NORTHERN ILLINOIS 84, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 80
TOLEDO 101, BUFFALO 71
EASTERN MICHIGAN 75, BALL STATE 68
AKRON 81, WESTERN MICHIGAN 64
KENT STATE 79, BOWLING GREEN 69
By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- Make it three straight!
The Miami RedHawks continued their late season surge Saturday with an 85-68 win over rival Ohio at Millett Hall.
Miami's most recent Battle of the Bricks men's basketball victory was back in February of 2019. However, the duo of senior Mekhi Lairy and junior Morgan Safford combined for 50 points as the RedHawks (5-11 MAC, 11-18 overall) broke Ohio's six-game winning streak.
The Bobcats (9-7 MAC, 17-12 overall) are already guaranteed a position in the upcoming MAC tourney's eight-team field. Miami, however, is still chasing the final spot.
With Central Michigan's loss to . . . CONTINUE
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- In a contest that featured 76 total free throw attempts, Northern Illinois held off a second half Central Michigan run to top the Chippewas, 84-80 on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 25) at McGuirk Arena. The Huskies victory clinched a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio,
Zarique Nutter and Kaleb Thornton each scored 21 points to lead the Huskies. Darweshi Hunter added 14 points while Anthony Crump and Harvin Ibarguen both chipped in 11 points.
NIU built a 19-point lead late in the first half and Central Michigan trimmed it to as little as four twice, but the Huskies were able to hold off the Chippewas. NIU shot 52 percent (26-of-50) from the field, including 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from three-point range while holding CMU to just 36.7 percent (22-of-60) shooting and 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from three.
"Our objective was to get to Cleveland, to give ourselves an opportunity to cut down nets, but you have to get to Cleveland first before you can do that," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "If you look at the ball distribution and you look at the turnovers, when we didn't turn it over, we got quality shots. We shot 69 percent in the first half and 60 from three, so if you limit turnovers and run your offense crisply, you can get easy shots."
Trailing by a pair six minutes into the contest, Armandas Plintauskas and Thornton knocked in back-to-back triples, igniting an 14-2 Huskie run. Thornton made another three and then finished at the rim before Hunter canned a trifecta, giving NIU a 22-12 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the opening half.
After Central Michigan trimmed the Huskie lead back to five, NIU went on a 12-0 run. Ibarguen opened the burst with a dunk off a feed from Thornton. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native then added a pair of free throws and Hunter made a short jumper to give NIU a 31-20 lead with 4:22 left before the intermission, forcing a Chippewa timeout.
Following the timeout, Thornton added a triple and Nutter converted an old-fashioned three-point play, giving NIU a 37-20 lead.
The Huskies closed the half with a 6-2 spurt courtesy of a triple from Hunter, a free throw by Plintauskas and a dunk from Oluwasegun Durosinmi off a feed from Thornton as NIU took a 47-29 lead into the break.
Thornton led all scorers with 14 points in the opening half, Nutter added nine as the Huskies shot 69.6 percent (16-of-23) in the opening 20 minutes, including 60 percent (6-of-10) from three-point range. Markus Harding had eight in the first half to pace Central Michigan.
The Chippewas trimmed the NIU advantage to 13 early in the second half before a dunk from Ibarguen and a triple by Hunter pushed the Huskie lead back to 18, 56-38, four minutes into the second stanza.
Central Michigan answered with an 11-0 run, cutting the NIU to 56-49 with 11:32 left to play.
After the Huskies pushed the lead to 59-49, the Chippewas scored the next seven of the next eight to pull within four, 60-56, just past the midway point of the second half.
In front by a half-dozen, NIU used a 6-0 burst to push its advantage to 68-56 with 6:40 left. Ibarguen converted an old-fashioned three-point play, Nutter made a basket and added a free throw while Hunter also scored from the line as the Huskie advantage reached a dozen.
A Central Michigan layup with five minutes left helped claw the Chippewas within eight, 70-62. It would be the last field goal by the hosts until the final 10 seconds of the contest as Central Michigan would go to the free-throw line 14 times over the final five minutes, making 13 of those attempts.
Those trips to the line helped cut the NIU lead to 76-71 with 2:23 to play, but Crump made two free throws and Nutter scored at the rim as the Huskie advantage grew to nine. NIU's lead was seven before a three-pointer with less than a second left cut the final margin to four.
Reggie Bass scored a game-high 40 points for Central Michigan, including 21-of-24 from the free-throw line. Brian Taylor added 14 and Harding finished with 12 points for the hosts. CMU went 30-of-37 (81.1 percent) from the foul line in the contest while NIU finished 25-of-39 (64.1 percent).
TOLEDO, Ohio – Six Rockets scored 14 points or more and the Toledo Rockets sent out seniors Setric Millner Jr. and JT Shumate with a dominating 101-71 triumph over Buffalo (13-16, 7-9 MAC) on Saturday afternoon before 6,014 fans in Savage Arena. The victory extended UT's winning streak to 13 and moved the first-place Rockets' record to 23-6 overall and 13-2 in league play.
Sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. led the way offensively with 18 points, marking the second time this season he has led Toledo offensively. Shumate and junior RayJ Dennis each tallied 16 points, Millner Jr. added 15 points, and sophomores EJ Farmer and Ra'Heim Moss contributed 14 points apiece.
"To see Seth and JT go out and play as well as they did was neat," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said following the Rockets' Senior Day ceremonies. "What Seth and JT have meant to this program is unbelievable. The winning, the culture and how they represent this community has been phenomenal."
Dennis also topped the Rockets with 11 assists and eight rebounds and committed just one turnover in 29 minutes.
Toledo was extremely efficient offensively, shooting 59.1% from the field, a conference season-high 56.5% (13-of-23) from three-point range and collecting a MAC season-best 25 assists with just six miscues.
"The efficiency we played with today offensively was Rocket Basketball," Kowalczyk said. "We also guarded very well against a Buffalo team that is good offensively."
The Rockets limited the Bulls to a 39.4 shooting mark, including a 28.0 three-point FG% (7-of-25), en route to their largest margin of victory this season. Senior LaQuill Hardnett and sophomore Yazid Powell led the Bulls with 20 points apiece.
The Rockets took control early, rolling to a 56-36 halftime advantage. Toledo then opened the second half with on a 9-2 run that eliminated any hopes of a Bulls' comeback. The Rockets' lead didn't fall below 25 points the remainder of the contest and grew to as many as 32.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - Eastern Michigan went into halftime trailing Ball State, 37-27, but rallied from the deficit to beat the Cardinals, 75-68, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Saturday.
The Eagles (8-21, 5-11 MAC) had three players score in double figures, led by Emoni Bates, who posted a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Tyson Acuff added 20 points and two steals while Colin Golson Jr. helped out with 12 points off the bench.
Eastern out-rebounded BSU, 41-34, in Saturday's game, led by Bates' 11 boards. The Eagles also collected 11 offensive rebounds and scored 15 second chance points. The Green and White's defense held Ball State to only 37.7 percent shooting from the field, including 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. EMU also limited the Cardinals' Jarron Coleman to 3-of-12 shooting and nine points in the game.
The Eagles struggled out of the gate, falling behind, 37-27, heading into halftime. Eastern Michigan narrowed its deficit to 43-34 before going on an 8-0 run to shrink BSU's lead to 43-42 with 14:45 to go in the contest. EMU kept the rally going and took the lead for good on a Golson free throw with 04:31 left for a 75-68 comeback victory.
AKRON, Ohio – In their penultimate home game of the season, the Akron Zips methodically powered past the visiting Western Michigan Broncos, 81-64, for a Mid-American Conference win on Saturday evening at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Senior G Xavier Castaneda led the way for Akron with a game-high 23 points, while junior F Enrique Freeman notched his 16th double-double of the season with a 17-point and 10-rebound performance. Redshirt freshman G Nate Johnson chipped in with 13 points, while posting a game-high four steals.
Seth Hubbard led the Broncos with 19 points to go along with 17 points from Lamar Norman.
After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Zips (20-9, 12-4 MAC) seize control late, a 12-2 run out of the half blew the game wide open and expanded the Akron advantage to 20, 47-27. Castaneda's top-of-the-arc triple capped the run, but two pin-point passes to Freeman set up lay-ins to help bury the Broncos.
Western Michigan never got closer than 12 the rest of the way as Akron swept the season series between the teams following a 63-55 win in Kalamazoo in January. The second-best scoring defense in the MAC entering the game forced 12 turnovers and harassed the Broncos (7-22, 3-13 MAC) into 37.3-percent shooting, holding them under 42 percent from the field in both halves.
The contest unfolded at a slower, defensive-oriented pace from the opening tip as both sides dug in and forced one another to operate in a half-court setting.
A three-pointer by Castaneda with 2:10 left in the half gave the Zips separation before a second triple less than a minute later by Johnson extended the lead and a third long ball from Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich.) gave Akron its largest lead of the half, 35-23. The shot also capped a 12-0 run over a span of 4:41 as the Zips forced three Western Michigan turnovers and four missed field goal attempts.
Ball security was elite for the Blue and Gold in the half with only four turnovers. By forcing six miscues by the Broncos, the Zips held an 8-2 edge in points off turnovers for the opening 20 minutes.
BOWLING GREEN, OH -- Malique Jacobs (19) and Sincre Carry (18) combined for 37 points as Kent State (13-3 MAC, 23-6 overall) rallied in the second half to defeat Bowling Green 79-69.
Jalen Sullinger (14) and Chris Payton (13) also reached double figures for the Flashes. Chandler Turner and Samari Curtis scored 11 apiece to lead BGSU, followed by Leon Ayers II and Kaden Metheny with 10 apiece.
The hosting Falcons (4-12 MAC, 10-19 overall) led 42-37 at intermission, but KSU chipped away, tying the contest at 48-all on a Jacobs jumper at 14:14. Sullinger followed with a trey to give Kent State the lead for good.
The Falcons were still within two (60-58) with 6:31 remaining, but KSU built a 12-point advantage before finishing with the 10-point decision.