KENT STATE 67, AKRON 55
MUNCIE, IN – Buffalo won its third straight game and completed a perfect 2-0 road trip on Friday night with a 74-68 win over Ball State at Worthen Arena.
The game was tight with 11 lead changes and nine ties as neither team was able to pull away. UB was stroking it from three early in the first half as a triple from Maceo Jack gave the Bulls a 17-13 lead. The Cardinals would go on to regain the lead at 30-28, but the Bulls ended the first half on a 6-0 run, capped of by an old fashioned three-point play from Jeenathan Williams as UB took a 34-30 lead into the break.
A three from senior Keishawn Brewton in the second half opened up a 46-37 lead for the Bulls with 15:18 left, but a 13-2 Ball State run put the Cardinals back ahead with 12:29 left.
Ball State continued to lead by two with 9:30 remaining when the Bulls scored the next seven as Brewton hit another three and Ronaldo Segu provided the other four as Buffalo went back ahead, 61-56.
Leading by just three with under three minutes left, a three from Williams ignited a 7-0 run, which was capped off on a shot clock beater from Segu, which gave the Bulls their largest lead at 73-63. The Cardinals never pulled any closer than five.
Williams led the Bulls with 20 points, one of four UB players in double figures. He added four rebounds, two steals, and two blocks, including a highlight reel block in the first half.
David Skogman finished with his third straight double-double as he had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Segu finished the night with 14 points, a game-high seven assists, and six rebounds. Jack added 10 points and five boards.
As a team, the Bulls held a 45-35 advantage on the glass and Buffalo held Ball State to just a 4-of-25 performance from three-point range.
Tyler Cochran paced Ball State with a game-high 28 points. Payton Sparks registered 18 points and 16 rebounds. Luke Bumbalough contributed 10 points.
KENT STATE 67, AKRON 55
KENT, Ohio – Kent State (8-8, 3-3 MAC) took the lead in the Wagon Wheel rivalry with Akron (9-5, 2-2 MAC) on Friday night with a 67-55 win over the Zips inside the M.A.C. Center.
Sincere Carry was the man of the night, tying a career-high 32 points. He wasted no time showing why he was named to the Lou Henson Midseason Watch List for the mid-major player of the year. Carry is the first player with 30 or more points against Akron since Jaylin Walker did it in the 2017 Mid-American Conference Championship game.
The Golden Flashes struck early and often from three-point range with Carry and VonCameron Davis drilling back-to-back threes within the first two minutes of the game. The Flashes went on to make six threes in the first half and held a 32-29 advantage at the break.
The second half was back and forth until Carry caught fire. He scored 19 points in the final nine minutes as the Flashes pulled away to victory. Carry finished the game 11-for-17 from the field, including a scorching 6-for-10 from three-point range. His 32 points are the most by any Golden Flashes player against the Zips this century.
Carry was aided by Tervell Beck, who scored 11 points and added five rebounds. Andrew Garcia tallied seven points and grabbed six boards. Malique Jacobs did a little bit of everything in the Flashes' win, scoring six points while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and dishing out a team-high four assists.
The Flashes won the battle in the paint, 30-22, and the bench scored 21 points in the win. The Flashes shot 46.3 percent from the field and an impressive 40.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Akron, which connected on just 25.2 percent from the field overall and 16.7 percent outside the arc, was led by Xavier Castaneda with 21 points. Enrique Freeman was the only other Zip in double figures. He contributed 13 points with seven caroms.