BUFFALO 82, GEORGE MASON 74
AKRON 72, WESTERN KENTUCKY 53
HIGH POINT 68, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 67
ESTERO, Fla – Toledo rallied from an early 11-point deficit only to see Kansas City pull away down the stretch in an 83-71 setback to the Roos on Monday morning in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Showcase in Hertz Arena.
Junior RayJ Dennis led four Rockets in double digits with 17 points. He was joined in double digits by senior JT Shumate (14 pts.), sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. (12 pts.) and junior Tyler Cochran (11 pts.).
Kansas City's RayQuawndis Mitchell led the Kansas City (2-4) with a career-high 35 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 18-of-20 from the free-throw line.
Kansas City also held a 35-26 advantage on the boards. Cochran paced Toledo with six rebounds, with Dennis and senior Setric Millner Jr. grabbing five boards apiece.
Toledo (3-1) shot a season-low 39.4 percent from the field and 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) from three-point range. The Roos posted a 54.0 shooting mark and were 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) behind the arc and 23-of-28 (82.1 percent) and the line. Toledo fell behind by 11 points at the start of the game, rallied for a five-point edge at halftime, but were outscored 18-6 in the final four minutes of the game.
BUFFALO 82, GEORGE MASON 74
ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – The Buffalo Bulls (2-4, 0-0 MAC) defeated the George Mason Patriots (2-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10) on Monday afternoon, 82-74. With the win, Buffalo snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Bulls led for a total of 37:36 as they only trailed when George Mason took a 4-3 lead. The Patriots led for a total of 38-seconds. The Bulls' largest lead was 14 with 3:20 left in regulation when they started to pull away from the Patriots. Buffalo shot at 51.8%, 29-of-56, in the game.
Once again, the Bulls were leading at the half. George Mason started the second half with a three-pointer to make it a three-point game. Buffalo's lead got down to one at 40-39, but that was the closest the game got. The Bulls continued to use the shot clock and make the most of their opportunities. Buffalo only turned the ball over nine times with two of those occurring less than two minutes into the game. The Bulls took high percentage shots, scoring a total of 36 points in the paint.
The dynamic duo of Isaiah Adams and Curtis Jones propelled the Bulls to victory. Adams had a career game for the Bulls as he scored a career-high 24 points in the contest and added four rebounds. He finished 8-of-14 from the floor, while also making three three-pointers. Jones continued where he left off on Saturday as he finished with 22 points. Adams and Jones combined to make all six three-pointers in the game. Zid Powell finished in double figures, scoring 11.
AKRON 72, WESTERN KENTUCKY 53
GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND – The Akron men's basketball team advanced to the semifinal round of the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic after defeating Western Kentucky 72-53 at John Gray Gymnasium on Monday.
Senior forward Enrique Freeman registered his third double-double of the season as he led the Zips with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Greg Tribble matched Freeman's team-high 11 rebounds as the Zips owned the glass, posting a lopsided 43-16 rebounding advantage.
Junior Xavier Castaneda followed with 16 points, while three players recorded nine points – Tribble, graduate Trendon Hankerson and redshirt freshman Nate Johnson. Johnson shot perfect from downtown, draining all three of his 3-point attempts, while Hankerson (2 of 4) and Tribble (1 of 2) shot 50-percent from beyond the arc.
Freeman started the game with a pump fake and a dunk to set the tone as Akron overcame 10 first-half turnovers for a 32-30 halftime advantage. Freeman led the Zips with 13 points and seven rebounds, and four players connected from long range at a 50-percent clip (5 of 10). Hankerson buried both of his attempts from deep, while Castaneda (1), Johnson (1) and sophomore Garvin Clarke (1) drained long-distance buckets.
The Zips opened the second frame on a 10-2 run, and continued to attack at a 50-percent rate from beyond the arc for a 10-point advantage (45-35) by the 13:50 mark. Johnson knocked down his second triple early in the half and while Hunter and Tribble joined the trend.
The Zips closed out the last four minutes of the game in similar fashion. Akron used a 10-2 run in the final 3:58, but did most of the damage inside the painted area sparked by a Hankerson pump fake and easy layin. Both, Tribble and Castaneda added a pair contested shots at the rim for the final eight pints and 19-point advantage.
The stifling defense by Akron limited the Hilltoppers to shooting just 37-percent from the field (10 of 27) and 30-percent from long distance (3 of 10) as Emmanuel Akot registerd 13 points to lead WKU. Dayvion McKnight followed with 12 points in defeat.
HIGH POINT 68, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 67
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif.--In a closely-contested, back-and-forth matchup that saw both teams hold sizeable leads and make runs at various points in the game, Central Michigan dropped a 68-67 men's basketball decision to High Point Monday evening in the first round of the Venue Twin SoCal Challenge.
Four Central Michigan players reached double figure scoring, led by senior Brian Taylor's career-high 18 points. Junior Jesse Zarzuela finished with 13 points on two 3-pointers, freshman Max Majerle registered career-highs for points (13) and 3-point field goals (three), and junior Carrington McCaskill scored a career-high 11 points to go along with nine rebounds. Senior Miroslav Stafl pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds.
High Point (4-1) was led by Jaden House's game-high 26 points. House hit nine of 19 field goals and 7-8 free throws in 34 minutes of action. Abdoulaye Thiam finished with 11 points, while Bryant Randleman and Zach Austin contributed 10 points apiece.
A 12-0 High Point run before the half to trim CMU's lead down to 30-27 at halftime. House scored eight of the Panthers' 12 points in the rally, including three free throws, a 3-pointer, and a jumper in the paint.
The second half saw both teams make runs and take leads. High Point used a 7-0 run to take the lead. Thiam's driving layup gave the Panthers a 10-point (53-43) lead with 10:32 to play.
The Chippewas erased the Panthers' lead with a 10-0 run of their own, using six points from Taylor and four points from Bass to tie the game at 53-53 with 8:09 to play.
Majerle buried a 3-pointer to give Central Michigan its first lead since the first half, a one-point advantage (59-58) with 5:32 to play, and Brian Taylor followed with two free throws, but the Chippewas couldn't hold on as High Point responded with three straight layups, two by Randleman and one by House, to take the lead back 64-61 with 3:17 to play.
Trailing 68-67 with eight seconds to play, Central Michigan had one last possession, but the Chippewas missed on a jumper at the buzzer.
Central Michigan shot 39 percent (23-59) from the floor and hit eight of 24 3-point attempts. The Chippewas were outrebounded 47-35 and outscored 44-24 in the paint.