Tuesday’s Men’s Basketball Results
Akron 90, Western Michigan 73
Eastern Michigan 66, Central Michigan 54
Kent State 78, Bowling Green 71
No. 22 Miami 86, UMass 77
Northern Illinois 72, Buffalo 70
Ohio 69, Ball State 57
Recaps courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 90, Western Michigan 73
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, MIch -The Akron men's basketball team got a 32-point performance from the bench on the way to a 90-73 win against the Western Michigan Broncos on the road Tuesday.
The Zips (21-5, 12-1) had four players score in double figures, led by Tavari Johnson, who had 17 points and six assists. Evan Mahaffey added 14 points and Shammah Scott chipped in as well with 14 points and four assists off of the bench.
Akron grabbed 43 rebounds in Tuesday's game compared to Western Michigan's 27, led by Amani Lyles' nine boards. The Zips also put in work on the offensive glass, turning 13 rebounds into 10 second chance points.
Akron did a great job disrupting Western Michigan shots in the contest, coming away with five blocks. Eric Mahaffey led the way individually for the Zips with two rejections.
After jumping out to a 22-15 advantage, Akron went on a 12-0 run with 10:50 left in the first half to increase its lead to 34-15. The Zips then maintained that lead and entered halftime with a 53-34 advantage. Akron relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down eight shots to account for 24 of its 53 points.
The Zips then held on for the victory in the second half. Akron took care of business in the paint, recording 24 of its 37 points in the lane.
Akron stays on the road as it battles Ball State on Friday, February 20, for a 6:30 p.m. start. The Zips and Cardinals will be featured on CBS Sports Network.
Eastern Michigan 66, Central Michigan 54
Box Score
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team topped in-state rival Central Michigan University, 66-54, Tuesday, Feb. 17, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center in Mid-American Conference action as the squad looks to make push toward March's MAC Tournament, which will see eight teams qualify.
Godslove Nwabude (Anambra State, Nigeria/Mt. Zion Prep (Md.)) scored a career-high 16 points to go with six rebounds and three blocked shots in a game that Eastern led for 37:55.
Gregory Lawson II (Saginaw, Mich./Oak Cliff Academy) poured in 17 points behind three made triples while Mohammad Habhab (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn/Central Michigan) recorded his 10th double-double with 11 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
Addison Patterson (Mississauga, Ontario/Bella Vista College Prep/Northwestern State) added 11 points, five assists, four rebounds, and three steals in his 15th-straight game scoring at least 10 points.
Eastern made its first five field goals in the opening minutes, causing a CMU timeout with the score at 12-4.
The Eagles took an eight-point lead into the locker room at half, leading 35-27.
EMU kicked off the half on a 14-3 run which gave the Eagles a 19-point, 49-30 lead with 15:33, its largest of the game. Central then went on a 15-2 to bring the score to 51-45, Eagles.
The Eagles remained in the lead throughout the rest of the game and snapped their eight-game losing streak with a 66-54 home victory over the Chippewas.
Eastern travels to the University of Toledo for a Saturday game, Feb. 21, at 5 p.m. The game is on ESPN+ and will be held in Toledo, Ohio, inside Savage Arena.
Kent State 78, Bowling Green 71
Box Score
Recap coming soon…
No. 22 Miami 86, UMass 77
Box Score
AMHERST, Mass. – Peter Suder recorded a game-high 23 points, while three other RedHawks scored in double figures as the Miami University men's basketball team (26-0, 13-0 MAC) seized an 86-77 victory at UMass Tuesday night. Isaiah Placide had a team-high 19 points for the Minutemen (15-12, 6-8 MAC). With this win, the Red and White set a new school record of 26 wins in a single season.
Suder opened the contest with eight early points, as he got to the free-throw line, scored a mid-range jumper and knocked down a three to give the RedHawks a 13-4 lead. Deep shots on back-to-back possessions from Justin Kirby and Trey Perry kept Miami in control at 19-11. The Minutemen answered by closing in on the lead, as they made it a 22-18 ballgame with 10:46 remaining in the first half.
