BUFFALO 85, WESTERN MICHIGAN 76
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 86, BOWLING GREEN 78
TOLEDO 84, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 59
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Buffalo Bulls (11-12, 5-5 MAC) defeated Western Michigan (6-17, 2-8 MAC) on Saturday afternoon, 85-76.
In the victory, Curtis Jones recorded his second 30-point performance of the season. LaQuill Hardnett and Isaac Jack both recorded double-doubles. This marked Hardnett's sixth double-double of the season finishing with a career-high 27 points with 15 boards. Jack scored 10 and grabbed 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season.
Tray Maddox Jr. led Western Michigan with 21 points. Lamar Norman Jr. notched 19, while Titus Wright added 11 and Tafari Simms contributed 10 off the bench.
Entering the game, Western Michigan was the best rebounding team in the MAC, averaging 38.6 rpg, with Buffalo second (38.5 rpg). The Bulls, however, dominated the glass, outrebounding the Broncos, 41-28. 14 of the Bulls' rebounds were on the offensive end. That led to 18 second chance points.
Buffalo was slow out of the gate as it started the game with five turnovers in its first seven possessions. However, UB picked up momentum as it fashioned a 32-24 lead with under five minutes left in the half. The Bulls then got hot in the final 6:00 of the half, outscoring WMU 14-3. UB led 39-27 at the half.
Buffalo outrebounded the MAC's top rebounding team, 21-12 in the first 20 minutes. This included seven offensive boards leading to seven points. They also held Norman, who averages over 18 points per game, scoreless in the first stanza.
Buffalo stayed hot to start the second half as they extended its lead to 17, UB's largest lead of the day, less than three minutes into the half. For a good portion of the period, the teams were trading basket for basket, but Seth Hubbard knocked down a three to cut Buffalo's lead to nine with over nine minutes to go. Hardnett made a clutch three-pointer with 4:20 remaining to hush the Broncos' crowd. In the closing minutes, the Bulls went 8-for-10 from the free throw line to secure the win.
Jones was 5-for-11 from three-point range, tying his career-high in threes. He has now scored a three in 21 of the 23 games on the season including having at least three three-pointers in 13 games this season.
By MIKE SMITH
ATHENS, OH -- Ohio connected on 51.9 percent of its shots after intermission to pull away from Miami in the second half and post a 78-68 win over the RedHawks at the Convocation Center.
It was the 10th win in 11 home games for Ohio, which raised its record to 4-6 MAC, 12-11 overall. Miami dropped its sixth straight, falling to 1-9 MAC, 7-16 overall.
Jaylin Hunter, who hit three of Ohio's four triples on the day, led the Bobcats with 23 points. He made 8-of-12 from the field overall and hit all four free throws. Senior Dwight Wilson III was a strong presence inside, scoring 21 points on 7-of-10 from the field and 7-of-7 at the line. He also registered nine rebounds. Elmore James and Miles Brown were both one-point short of double figures with nine apiece.
Miami's Mekhi Lairy, who had just two points in the first half, finished with . . . CONTINUE
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Northern Illinois led wire-to-wire for the second time this week as it downed Bowling Green, 86-78, on Saturday afternoon at the Stroh Center.
The Huskies opened up a double-digit lead in the opening six minutes of the contest and then held off a late second half run by the Falcons as they improved to 10-13 overall, 6-4 in the Mid-American Conference.
David Coit scored a game-high 21 points, Zarique Nutter added 18 points, Darweshi Hunter chipped in 13 while Harvin Ibarguen had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Oluwasegun Durosinmi scored a career-high 10 points. Kaleb Thornton dished out a game-high nine assists with just two turnovers.
Chandler Turner paced BGSU with 21 points, while Leon Ayers III was right behind with 20.
The win was NIU's fourth consecutive on the road, the longest road win streak for the program since 2002-03.
NIU made six of its first seven shots as the Huskies led 13-7 in the early going. Ibarguen and Nutter each made a pair of buckets in the first five minutes to pace the Huskie offensive early. Nutter finished the game 8-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.
Nutter's second basket ignited a 10-0 Huskie run as the NIU lead grew to 21-7 with 13:28 to play in the half. Ibarguen added his third bucket of the half during the run before Hunter and Coit made back-to-back triples.
NIU was in front 26-12 before Bowling Green used a 15-5 run to trim the Huskie advantage to just four, 31-27, with just under eight minutes to play before the intermission.
A 6-0 burst by the Huskies pushed the NIU lead back to 10. Anthony Crump and Nutter each scored at the rim and Durosinmi made a pair of free throws to give the Huskies a 37-27 lead with five minutes to play in the opening stanza.
The NIU lead was 11 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Crump, but Bowling Green scored the final four points of the half as the Huskies took a 44-37 lead into halftime. Hunter and Nutter each had nine points to lead the way for NIU in the opening 20 minutes, Leon Ayers III had 13 for the Falcons. NIU shot 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the field in the first half.
Early in the second half, the NIU advantage grew to 11 on an alley-oop from Crump to Ibarguen, but Bowling Green answered with the next nine to pull within a pair, 51-49.
Crump finished with eight points, six rebounds and six assists.
Nutter connected on a trifecta to spark a 9-1 Huskies response as NIU took a 60-50 lead with 12 minutes left. Coit made a pair of free throws and Nutter finished twice through contact at the rim as the visitors increased their lead to 10.
Durosinmi scored six-straight Huskie points and Hunter added a free-throw line jumper as the Huskies led 68-52.
Bowling Green then used a 15-2 run to get within three, 70-67, with Coit doubled the NIU advantage back to a half-dozen with a triple with 3:36 left.
After a bucket by the Falcons, Coit made another trifecta, giving NIU a 76-69 lead. Following a Bowling Green free throw, Coit knocked in another three, his fifth of the night, to put the Huskies in front by nine, 79-70, with a little over two minutes to play.
TOLEDO, OH -- The Toledo Rockets blitzed visiting Central Michigan 49-21 in first half action and then cruised to an 84-59 final score Saturday at Savage Arena.
It was the seventh consecutive win for UT, which raised its record to 8-2 MAC (17-6 overall). Central Michigan fell for the fifth time in its last six outings. The Chippewas are now 3-7 in MAC play and 8-15 overall.
Turnovers played a big part in the action as UT outscored the visitors 31-2 in points off turnovers. Toledo also owned a 17-4 edge in second chance points.
Setric Millner Jr. and RayJ Dennis paced the Rockets with 18 points each. JT Shuman was also in double figures, scoring 12 points.
Central Michigan's Brian Taylor earned game-high honors with 10 points. Reggie Bass contributed 10 points, while Max Majerle was just off double figures with nine points.
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