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​MAC BASKETBALL

3/3/2023

 
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FRIDAY, MARCH 3 ACTION
BUFFALO 68, MIAMI 63
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 85, EASTERN MICHIGAN 66
KENT STATE 89, AKRON 84 (OT)
TOLEDO 87, BALL STATE 81
WESTERN MICHIGAN 81, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 65
OHIO 92, BOWLING GREEN 58
Details to come. . . 
BUFFALO 68, MIAMI 63
BUFFALO, NY --
Miami Head Coach Travis Steele wanted his team to create its own "luck" Friday by beating Buffalo on the road to seal the eighth -- and final -- spot in next week's MAC Men's Basketball Tournament. For 30 minutes, it appeared MU was going to take care of business once again for its fifth straight victory. 
Things quickly changed in the second half, however, as UB opened with a 13-0 run to take the lead. The Bulls then went on to post a 68-63 senior night win.

It was the third win in four games for Buffalo, which raised its record to 9-9 in MAC play (15-16 overall). The Bulls had already clinched a tourney spot and finish sixth in the MAC standing. Miami, however, was in a position to put itself in the tourney with a win. 

If it lost, MU needed all three teams that were one game behind to lose in Friday's action, and . . . CONTINUE

NORTHERN ILLINOIS 85, EASTERN MICHIGAN 66
DEKALB, Ill. –
Five players scored in double figures as Northern Illinois led wire-to-wire for an 85-66 Senior Day victory over Eastern Michigan on Friday afternoon at the NIU Convocation Center. Zarique Nutter  scored a team-high 19 points, while Kaleb Thornton had his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Darweshi Hunter registered 13 points, Harvin Ibarguen scored 12, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field with a team-best seven rebounds, and Anthony Crump finished with 10 points. 

NIU shot 56.5 percent (35-of-62) from the field in the contest, including 45 percent (9-of-20) from three-point range. 

The Huskies jumped out to a 14-7 start as Hunter and Nutter each knocked down threes and Thornton had four assists in the opening four-plus minutes of the contest.

After Eastern Michigan trimmed the Huskie advantage to just a pair, 14-12, NIU used an 8-0 run to go in front 22-12 with 12 minutes to play before the intermission. Thornton started the burst with a triple, Hunter added a three before Thornton and Nutter each made a free throw.

NIU was 8-of-10 from the field in the opening eight minutes, including 4-of-5 from three-point range.

The Eagles responded with a 7-2 spurt, cutting the NIU lead in half, 24-19, with 7:45 left before the intermission. 

With the Huskies in front by a half-dozen, Crump scored and Oluwasegun Durosinmi  added a pair of free throws, giving NIU a 33-23 lead with just over two minutes to play in the opening half. NIU still led by 10 when David Coit  beat the buzzer to end the half, giving the Huskies a 37-25 lead at the break. 

Nutter led all scorers with 11 points in the opening stanza, Hunter had 10 while Tyson Acuff led Eastern Michigan with 10. The Huskies held the Eagles to just 35.7 percent (10-of-28) shooting from the field in the first half. 

Hunter and Thornton knocked down back-to-back trifectas to open the second half, extending the NIU lead to 43-25. 

NIU's advantage was 20 when Thornton made consecutive triples just after the midway point of the half, pushing the Huskie advantage to its largest of the contest, 71-45. Thornton was 4-of-7 from three in the contest. 

The home team shot 71.4 percent (15-of-21) in the first 12 minutes of the second half, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, as the Huskies cruised to a 19-point victory. 

In the final minute, senior Drew Wiemers (Coal Valley, Ill.) made his first career field goal, converting an old-fashioned three-point play on Senior Day. 

Acuff finished with 26 points for Eastern Michigan, Noah Farrakhan added nine. 

KENT STATE 89, AKRON 84 (OT)
KENT, Ohio –
Kent State (25-6, 15-3 MAC) remained  perfect at home for the 2022-23 season with an 89-84 overtime victory over Akron Friday. . The Flashes undefeated record at home marks the first time since the 2007-08 season.The Flashes now have 25 wins this season, tying the most regular season wins in Kent State history.

The Golden Flashes sent its three seniors, Malique Jacobs, Sincere Carry, and Miryne Thomas out with a victory on Friday night and locked up a No. 2 seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament next Thursday, March 9 against No. 7 Northern Illinois. 

The Flashes came out hot in a sold out M.A.C. Center against rival UA. Sincere Carry got the hosts rolling,  scoring the first nine points of the game. In his last game at the M.A.C. Center, Carry recorded a game high 35 points and chipped in four assists, two steals and 2 rebounds. 

Joining Carry in double figures were Chris Payton (22 points) and Malique Jacobs (11points). 

