Milwaukee 71, Western Michigan 63
Iowa 106, Northern Illinois 53
Wright State 85, Bowling Green 67
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Despite a third-straight double double from senior forward Dwight Wilson III, the Ohio Bobcats (4-2) could not overcome critical turnovers, falling to Marshall (4-0), 81-67, Sunday, inside the Cam Henderson Center.
"Number one, give them a lot of credit," second year head coach Jeff Boals said. "They deserved to win the game. We didn't deserve to win. It's tough to prepare for what they do defensively, and Jerrod West is probably one of the best on the ball defenders in the country. They made us work for everything and they denied passing lanes. But the biggest thing was the turnovers and the unforced turnovers that ended in points for them. The turnover point differential was huge for them."
Wilson III finished the day with 24 points and 12 rebounds while going 10-of-17 from the field. Junior guard Jason Preston finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Redshirt junior Ben Vander Plas finished with nine points, while sophomore Miles Brown finished with seven points.
Overall, Ohio shot 40 percent from the field, 35 percent from three and were 16-of-20 from the free thow line, while Marshall shot 54.5 percent from the field, 23.8 percent from three-point range and were 16-of-22 from the line. Marshall out-rebounded the Bobcats, 33-30, while the Bobcats turned the ball over 17 times, compared to Marshall's 15. The Bobcats also dished out 13 assists to The Herd's 12.
For Marshall, Taevion Kinsey scored 28 points, while Jarrod West added 14 points and six assists.
Milwaukee 71, Western Michigan 63
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Despite having three players in double figures the Western Michigan men’s basketball team was unable to mount a late comeback in its 71-63 loss to Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon inside University Arena.
Forcing Milwaukee to commit three turnovers in a two-minute span the Broncos trailed by just two with five minutes left after a fast break lay-up from redshirt junior Jason Whitens. However, the Milwaukee defense held the Bronco offense scoreless for the next three minutes as the Panthers gained a 63-57 lead with 90 seconds remaining.
The two teams traded corner three-pointers as WMU’s deficit trimmed to six with 45 seconds to play. It was as close as the Broncos got as Milwaukee made five of its final six free-throws to secure the victory.
WMU had three players score in double figures for the second straight game, led by senior Greg Lee with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field. It was a season-high for Lee and one shy of his career-high. Lee also led the Broncos with a season-high eight rebounds. Lee matched his career-high with three from long distance.
In his first start since Nov. 25, redshirt junior Jason Whitens poured in a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field with four rebounds. In 33 minutes of action, Whitens was also 1-of-2 from long distance, 3-of-4 from the free-throw line and had one assist. In the last two games against Milwaukee, Whitens had recorded 31 points.
Rounding out the trio of scoring was sophomore B. Artis White with 17 points, marking the fourth game this season White has scored in double figures. White was 5-of-8 from the field and connected on four three-pointers. The Canton, Mich., native also had four assists, one block and one steal.
Off the bench, senior Rafael Cruz Jr. led the way with eight points to go along with six rebounds and one assist. After earning a double-double the day before against Detroit Mercy, sophomore Titus Wright recorded just three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field with six rebounds.
Overall WMU shot 41.2 percent from the field and was 9-of-21 from behind the three-point line. The Broncos were out-rebounded 42-28 with Milwaukee holding a 13-7 edge on the offensive glass. WMU forced Milwaukee to commit 11 turnovers on Sunday, converting Panther mistakes into 16 points.
Western Michigan concludes non-conference play with an overall record of 1-4. The Broncos begin their Mid-American Conference slate at home on Friday, Dec. 18 against in-state rival Central Michigan. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. inside University Arena.
Iowa 106, Northern Illinois 53
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Northern Illinois University men’s basketball team ran up against one of the best teams in the nation on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 13) as the Huskies fell to third-ranked Iowa, 106-53, at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Junior Adong Makuoi (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/Daytona State College) scored a career-high 14 points and junior Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee State) tied his career-high with 10 points for the Huskies.
“We have to credit Iowa, they have so much balance, so much size, so much shooting,” said NIU head coach Mark Montgomery. “If you aren’t matching them shot for shot, or stop for stop, it is hard to stay with them. I was happy with how we took care of the basketball in the first half, we got off to a good start, and this was a great opportunity to play against a top-five team in the country.
Garza led all scorers with 23 points in the contest, while also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Wieskamp added 20 points, Patrick McCaffery scored 14 points and Keegan Murray chipped in 10 points for the Hawkeyes.
NIU will finish non-conference play on Friday, December 18, when the Huskies host Chicago State. Game time against the Cougars is slated for 6 p.m.
Wright State 85, Bowling Green 67
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University men's basketball team was defeated by Horizon League-favorite Wright State University by a score of 85-67 on Sunday (Dec. 13). The non-conference contest was played inside of the Stroh Center. Bowling Green falls to 4-2 on the season with the loss.
Bowling Green outscored the Raiders by 15 points in the second half, but a 54-21 halftime deficit was too much for the Falcons to overcome. Wright State shot 55.2 percent (32-of-58) as a team and had five players score 10-plus points. Senior center Loudon Love led the Raiders with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Love broke Wright State's career rebounding record on the afternoon.
Fifth-year senior guard Justin Turner posted 13 points, three rebounds, six assists and zero turnovers. Freshman guard Kaden Metheny scored a career-high 15 points for the Orange and Brown. Senior Daeqwon Plowden finished with 14 points and five rebounds.
COACH HUGER QUOTE
"We showed what we can do in the second half. If we would have started the game that way, we would have had more of a chance to win the game. We were able to fight in the second half and be more physical with those guys – they are very big and strong. We just have to be able to fight from start to finish."