Click Read More for details
Akron 99, Wheeling Jesuit 38
Saginaw Valley 80, Western Michigan 63
Northern Kentucky 74, Eastern Michigan 73
Florida International 73, Ball State 60
Missouri 54, Northern Illinois 37
AKRON, Ohio – For the second time in as many games, the Akron Zips posted a lopsided win at James A. Rhodes Arena, overpowering visiting Wheeling 99-38 on Thursday night.
Sophomore forward Enrique Freeman paced the Zips with 15 points as five players reached double figures and 11 scored at least three points. Graduate student guard K.J. Walton (14 points), freshman guard Garvin Clarke (career-high 12 points) junior guard Bryan Trimble, Jr. (11) and freshman center Aziz Bandaogo (11) also scored in double figures for the hosts, who shot a sizzling 61.9 percent (39-of-63) from the field.
It was the second consecutive contest where the Zips never trailed, building an insurmountable 49-19 halftime lead behind a defense that forced 12 first-half turnovers and a bench unit that delivered 41 points for the game.
A 24-4 run midway through the first half blew the game wide open, with the Zips (2-1) holding the Cardinals to just two baskets in a span of 8:28. Walton delivered 10 of his 14 points in the run, putting his team in control of the game with the scoring spurt.
Freeman also tallied his second straight double-double, snagging 13 rebounds to help his team to a 44-19 edge on the glass. The defense received significant contributions from sophomore guard Greg Tribble, whose game-high four steals were complemented by three steals each by Clarke and Walton.
With a pronounced size and speed edge on the Cardinals (1-3), the Zips led by as many as 61 points in the game and narrowly missed out on scoring 100 points or more for the second time in six days.
Senior guard Jarett Haines led Wheeling with nine points in defeat and junior forward John Korte contributed seven for the visitors.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Junior guard Lamar Norman Jr. poured in a career-high 25 points, but the Western Michigan men's basketball team fell 80-63 to Saginaw Valley State on Thursday night at University Arena.
Norman's career-high 25 points came on 8-of-15 shooting, including a career-best seven three pointers on 12 attempts. Josiah Freeman added 14 points on 5-of-6 from the field, and buried four of his five attempts from beyond the arc. Mack Smith led WMU (1-2) with five rebounds, while Adrian Martin handed out a team-leading five assists, a new career high.
The Broncos made their first three shots from the field on the way to a 7-2 start in the opening minutes of the game. SVSU (3-1) responded with a 13-2 run to grab a 15-9 advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half. The Cardinals led by as many as 11, 25-14, in the opening half.
A trio of Norman triples got WMU to within four, 27-23, at the 5:02 mark. Gus Etchison buried a three-pointer with 1:28 remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 33-30, but three free throws in the final seconds put the visitors on top 36-30 at the break.
Saginaw Valley State scored the first seven points after halftime, but WMU answered with eight in a row to close the gap back to 43-38. Trailing 45-38, Western Michigan used a trio of three-pointers, two from Norman and one from Freeman, to spark a 9-2 surge which evened the game at 47-47 with 14 minutes to play.
Back in front by one, 54-53, the Cardinals used an 8-0 surge to extend their lead back to 62-53 with six-and-a-half minutes remaining. WMU drew no closer than seven for the remainder of the evening.
For the game, Western Michigan connected on 22-of-51 (43.1 percent) from the floor, including a season-high 13 three-pointers on 28 attempts (46.4 percent). Saginaw Valley State made an even 50.0 percent of its shots (25-of-50), and made nine of 20 three-point tries (45.0 percent).
The Broncos held a 30-29 edge on the glass, but turned the ball over 15 times, while forcing SVSU into seven miscues. The Cardinals outscored WMU 18-4 in points off of turnovers.
Western Michigan heads back out on the road for its next four games, beginning on Monday night, Nov. 22, as it visits Iowa. The game is set to tip at 8:30 pm
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (EMUEagles.com) -- Freshman Noah Farrakhan and senior Monty Scott each dropped 21 points, but the Eastern Michigan University men's basketball team fell to the Northern Kentucky University Norse, 74-73, on the road Thursday, Nov. 18.
The Eagles (1-2) had four players score in double figures. Senior Nate Scott helped with 15 points.
Eastern Michigan did a great job disrupting Northern Kentucky shots in the contest, coming away with five blocks. Nate Scott's two rejections led the way individually for the Eagles.
How It Happened
After falling behind 17-16, Eastern Michigan went on a 9-0 run with 8:32 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Monty Scott, to take a 25-17 lead. The Eagles then added three points to that lead by the end of the period and entered halftime with a 35-24 advantage. Eastern Michigan did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 18 of its 35 points close to the basket.
