EASTERN MICHIGAN 79, DETROIT MERCY 77
KENT STATE 106, CONCORD 56
WEST VIRGINIA 96, BUFFALO 78
MISSOURI STATE 79, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 58
AMES, Iowa – Western Michigan got a game-high 24 points from senior guard Lamar Norman Jr. in a 73-57 setback at Iowa State on Sunday afternoon at ISU's Hilton Coliseum.
Norman's 24 points included six three-pointers, one shy of his season high. Sunday marked the fifth game with 20 or more points for the senior, and the eighth time this season he has led Western Michigan (3-8) in scoring.
Joining Norman in double-figures were Tray Maddox Jr. (13) and JaVaughn Hannah (10). Hannah's 10 points matched a career high. Markeese Hastings paced the Broncos on the glass with a game-high eight.
Norman converted a four-point play as a part of a 10-4 spurt which brought WMU to within 34-21 with 2:10 to go in the half. ISU took a 37-23 advantage into the halftime locker room.
A 9-2 stretch in the early stages of the second half helped the Cyclones increase their lead out to 49-28 with 14:37 to play. Western Michigan used an 11-4 run to get back to within 13, as Hannah connected on a three-pointer to make it 60-47 at the 5:23 mark.
The Broncos closed the gap to 13 again with 3:23 remaining, but could not get any closer, as the Cyclones scored eight of the next 10 points to put the game beyond WMU's reach.
Western Michigan shot 20-of-52 (38.5 percent) for the afternoon and made a season-high 13 three-pointers. Iowa State hit 31-of-49 (63.3 percent) from the field and knocked down seven triples. The Broncos won the rebounding battle for the eighth time in 11 games, as they edged the Cyclones 27-26 on the glass.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – Eastern Michigan battled to the end to secure a hard-fought home victory as the Eagles downed the visiting Titans of the University of Detroit Mercy, 79-77, Dec. 18, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center.
The Eagles (3-9, 0-0 MAC) snapped a three-game losing streak with their second home victory of the season while defeating the Titans (5-7, 1-1 Horizon) for the second game in a row in the series.
Eastern, playing its oldest foe in a series that dates back to 1898, received 24 points from the bench which included a career-high 17 from Yusuf Jihad. Jihad's previous best was eight points that he scored against Detroit Mercy as a member of the Oakland University team, Dec. 26, 2020. Tyson Acuff and Emoni Bates each tallied 19 points in the win for the Eagles while Noah Farrakhan added 11 points. Antoine Davis, the second-ranked scorer in the NCAA this year, scored a game-high 30 points for the Titans.
The Eagles, who scored their most points in the first half this season with 47, surpassing the 45 tallied against then-No. 22 University of Michigan, Nov. 11, made the most of their free throws as the team was 23-of-26 from the charity stripe for an 88.5 percent conversion, the eighth-best performance in facility history. All told, both teams shot over 86 percent from the line as the Titans finished 13-of-15 for an 86.7 percent conversion.
Defensively, Eastern forced 16 Detroit Mercy turnovers while committing 13 itself and turned those takeaways into 17 points on the other end of the floor. Acuff's five steals led the way for an Eastern team that tallied a season-high 12 steals. The Eagles also soared to record four blocks with Jalin Billinglsey leading the way with a career-high-tying three rejections.
Kent, Ohio - Kent State did not disappoint in its last home game of 2022 with a 106-56 victory over Concord University. Jalen Sullinger hit a jump shot to lift the Flashes to the century mark for the first time this season. The last time the Flashes hit 100 points was against Point Park on Nov. 30, 2021, when the team scored 107 points.
The Flashes shot 50 percent from beyond the arch and 51.4 percent from the field in the first half. The Flashes took the lead and did not look back. It was the Flashes' second time scoring 50 points in the first half. The last time was versus AR-Pine Bluff on Nov. 16.
With the Flashes taking control early in the game, for the entire team. All it opened opportunities for the entire squad. All 11 Kent State players that put minutes in scored at least six points, including Akeem Odusipe who scored a career-high 10 points. Six players poured out double-digits, and three of those players came off the bench.
The Flashes played nearly flawlessly in the second half. The win by 50 points was the first since Nov. 30, 2021, against Point Park. Sincere Carry and Jalen Sullinger dished out a game-high of 16 points each. This was the first time Sullinger has led the team in points and Carry's tenth. Carry also chipped in a game-high five assists for the eighth time this season.
