BRADLEY 74, AKRON 55
WRIGHT STATE 88, MIAMI 80
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Keshawn Williams tied his career high with 32 points, including 22 in the second half, and David Coit added 19, as Northern Illinois defeated Indiana State, 67-57, on the road on Thursday afternoon.
The Huskies led by as many as 14 in the second half but held off a late charge by the Sycamores to win at Indiana State for the first time since 1973.
Williams went 13-of-20 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from three, and grabbed a career-best tying nine rebounds. Coit grabbed a career-best seven boards and the Huskies held Indiana State to just 35 percent (21-of-60) shooting, including 22.9 percent (8-of-35) from three-point range.
"Everyone stepped up today," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "Obviously Keshawn (Williams) being Keshawn, he hit some ridiculous shots, but I thought everyone's minutes were productive. We had nine guys score, we shot a decent number, 44 (percent). But the key was the defensive end, a team as efficient as (Indiana State) shot 35 (percent from the field) and 22 (percent from three), so that is a tremendous accomplishment for us."
Indiana State scored the first six to open the contest before NIU answered with the next eight, capped by a baseline drive and jam from Williams.
A 15-0 run later in the period allowed Northern Illinois to take a 30-18 lead with just over four minutes to play in the period. The Huskies held Indiana State scoreless for more than seven minutes during the stretch.
Four-straight points from Indiana State were followed by five from Coit, giving the Huskies a 35-22 advantage, but the Sycamores finished the half with a 7-0 run to trim the NIU lead to a half dozen, 35-39, at the break.
The first seven points of the second half went to the Huskies as Williams scored five and Coit netted a pair to help the NIU advantage grow to 42-29.
Indiana State trimmed the lead back to nine until a pull-up jumper from Coit made it 50-39 Huskies with 12:11 left to play.
Out of a timeout with one second on the shot clock, Williams beat the buzzer for the first of back-to-back baskets as NIU led 54-41 at the midway point of the second half.
Williams knocked in two-straight trifectas, giving the Huskies a 60-46 lead, but Indiana State scored the next nine as they trimmed the NIU advantage to 60-55 with 1:29 left.
As the game clock ticked under a minute, Williams hit an off-balance trifecta right in front of the Huskie bench to beat the shot clock and increase the NIU lead to eight. NIU went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line in the final moments as the Huskies snapped a four-game losing streak.
McCauley scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Indiana State, Cooper Neese added 10 points for the Sycamores.
Peoria, Ill. – Senior Xavier Castaneda and junior Enrique Freeman led Akron with double-digit scoring efforts as the Zips fell, 74-55, to Bradley at Carver Arena on Thursday.
Castaneda paced the Zips' offense with a team-high 19 points with 10 of those points coming from the charity stripe. Freeman notched his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 11 points, while grabbing 10 rebounds. In addition, graduate Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich.) added nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 showing from beyond the 3-point arc.
Bradley (9-4) opened game on 7-2 run by first media break (14:59) as the Zips started the contest 0-10 from the field. The Braves led by as many as 18 points, 28-10 (5:04), before Castaneda buried a long 3-pointer while being fouled. He converted the four-point play, but Bradley outscored the Zips 8-5 over the final five minutes of the half.
Akron (7-5) shot only 20.7 percent from the field in the first stanza as Castaneda led the way with seven points and made 4-of-5 free throws to account for all of Akron's appearance at the charity stripe. The Braves held a 24-21 advantage on the glass.
In the second half, the Braves established their largest lead of the game, 54-22, with 14:08 remaining in the game. A 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring by Castaneda sparked a 9-2 run. Castaneda added a pair of free throws, while junior Greg Tribble and freshman Amani Lyles contributed two points each, but the deficit proved too much to overcome.
Four Braves scored in double figures as Rienk Mast registered a double-double with a team-high 15-point and 13-rebound effort. Bradley scored 18 points off of turnovers, but Akron won the battle of the boards, 43-38.
By MIKE SMITH
OXFORD, OH -- After trailing by 22 points with under seven minutes to play, the Miami RedHawks rallied to within four before falling to Wright State 88-80 Tuesday at Millett Hall.
Despite missing some first half time due to foul issues, point guard Mekhi Lairy led the way for Miami (5-7) with 32 points. He knocked down 12-of-15 from the field overall and six of eight outside the arc.
Joining him in double figures were . . . CONTINUE