Eastern Michigan kept its lead intact before going on a 5-0 run, finished off by senior Darion Spottsville's three, to grow the lead to 60-53 with 5:38 to go in the contest. Northern Kentucky then outscored the Eagles 21-13 the rest of the way to earn the one-point victory.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ball State returned to action for day one of the Jersey Mike's Classic against FIU on Thursday and Basheer Jihad recorded a career-high 14 points, in the Cardinals' 73-60 loss.
Ball State scored the game's first four points on layups by Payton Sparks and Tyler Cochran. After the Panthers went on a 6-0 run, Cochran knocked down a turnaround jumper to tie the game at 6-6 with 16:13 left in the opening half.
The two sides traded buckets for five minutes and the game was tied at 19-19, with 11:14 left in the half. Sparks made a layup to give Ball State a 21-19 lead with just nine and a half minutes left in the first stanza.
FIU went on a 5-0 run and took a 24-21 lead with 7:37 left in the half. Demarius Jacobs made a big 3-pointer to tie the game at 24-24.
After the Panthers went up by two, 27-25 with 5:21 left in the half, Luke Bumbalough knocked down a 3-pointer to give BSU a slight 28-27 lead. On the following possession, Miryne Thomas made a great hustle play to close out on an FIU player taking a 3-pointer and blocked the shot.
FIU ended the half on a 7-0 run and took a 34-28 lead into the half.
Sparks opened the second half with a layup and drew the foul. He converted the and-1 opportunity and closed the gap to three. Thomas started to catch fire and scored Ball State's next 10 points. The Cardinals held a slim 41-40 advantage with just over 15 minutes left in regulation. Bumbalough added a layup to put Ball State up 43-40.
FIU responded with a 7-0 run and took a 47-43 lead. Jihad drained a 3-pointer to pull within one, 47-46, with 13 minutes left.
After the Panthers went up by five, Jalen Windham hit on back-to-back 3-pointers to give BSU a 53-52 lead. Jihad converted on jumper to extend the Cardinal lead to 55-52.
FIU went on a 13-0 run and took a 67-57 lead with just over two minutes left in the game. The deficit was too much for the Cardinals to overcome in the remaining minutes as the Panthers won, 73-60.
Jihad recorded a career-high 14 points behind a 5-for-6 night from the field. He was 2-for-2 from 3-point range and added five rebounds. Thomas finished the game with 10 points, tied for a game-high two blocks, and added three assists. Bumbalough ended with a team-high six rebounds and added eight points. Jacobs, Bumbalough, and Cochran all produced four assists.
Travis Brewer notched a game-high 25 points. Denver Jones chipped in with 14 points for the Panthers. Clevon Brown brought down a game-high nine rebounds.
The Cardinals return to the McArthur Center on Friday for a game against Weber State. Tip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Northern Illinois University was held to 24.1 percent shooting from the field Thursday night in a 54-37 loss to the Missouri Tigers at Mizzou Arena in the opening round of The Jacksonville Classic by Fabletics.
NIU (1-2) bounced back from an early 7-2 deficit to tie the game at 10 at the 10:39 mark on a Trendon Hankerson layup. The Huskies took their first lead of the game when Keshawn Williams beat the shot clock with a three to put NIU on top 15-14 with 5:32 to go in the half. That triple came in the middle of a 10-2 Huskies run which Adong Makuoi capped with a baseline jumper to give NIU a 21-16 lead with 3:18 left in the first.
The Tigers, however, closed the half on an 8-0 run, with layups from Kobe Brown and Javon Pickett giving Missouri a 24-21 lead at the break.
Northern Illinois scored the first four points of the second half, taking a 25-24 lead on a Chinedu Kingsley Okanu basket in the paint. Missouri answered with layups from Ronnie DeGray III and Kobe Brown to put the Tigers ahead 28-25 with 13:33 to play in the game.
Zool Kueth put NIU back in front with back-to-back threes to make the score 31-28 at the 11:46 mark. Sparked by a Jordan Wilmore dunk, Missouri went on a 10-0 run over 4:12 to take a 42-32 lead with under six minutes to go. The Huskies made just two more field goals the rest of the way as Missouri ran away with the 54-37 win.
Hankerson led the Huskies with eight points as Williams added seven. Darweshi Hunter (Cincinnati, Ohio/Weber State) led NIU with seven rebounds. Missouri (2-1) got 13 points and 13 rebounds from Brown with Wilmore adding 11.
The Huskies now head down to Jacksonville, Fla. for the "Jax Bracket" of the Jacksonville Classic. NIU will take on Boston University on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 11 a.m. CT.