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The Buffalo Bulls (5-6, 0-0 MAC) fell at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers (9-2, 0-0 Big 12) on Sunday evening, 96-78.
In the loss, Isaac Jack set a career-high 13 points, with Isaiah Adams finishing with a team-high 20 points. Curtis Jones also finished in double-figures, scoring 13 points. Jones distributed the ball well as he tied his season-high in assists with four.
For the first time this season, the Bulls lost a game where they had more assists than turnovers. They were 5-0 heading into the game with that stat line.
Buffalo kept the game close in the first half despite early foul trouble. The Bulls even took a 14-13 lead after an Isaac Jack and-one. It was the only lead Buffalo owned on the night.
The Mountaineers were in the double-bonus with more than nine minutes left in the opening half. The Bulls finished the first half with 15 fouls compared to West Virginia's eight.
Although trailing by eight at the half, the Bulls had a better shooting percentage than the Mountaineers. However, West Virginia was 5-for-11 from beyond the arc.
The foul trouble bled into the second half as both Isaac Jack and Jonnivius Smith fouled out. Overall, West Virginia was 22-of-33 from the charity stripe, as Buffalo only had 13 attempts.
Almost half of Buffalo's points came via the paint, bullying their way to the basket for 38 points. The Mountaineers bullied back on the glass, outrebounding Buffalo, 41-30. This created a 14-point separation in second chance points in favor of West Virginia.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—Missouri State took advantage of 12 Central Michigan first half turnovers in building a 10-point halftime lead, then opened the second half on an 8-0 surge en route to a 79-58 win over the Chippewas Sunday evening at Great Southern Bank Arena. The loss drops Central Michigan to 4-7 overall, while Missouri State improves to 5-7.
Clinging to a 10-point halftime lead (40-30), Missouri State scored the first eight points of the second half to take a commanding 18-point lead (48-30). Jonathan Mogbo converted a layup, Damien Mayo hit a free throw, Raphe Ayers swished a 3-pointer, and Mayo finished off a layup before CMU junior Jesse Zarzuela scored on a follow-up layup with 16:16 to play.
From there, Missouri State gradually extended its lead as a James Graham 3-pointer gave the Bears a 21-point lead (58-37) with 10:54 to play, another Graham 3-pointer put Missouri State up 61-37 with 10: 26 to go, and an Alston Mason 3-pointer put MSU up 27 points (64-37) at the 9:41 mark. During that period, the Chippewas struggled on offense as they hit just 1-9 field goals in the first five minutes of the second half and were 2-18 over the first 10 minutes.
Central Michigan was led by freshman Reggie Bass, who scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first half. Bass finished the game with 4-10 3-pointers. Senior Brian Taylor tallied 12 points and Zarzuela finished with seven points
Missouri State was led by Dalen Rignal's 16 points. Mogbo and Graham both finished with 12 points apiece.
Central Michigan was outrebounded 41-26, shot just 36.4 percent (20-55) from the floor, and hit just 31.8 percent from 3-point range (7-22).
Led by Ridgnall's 16 points, Missouri State built a 40-30 halftime lead after taking advantage of 12 CMU first half turnovers. The Bears put together runs of 10-0 and 6-0 and held CMU without a field goal for a 5:30 span before Bass hit a 3-pointer with two seconds before the halftime buzzer. The two teams combined for 21 first half turnovers.
Central Michigan put together a 9-0 run to take an early 9-5 lead in the game's opening minutes. The game saw a combined nine turnovers in the game's first seven minutes. Then, Missouri State went up 14-9 with a 9-0 run and Central Michigan answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Bass and Stafl to lead 15-14 with 11:18 to play in the first half.
Missouri State rallied back with a 10-0 run and grabbed a 26-20 advantage with 6:15 to play in the first half. The Bears took advantage of a Chance Moore free throw, a Ridgnall 3-pointer, which broke a 20-20 tie and gave the Bears the lead for good, and a dunk by Ridgnall, a Damien Mayo layup, and two Jonathan Mogbo free throws. From there, the Bears slowly extended their lead.
Central Michigan fell to 0-5 on the road this year.