Saturday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Bowling Green 80, Toledo 70
Central Michigan 88, Northern Illinois 46
Kent State 75, Ball State 68
Western Michigan 76, Eastern Michigan 62
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Bowling Green 80, Toledo 70
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team took down the Toledo Rockets Saturday (Feb. 14) in front of a packed Stroh Center, 80-70. The Falcons emphasized a strong defensive attack that held Toledo to just 39.1-percent from the field and 70 points. On the offensive end, Bowling Green was paced by Javontae Campbell's 19 points, followed by 16 from Josiah Shackelford and 16 from Sam Towns with Shackelford and Towns combining for seven of BGSU's 11 three-pointers. The win moves Bowling Green to 16-10 on the season while being 7-6 in the MAC, now tied for fourth in the conference standings with Ohio and Toledo, two teams the Falcons have topped.
Toledo won the opening tip and went on a 5-0 run, but the Falcons matched with a Javontae Campbell layup and a Sam Towns three. Toledo moved in front again with BGSU adding a Troy Glover II free throw. A three from Campbell made it 9-7 BGSU at the first media timeout.
Toledo tied it after the break, but a back-and-forth followed beginning with a Campbell three-pointer and then a Campbell layup. From there, Aiden Goins took over with an and-one, but a 7-0 Toledo run swung the score to them, 21-17, at the under-12 media break.
Out of the break, the first BGSU points came from a Josiah Shackelford tip-in. A free throw from Glover and a layup from Towns pulled the Falcons within one, 23-22. A UT jumper made it 25-22 at the under-8 break.
After the stoppage, Shackelford and Goins each made one at the line before a Goins layup to put the Falcons in front followed by two free throws from Goins for a 28-25 lead. Toledo made one at the line, but Towns answered with a three. A jumper from Mayar Wol made it a 33-26 Falcons at the final media timeout of the first half.
The back-and-forth continued after the break with field goals from Campbell and Wol for BGSU, but Toledo pulled within a possession, 37-35, with a 7-0 run at the halftime buzzer.
Justin Thomas opened the second half with a corner three for the Falcons. Glover kept the momentum going with a slam off a Campbell feed followed by another three, this time from Shackelford, for an 8-0 start to the half for BGSU. Toledo ended the run, but Shackelford answered with a quick layup. Both Shackelford and Towns added two free throws, stretching the Bowling Green advantage to 51-40 at the first media timeout of the second half.
Out of the break, Goins tallied two to begin a back-and-forth. Towns splashed a triple before a Campbell layup. Toledo worked for two three-pointers, but Shackelford answered with one of his own for a 61-48 lead at the under-12 media break.
Each team added a three after the timeout with Shackelford hitting BGSU's. Toledo worked for a 4-0 burst, but threes from Javon Ruffin and Towns were separated by a Campbell layup for an 8-0 BGSU run in response. Toledo made a jumper and called timeout with a 72-57 BGSU lead. Toledo worked for a 5-2 stretch out of the break with Campbell making a layup for the Bowling Green tallies, resulting in a 74-62 score at the under-8 media timeout.
Down the stretch, Thomas and Campbell added layups for the Falcons plus two at the line from Campbell to lead Bowling Green to the 80-70 Valentine's victory.
The Falcons will remain at home for their next game, hosting the Kent State Golden Flashes on Tuesday (Feb. 17) for a 7 p.m. tip at the Stroh Center. The theme at the Stroh will be Mardi Gras.
Central Michigan 88, Northern Illinois 46
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Central Michigan took control early in the game and built a 31-point first half lead in coasting to an 88-46 men's basketball victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday evening before 1,662 fans at McGuirk Arena.
The 42-point victory marked Central Michigan's largest-ever in its 52-year Mid-American Conference basketball history, surpassing two 35-point wins over Kent State (80-45 on Feb. 13, 1988) and Eastern Michigan (100-65 on Jan. 27, 2026).
Central Michigan held Northern Illinois to an opponent season-low 46 points and an opponent season-low 27.3 percent shooting. It was the fewest points scored by a MAC opponent against Central Michigan since Western Michigan managed just 42 in a 69-42 win on Feb. 17, 2024. The Huskies made an opponent season-low 15 field goals in 55 attempts.
With the win, Central Michigan improves to 8-17 overall and 4-8 in MAC play. Northern Illinois drops to 8-16 overall and 3-9 in the MAC. Six regular season games remain for Central Michigan, which is currently in ninth place in the MAC standings, one game behind Buffalo in eighth place at 5-7. The top eight teams advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament, March 12-14 in Cleveland.
Next up, Central Michigan travels to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a Tuesday night game at Eastern Michigan. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The game marked the final men's basketball contest between Northern Illinois and Central Michigan before the Huskies depart the Mid-American Conference.
Four Chippewas reached double-figure scoring led by Jaxson Whitaker with a career-high 19 points. Starting in place of Logan McIntire, who did not play, Whitaker hit a career-high five 3-pointers and six field goals. Nathan Claerbaut finished with 16 points and 7-12 shooting in 27 minutes of action. Keenan Garner registered his third career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Phat Phat Brooks contributed 10 points and five assists.
The win avenged a 74-73 loss at Northern Illinois, which CMU led by 19 points early in the second half.