Numerous layups from Suder, Eian Elmer and Almar Atlason kept the RedHawks ahead 30-25. Perry got to the free-throw line and added a shot off the glass to stay ahead of UMass 34-28. A shot from near the logo by Brant Byers, as well as free throws from Byers and Elmer, sent Miami into the break with a 41-36 advantage.
Luke Skaljac backed his way into the paint for a layup and sank a turnaround jumper the next possession to fend off the Minutemen coming out of halftime. UMass closed within just one point at 48-47. The Red and White responded with an 8-1 run, as Byers and Suder each put in a shot from behind the three-point line to fuel Miami to a 56-48 lead. UMass evened the score at 60 apiece and claimed its first lead of the game at 62-60 with 9:24 to play.
Atlason buried a deep three from the left wing and scored a traditional three-point play the following possession to separate from the Minutemen at 67-63. With just over seven minutes to play, UMass evened the score for the last time at 68-68. A corner triple from Elmer, as well as a pair of interior shots from Suder, one of which he was fouled on, kept Miami ahead 76-70. The RedHawks closed out the game by making 8-of-10 from the free-throw line to leave the Mullins Center with an 86-77 victory.
The Red and White shot 50% or better from the field (26-of-52) for the 20th time this season and recorded under 10 turnovers (seven) for the 10th time this season.
Miami is 13-0 in conference play for the first time in program history.
The RedHawks scored 14 points off turnovers, whereas the Minutemen totaled just three. Miami recorded nine fast-break points, while UMass didn't score any points in transition.
Elmer, Suder and Woolfolk each contributed two steals. Skaljac's seven assists were the most of the game. The Red and White had 33 attempts from the free-throw line, in comparison to just 16 attempts from the hosts.
Miami returns to Millett Hall to host Bowling Green on Friday, Feb. 20 at 8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Northern Illinois 72, Buffalo 70
Box Score
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Gianni Cobb (Chicago, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) netted a career-high 23 points and Dylan Ducommun (Geneva, Switzerland) recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 assists as the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team topped Buffalo, 72-70, on Tuesday night (Feb. 17) at Alumni Arena.
NIU (9-16, 4-9 MAC) shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field in the second half, including 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from three-point range, as the Huskies erased a six-point halftime deficit. Makhai Valentine (Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley) and Taj Walters (Bronx, N.Y./Moravian Prep) each added 11 points while Gustav Winther (Roskilde, Denmark) added 10 points.
NIU opened the second half on an 8-0 run as Hassan 'Tre' Washington (Providence, R.I./Prise Academy) opened the scoring in the paint before Cobb and Ducommun each knocked in a triple, giving the Huskies a 37-35 lead and forcing an early Buffalo timeout.
The Huskie lead grew to five, 45-40, on a trifecta from Valentine 14:13 to play. NIU's lead was a half-dozen before four-straight points for Buffalo trimmed the lead to just a pair, 47-45, with just under 13 minutes left.
A pair of free throws from Valentine and a bucket from Cobb gave NIU an eight-point lead, 56-48, just past the midway point of the half.
After Buffalo trimmed the lead to four, Walters knocked in a triple and Winther scored off an offensive rebound, giving the visitors a 63-54 lead with a little under seven minutes remaining.
Winther finished the contest 5-of-5 from the floor while Walters grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Buffalo (15-11, 5-8 MAC) scored the next five to cut the Huskie advantage to 63-59 with just over four minutes left.
Triples from Valentine and Ducommun, sandwiched around a Buffalo basket, helped the NIU lead grow to 71-63 with 2:27 to play. NIU made 13 three-point field goals in the contest.
The Bulls scored the next seven, cutting the NIU advantage to just one with a little over a minute remaining.
