the bench, going 2-of-3 from deep.
Kent State is back on the road this weekend at Ball State University. Tip-off is scheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 14 at 2:00 p.m. in Muncie, Indiana
Toledo 90, Western Michigan 79
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Toledo used a balanced scoring attack and efficient shooting to earn a 90–79 road victory over Western Michigan on Wednesday evening. The victory moved the Rockets (13–12, 7–5 MAC) into a fourth-place tie in the Mid-American Conference standings with Ohio (13-12, 7-5 MAC) and was UT's 16th straight victory over the Broncos.
Six Rockets scored in double figures with junior Sonny Wilson's 18 points leading the way as Toledo shot a blistering 59.3% from the field and never trailed in the second half. The Rockets' 90-point performance marked their second-highest scoring output in MAC play this season.
Also scoring in double digits were junior Austin Parks (17 pts.) on 8-of-9 shooting, senior Sean Craig (13 pts.), sophomore Jaylan Ouwinga (11 pts.), freshman Leroy Blyden Jr. (10 pts.), and sophomore Mynor Strong (10 pts.).
Justice Williams topped the Broncos with a game-high 22 points.
Western Michigan (8–16, 2–9 MAC) knocked down six three-point field goals early to take an 18-11 lead just over five minutes into the contest. The Rockets rallied quickly and tied the score at 21-all on Kyler Vanderjagt's three at the 12-minute mark.
Wilson's back-to-back baskets four minutes later gave Toledo 30-27 lead and an advantage it never relinquished. Blyden's triple at the end of the half gave the Rockets a 50-41 cushion.
WMU trimmed its deficit to five early in the second half but couldn't get any closer.
The Rockets travel to Bowling Green on Saturday, Feb. 14 for a 5:00 p.m. matchup in this season's second installment of the Battle of I-75 sponsored by Fremont Credit Union.
