No. 13 KENTUCKY 77, OHIO 59
WEBER STATE 85, BALL STATE 74
NORFOLK STATE 90, BOWLING GREEN 84
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Ohio Bobcats (3-1) returned to action Friday night in the second game of the Kentucky Classic, falling to No. 13 Kentucky (3-1), 77-59, inside Rupp Arena. Redshirt senior forward Ben Vander Plas led Ohio with 19 points.
Vander Plas finished the game with 19 points, six rebounds and went 9-of-15 from the field and 3-of-7 from three. Redshirt fifth year forward Jason Carter finished with 15 points, five rebound and went 7-of-16 from the field. Sophomore guard Mark Sears wrapped up the game with 10 points and a team-leading five assists.
Overall, the Bobcats shot 36.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and 70 percent from the line, while UK shot 48.3 percent from the field, 18.8 percent from three and 94.1 percent from the line. The Bobcats were outrebounded 53-17, however, the Bobcats forced 15 Wildcat turnovers while only turning the ball over five times.
The Bobcats forged a 20-12 lead with 12:14 left in the first half. Out of the timeout, Kentucky battled back, answering Ohio's layups with threes and tying the game at 24-24 entering the under-eight media timeout.
Kentucky took its first lead of the game with 6:27 left in the half. However, free throws from Sears and a deep contested three from Vander Plas gave Ohio the lead back.
After Ohio and the Wildcats traded baskets over the next minute, another deep three from Vander Plas gave Ohio a four-point lead before a layup from Kentucky cut the Bobcats' lead to 38-36 with 3:14 left in the half.
Out of the final media timeout, Kentucky used free throws to take a 40-38 lead going into halftime.
Ohio came out and tied the game seconds into the second half, before taking a four-point lead thanks to back-to-back layups from Carter. However, Ohio and Kentucky traded baskets with the Wildcats taking a 48-46 lead with 14:31 left in the game. Carter tied the game at 48-48 out of the timeout, but Kentucky went on a 9-0 run to take a 57-48 lead with 11:45 left, forcing Ohio to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, two-straight threes from freshman forward AJ Clayton brought the Bobcats back within six. However, Kentucky then extended its lead to 11 with 7:44 left in the game.
Ohio was unable to chip away at the Wildcats' lead over the final five minutes of action, ultimately falling 77-59.
Kentucky was led by Keion Brooks, Jr. who registered 22 points and eight rebounds, followed by TyTy Washington, Jr. with 20 points and 11 boards. The Bobcats held Oscar Tshiebwe to no points and 10 rebounds.
Up next, the Bobcats return to Athens for the final game of the Kentucky Classic on Monday, Nov. 22 when they take on Mount St. Mary's. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.
WEBER STATE 85, BALL STATE 74
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ball State fell to 1-3 overall on Friday after an 85-74 loss to Weber State (4-0) on day two of the Jersey Mike's Classic. Luke Bumbalough led the Cardinals with a 14-point performance.
Like previous games, the Cardinals jumped out to a fast start with a 7-3 run. Payton Sparks made a tough layup and Demarius Jacobs added a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup. After Weber State made the score 7-5, Basheer Jihad was able to make a highly contested layup despite the hard contact. He converted the and-1 opportunity.
Mickey Pearson Jr. started to heat up and scored Ball State's next four points as the Cardinals held a 14-7 lead with 11:57 to go in the first half. BSU and WSU traded baskets, but Ball State held a 21-12 lead with 8:41 left in the first stanza.
The Wildcats went on a 9-2 run and tied the game at 23-23 with 4:40 remaining in the first half. Pearson ended that run with a 3-point shot to put BSU on top 26-23. The two squads battled the remainder of the half, but Weber State took a 35-33 lead into half on a shot with little time left on the clock.
After the Wildcats scored the first four points in the second half, the Cardinals responded with a 14-2 run and regained the lead, 47-41. The Ball State lead grew to 52-46, with 13:41 left in regulation as Jalen Windham made three free throws. Tyler Cochran and Jaylin Sellers put the Cardinals up, 57-48, after two free throws and a fast-break layup, respectively.
With just under 11 minutes left in the game, Weber State pulled within three after Koby McEwen hit from 3-point range. Bumbalough responded with a 3 of his own and extend the BSU lead to 62-56.
The two teams were tied 69-69 late in the second half. Weber State went on to outscore Ball State 16-5 in the final 6:20 of the game.
Bumbalough finished with a team-high 14 points, tied for a team-high two steals, and added four rebounds. Sparks produced 13 points and led the team with six rebounds. Sparks has led the team in rebounding in two of the four games. Pearson collected 12 points and chipped in with five rebounds. Windham recorded double digits behind an 11-point performance, went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line, and added three boards. Cochran led the team with five assists and had zero turnovers.
As a team, the Cardinals improved vastly at the free-throw line as they shot 88.2 percent and scored 15 points at the line. Ball State finished the game shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 34.6 percent from 3-point range. The BSU bench outscored the WSU bench, 28-12.
McEwen led all scorers with 30 points. Dillion Jones recorded a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. JJ Overton added 13 points to give WSU three players with double-digit points. As a team, the Wildcats shot 51.8 percent from the field and outrebounded the Cardinals 37-32.
The Cardinals look to bounce back on the final day of the Jersey Mike's Classic on Sunday. Ball State will take on UMass. The game is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. tip.
NORFOLK STATE 90, BOWLING GREEN 84
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green Falcons shot a program record 40 three-point attempts but fell to Norfolk State 90-84 Friday at the Stroh Center.
The Falcons and Spartans went to the half with BGSU leading 39-37, but Norfolk State used a strong second half to capture the win. The loss moves BGSU to 1-3 on the season. The Falcons will return to the court for the Fort Myers Tip-Off next week.
HOW IT HAPPENED
>> The Falcons jumped out to an early lead, 6-1, but the Spartans came battling back to take their first lead of the night at 13-12. Bowling Green tied it up at 15 before the media break.
>> The two teams continued to battle back-and-forth before a Cam Young block turned the tides. Daeqwon Plowden made two from the charity stripe at the other end to put Bowling Green back in front.
>> The Falcons were able to use that momentum to see a Trey Diggs three followed by a Myron Gordon fast break layup to add to the lead.
>> Bowling Green and Norfolk State continued the battle to the first half whistle with a close halftime score of 39-37 in favor of Bowling Green. At the break, the Falcons were paced by Daeqwon Plowden with seven points.
>> The second half saw a similar start as the first with four straight points from BGSU, but Norfolk State answered with a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead before a BGSU timeout.
>> The Falcons continued to chip away at the lead, including Myron Gordon hitting both free throws following a technical foul against Norfolk State.
>> The two teams went back-and-forth, matching bucket for bucket. In the last few minutes the Falcons made a strong push, cutting the lead in half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit.
As time expired, Gordon hit a three at the buzzer to end the action at 90-84, Spartans.