Akron got big performances from Sammy Hunter (26 points) and Enrique Freeman (25 points, 12 rebounds). Xavier Castaneda chipped in 13 points. 

Despite the Flashes coming out strong, Akron was able to close the gap as the Flashes recorded seven straight with less then 12 minutes left in the first 20 minutes of the game. The Flashes out shot the Zips from the field 53.8 percent to 46.7 percent in the first half and took a 36-32 lead to the locker room.

Kent State ran into foul trouble after intermission, with three players recording four fouls and Malique Jacobs fouling out with seconds left of the game. The Zips took advantage, shooting three free throws with four seconds left to tie the game sending the teams into overtime. 

Sincere Carry scored 11 of his points in OT, while Chris Payton followed scoring six in OT and a career-high 22 points. Despite fouling out, Jacobs recorded 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists. 

Overall, the Flashes otushot the Zips 51.7 percent to 43.9 percent from the field and 36.8 percent to 29.6 percent from the three. The Flashes also recorded 35 rebounds and the bench scored 30 points. The Flashes now lead the rival series 82-81 and 1-1 this season. 

TOLEDO 87, BALL STATE 81
MUNCIE, Ind. –
Junior RayJ Dennis put the Rockets on his back Friday night and poured in a career-high 32 points as Toledo made history with its 87-81 triumph at Ball State (20-11, 11-7 MAC). With the victory, the Rockets (25-6, 16-2 MAC) became the first current Mid-American Conference member to win three straight outright league titles and also extended a school-record winning streak to a nation-best 15 games.

"It's a historical accomplishment and to go 16-2 in this league is hard to do," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "Now 100% of our focus is on rest and getting ready for the conference tournament."

Dennis was joined in double digits by senior Setric Millner Jr. (13 pts.), senior JT Shumate (12 pts.) and sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. (12 pts.).  Shumate led Toledo with seven rebounds, while Millner Jr. grabbed five boards.

Payton Sparks paced Ball State with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. Jaylin Sellers tallied 14, followed by Demarius Jacobs (11), Basheer Jihad (11) and Mickey Pearson (10).

In addition to his scoring exploits, Dennis dished out a game-high seven assists and shot 12-of-20 from the field.

"It feels really good and it's something we can't take for granted," Dennis said. "We have our sights set on Cleveland now, and we know there's a lot of good teams we're going to face."

Toledo also continued its red-hot shooting by shooting 55.0%, marking the sixth-consecutive game it has made at least half of its shots. The Rockets also knocked down 10-of-15 three-point attempts (66.7%), the fifth-straight game UT has shot 50.0% or higher from behind the arc.

Toledo hit 11-of-12 free throws but saw its consecutive free-throw streak end at 42.

The Rockets are the No. 1 seed in this year's MAC Tournament and will open play on Thursday, March 9 vs. Miami in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

The Rockets took a 40-35 advantage to the locker room.
~~ Dennis led UT with 15 points, and the Rockets shot 51.4% from the field.
SECOND HALF
~~ Toledo took its first double-digit lead, 49-39, on Dante Maddox Jr.'s four-point play with 17:16 remaining.
~~ Maddox Jr.'s triple just over three minutes later gave the Rockets their largest lead of the night, 59-44.
~~ UT's lead remained in double figures until an eight-point Cardinals' spurt made the score 63-58 with 9:52 to play.
~~ Jaylin Sellers' two free throws closed the gap to 67-63, but Dennis hit two free throws and JT Shumate followed with a three-point for a 72-64 Rocket lead with 7:13 left.
~~ A Dennis triple and a Millner Jr. jumper gave Toledo more breathing room and an 80-69 advantage with 3:53 to play.
~~ Ball State hit a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to account for the final ~~ Toledo shot 60.0% from the field in the second half and made all six of its three-point shots.
~~ Dennis led the Rockets with 17 points and five assists.

WESTERN MICHIGAN 81, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 65
KALAMAZOO, Mich. –
The Western Michigan Broncos celebrated Senior Night with an 81-65 win over rival Central Michigan on Friday night at University Arena.

With the win, the Broncos finish the season 8-23 overall and 4-14 in Mid-American Conference play. WMU’s win also eliminated the Chippewas from contention for the MAC Tournament, and dropped the visitors’ record to 10-21 overall and 5-13 in league play.

Friday’s game was the final tilt in the Brown & Gold for Bronco seniors Lamar Norman Jr., Tray Maddox Jr. and Tafari Simms. Maddox paced Western Michigan in scoring with a game-high 22 points, while Norman tallied 18 points. Norman handed out six assists and Maddox dished out five of WMU’s 22 helpers.