A pair of empty trips for the Huskies and an empty trip for Buffalo meant the Bulls had the ball with less than 20 seconds to play, trailing by one. A jumper in the paint rimmed out and Cobb grabbed the rebound before being fouled with 2.1 seconds left.
The sophomore guard split a pair of free throws, giving Buffalo one more chance. Out of a timeout, the Bulls threw the ball the length of the floor for a shot from 17 feet that fell short as the Huskies came away with the road victory.
Angelo Brizzi finished with a game-high 25 points for Buffalo; Ryan Sabol added 24 points for the Bulls.
Cobb netted five points in the opening four minutes of the contest as the Huskies and Bulls went back-and-forth in the early going.
Buffalo used a 7-2 burst to take a 16-12 lead with just over 12 minutes to play in the opening half.
A triple from Valentine evened the game at 18 just past the midway point of the half, but Buffalo responded with the next seven as the Bulls took a 25-18 lead with 7:57 to go before the intermission.
A pair of free throws from Cobb and a triple from Ducommun cut the Buffalo lead to just a pair, 25-23, with 5:55 to play in the half. NIU was within one, 27-26, after a second triple from Ducommun.
The Bulls answered with the next eight to increase their lead to 35-26, forcing a Huskie timeout with three minutes left in the half. Out of the timeout, Cobb made a triple to cut the Buffalo lead to 35-29 heading into the intermission.
The Huskies will return home on Saturday, Feb. 20, when they host Ohio at 2 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. Tickets are available now at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.
Ohio 69, Ball State 57
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio men's basketball team (14-13, 8-6 MAC) got back in the win column Tuesday night (Feb. 17) inside the Convocation Center against Ball State (8-18, 3-10 MAC). A gritty game that included a 23-2 Ohio run, resulted in a 69-57 win in favor of the Bobcats.
As a team, the Bobcats shot 42.3 percent from the field with eight made threes. Ohio forced nine turnovers against Ball State, while grabbing 34 rebounds.
Senior forward Aidan Hadaway (Lafayette, Ga.) and senior guard Jackson Paveletzke (Kimberly, Wis.) combined for the team lead in scoring with 18 points each. Hadaway would also lead the team with eight rebounds while Paveletzke tallied a game-high eight assists. Senior guard Ajay Sheldon (Dublin, Ohio) was the other Bobcat to reach double figures as he recorded 12 with three made threes. Redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons (Columbus, Ohio) contributed to the win in a number of different ways with nine points, five rebounds and two assists.
The Bobcats got the scoring started in dramatic fashion as Hadaway lobbed the ball up to Kelly, who converted the basket with a one-handed alley-oop slam. After five minutes, Ohio and Ball State were tied at nine.
After an extended scoring drought, the Bobcats caught fire to end the half, outscoring Ball State 23-2 across the final 7:13 of the half. In that span, the Ohio defense forced five turnovers while its offense knocked down five total threes to take a double-digit lead into the half.
Kelly, Hadaway and Sheldon combined for three-straight threes during the scoring run while the team scored five field goals off an assist.
At halftime, Hadaway led the Bobcats with 10 points, including two threes as well as a team-leading four rebounds. Ohio led Ball State 32-15 at the break.
The Bobcats continued to be consistent on both ends of the floor in the second half as they maintained their double-digit lead at 40-30 with under 12 minutes to play.
Back-to-back possessions with a three, thanks to Sheldon and Hadaway, would help keep the Bobcats in front as time ticked down in the half. Despite the Cardinals cutting it to single digits, Ohio roared back to take a 51-38 lead with 8:14 to go.
The two teams would trade baskets through the closing minutes of the half, but the Ohio defense was too good for Ball State to mount any sort of comeback. Going into the game's final three minutes, Ohio held onto a 62-51 lead.
The Bobcats held on in the game's final minutes to take the win 69-57.
Next up, the Bobcats will go on the road for a rematch with Northern Illinois this Saturday, February 21. That game will tipoff at 3 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN+.