Central Michigan built its largest halftime lead of the year at 29 points with a 51-22 advantage. The Chippewas allowed just 22 points, the fewest allowed in a half this year (previous was 24 vs. Olivet in the first half. On offense, CMU was just as dominant as the Chippewas shot 73.3 percent (22-30) from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from 3-point range.
Central Michigan started out on fire as it converted its first six field goals to take a 14-2 lead at the 16:47 mark. CMU used a 7-0 run fueled by two Brooks layups and a Whitaker 3-pointer to go up 12-2. The Chippewas used another 7-0 run to go up 21-7 at the 13:19 mark as Whitaker hit a 3-pointer, Garner scored on a layup, and Mullen added a layup.
The Chippewas then put together a 12-0 run to take a commanding 33-12 lead at the 7:03 mark. Claerbaut started the run with a layup, Whitaker followed with two free throws, Garner added a layup, Adley threw down a dunk, Claerbaut and Adley finished off the run with jumpers.
CMU led by as many as 31 points with four seconds left in the first half and took its 29-point lead into halftime.
In the second half, Central Michigan held NIU to just 24 points.
Central Michigan started Nathan Claerbaut at center, Keenan Garner at forward, Phat Phat Brooks, Tamario Adley, and Jaxson Whitaker at guards.
Kent State 75, Ball State 68
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. – Kent State Men's Basketball (19-7, 10-3 MAC) earner a 75-68 victory over Ball State University on Saturday afternoon at Worthen Arena. The Golden Flashes controlled the tempo throughout, building a double-digit halftime lead before weathering a second-half push from the Cardinals.
Kent State opened strong, jumping out to an early 6-3 advantage on a pair of three-pointers from Morgan Safford and Jahari Williamson. The Flashes maintained their edge through the opening 20 minutes connecting on six triples. Delrecco Gillespie paced the attack with 13 first-half points while Quinn Woidke provided a spark off the bench, drilling three three-pointers including a technical foul shot sequence that gave Kent State a 29-21 cushion. Woidke led as the Flashes took a 40-31 lead into the locker room. Ball State opened the second half aggressively, trimming the deficit to three points on multiple occasions behind a barrage of free throws from Davion Hill and Armoni Zeigler. The Cardinals pulled within 53-50 with just over 11 minutes remaining after a Juwan Maxey three-pointer. The Blue and Gold responded with poise down the stretch. Safford knocked down a crucial three to push the lead back to six, and Rob Whaley Jr. converted a pair of layups in the final minutes to keep Ball State at arm's length. Cian Medley iced the game with a late three-pointer, and Gillespie sealed the victory with a block on Hill's final attempt earning seven-point
Gillespie dominated the interior once again, posting his 20th double-double of the season with 22 points and 14 rebounds. He now has double-doubles in 20 of Kent State's 26 games, continuing to lead the nation. Whaley Jr. provided efficient scoring with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Williamson and Safford each added 12 points. Woidke's three three-pointers off the bench proved crucial in building the first-half cushion. Medley stuffed the stat sheet with eight rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks while running the offense. Kent State shot 69.6% from the free-throw line and dominated the boards 42-33.
Kent State will return to play in three days' time as they travel to Bowling Green State University. Tip-off between the Golden Flashes and Falcons is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the Stroh Center.
Western Michigan 76, Eastern Michigan 62
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. – Trailing by five points at halftime on Saturday in Ypsilanti, the Western Michigan men's basketball team found itself in nearly the same exact situation to its first meeting of the season with Eastern Michigan when it headed into the locker room with a six-point deficit. That day, the Broncos outscored EMU 49-26 in the second half to earn a 79-62 comeback victory. The Brown and Gold pulled the same maneuver again on Saturday, outdueling the Eagles 48-29 after the break to collect a 76-62 road win and complete the season sweep over Eastern Michigan for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
Brady Swartz made four three-pointers and led Western Michigan (9-16, 3-9 MAC) with 16 points, while EJ Ryans chipped in 13 points. The trio of Swartz, Jayden Brewer and Michael Sulaka collected a team-leading seven rebounds apiece to help the Brown and Gold own a 45-29 edge on the glass, their largest rebounding advantage against a MAC foe this season.
As it was in the first meeting between the two teams back on Jan. 10, Eastern Michigan (9-17, 3-10) got out on the front foot early, racing out to a 19-5 start. At 24-12, the Broncos rattled off 13 in a row to wipe out EMU's lead and take a 25-24 edge. The Eagles countered with a 9-3 stretch to take a 33-28 advantage into halftime.
The second half played out in similar fashion to the first game as well, with WMU hitting 6-of-9 second-half, three-pointers on the way to outscoring the Eagles 48-29 after the break. Eastern Michigan maintained a small lead until a nine-point burst put the Brown and Gold in front, 48-44, just past the halfway mark of the period. The Eagles fought back to make it a one-possession game on multiple occasions, but Western Michigan pushed its advantage into double-digits with a 7-0 run to make it 63-53 with five minutes to play. EMU got no closer than seven the rest of the way, and the Broncos iced the game from the free throw line, hitting all eight of their free throw attempts in the final two minutes.
WMU shot 39.3 percent (24-of-61) from the floor, 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range and 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the charity stripe. Eastern Michigan made 40.7 percent (24-of-59) of its field goal attempts.
Western Michigan returns to University Arena on Tuesday evening to take on Akron at 7 pm. For tickets to any WMU men's basketball home game, visit wmubroncos.com/tickets.