Markeese Hastings closed out the season with his eighth double-double of the campaign, as he collected 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Central Michigan started quickly, scoring the first seven points of the evening. Western Michigan countered with an eight-point run, which gave the hosts their first lead of the night, 15-13, at the 12:01 mark of the first half.

After a five-point CMU answer, the Broncos went on a 9-1 run, capped by the first of Maddox’s career-high six three-pointers, to go in front, 26-22, with 3:18 to go in the period. Seven of the next nine points went to the Chippewas, but Norman drained a triple at the buzzer to send Western Michigan into halftime with a 31-29 edge.

Maddox drained a pair of three-pointers to begin the second half to extend WMU’s advantage to 37-29. With the score 37-33, Maddox hit another from long range to spark an 8-2 spurt which put the Broncos up 45-36 with 13:41 to play. Maddox went five-for-six from downtown in the second half.

Less than a minute later, CMU answered with back-to-back threes to get to within three, 45-42. Western Michigan countered with a 10-2 run to bring its lead to 59-48 with 8:26 remaining. Another pair of three-pointers brought Central Michigan to within five, 59-54, with 7:15 to go, but that was as close as the visitors got for the remainder of the evening.

Western Michigan put the game away with a 10-0 run to bring its lead to 69-54 with four minutes to play. The Broncos put Simms, who had not played since Feb. 7 due to an injury, into the game in the final seconds, and the senior buried a triple right in front of the WMU bench to put an exclamation point on the victory.

The Broncos shot 45.5 percent (30-of-66) from the floor for the evening, and hit a season-high 14 three-pointers. Central Michigan made 42.0 percent (21-of-50) of its field goals.

WMU dominated on the glass to the tune of a 43-26 advantage, including a 14-2 mark on the offensive boards. The Broncos assisted on 22 of their 30 field goals and committed just eight turnovers.

Markus Harding led CMU with 18 points. Reggie Bass provided 16, while Brian Tayhlor added 15 and Mark Garland 10. 

OHIO 92, BOWLING GREEN 58
ATHENS, Ohio –
The Ohio Bobcats (18-13, 10-8 MAC) concluded their 2022-23 regular season Friday night, defeating Bowling Green (11-20, 5-13 MAC), 92-58, inside the Convocation Center on Senior Night. The Bobcats finished the season 14-1 inside the Convo. 
 
Overall, Ohio shot 49.3 percent from the field, 31.3 percent from three and were 14-of-15 from the line, while Bowling Green shot 31.7 percent from the field, 19.2 percent from three and were 15-of-23 from the line, Ohio outrebounded BGSU, 40-36, while Ohio dished out 15 assists to the Falcons' 10. Ohio also forced 14 turnovers and scored 19 points off them. 
 
Individually, Dwight Wilson III led Ohio with 20 points and seven rebounds, going 8-of-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line. Freshman guard Elmore James scored 17 points, going 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line, while freshman guard AJ Brown added 14 points with three made threes Sophomore forward AJ Clayton added 12 points and went 4-of-9 from three, while junior guard Jaylin Hunter scored eight points, grabbed six boards and dished out five assists. Senior guard Miles Brown dished out a career-high five assists in the victory. 

Samari Curtis and Leon Ayers III led the Falcons with 11 apiece. 

Ohio connected on 63 percent from the field and 43 percent outside the arc while rolling out to a commanding 54-26 halftime  advantage. The 'Cats cruised in from there. 

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    MAC Football 

    UPCOMING GAMES
    All times Eastern

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    MAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
    -- Final - 2022 -- 
    MAC EAST
    OHIO 7-1
    BUFFALO 5-3
    BOWLING GREEN 5-3

    MIAMI 4-4
    KENT STATE 4-4
    AKRON 1-7

    MAC WEST
    TOLEDO 5-3

    EASTERN MICHIGAN 5-3
    WESTERN MICHIGAN 4-4
    ​BALL STATE 3-5
    CENTRAL MICHIGAN 3-5

    NORTHERN ILLINOIS 2-6

    MAC Basketball 
    MAC BASKETBALL STANDINGS
    (Through 3-3-23)

    Team - MAC -- Overall
    Toledo 16-2 (25-6)
    Kent State 15-3 (25-6)
    Akron 13-5 (21-10)
    Ball State 11-7 (20-11)
    Ohio 10-8 (18-13)
    Buffalo 9-9 (15-16)
    Northern Illinois 9-9 (13-18)
    Miami 6-12 (12-19)
    Bowling Green 5-13 (11-20)
    Central Michigan 5-13 (10-21)
    Eastern Michigan 5-13 (8-23)
    Western Michigan 4-14 (8-23)

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