WESTERN MICHIGAN 108, BOWLING GREEN 92
CENTRAL MICHIGAN 87, BUFFALO 78 (OT)
TOLEDO 84, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 67
By MIKE SMITH
MUNCIE, IN -- Miami Head Coach Travis Steele is fond of reminding, "Defense travels."
Conversely, as with any experienced coach, he knows offense may not travel, and Saturday's results supported that observation. The RedHawks made just 1-of-13 3-point tries while falling to Ball State 75-61 at Worthen Arena.
It was the eighth win in nine games for BSU, which bounced back from a road loss at Ohio Tuesday night. The Cardinals (12-5 overall) are now 3-1 in conference play, while Miami (7-10 overall) falls to 1-3.
Both teams finished with . . . CONTINUE
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Trailing by 11 at halftime, Western Michigan outscored Bowling Green 69-42 after the break to rally back and knock off the Falcons, 108-92, on Saturday afternoon at University Arena.
The Broncos (6-11, 2-2 MAC) notched their 69 second-half points on 23-of-33 (69.7 percent) shooting, and 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) at the free throw line. It marked the first 60-plus point half for WMU since it netted 60 second-half points against UNCW on November 30, 2016.
Saturday marked the first time Western Michigan has surpassed 100 points in a game since pouring in 102 against Alma back on November, 19, 2019. It was the first 100-plus point effort against a MAC opponent since the Broncos won 100-90 in double overtime at Buffalo on January 29, 2008.
Western Michigan had six players in double-figures for the second time this season, with JaVaughn Hannah’s career-high 24 points leading the way. Lamar Norman Jr. was right behind the freshman with 22 points, 21 of which came in the second half. Seth Hubbard tallied a career-high 15 points in the contest, with Titus Wright (13), Owen Lobsinger (12) and Tray Maddox Jr. (11) also scoring double-digit points for WMU.
Wright added a team-high seven rebounds for the afternoon, while Hannah and Markeese Hastings grabbed six apiece to help Western Michigan win the rebounding battle, 35-26. Norman notched a career-high eight assists, while Hastings picked up a career-high five helpers.
Bowling Green (8-9, 2-2 MAC) was led by Leon Ayers III, who tallied 21 points and dished out eight assists. Rashaun Agee and Samari Curtis came off the bench to score 19 points apiece.
The Falcons used 9-0 and 8-0 runs to build a double-digit cushion, 28-15, near the midway point of the opening period. A 7-2 stretch helped the Broncos trim the gap down to seven, 43-36, with 3:05 remaining in the first half.
BGSU pushed its lead back into double-figures just before halftime, and took a 50-39 edge into the locker room.
Western Michigan came out on fire after the break, and used a 21-2 surge to take a nine-point deficit and turn it into a 10-point lead, 69-59, with 10:53 on the clock. During the run, the Bronco defense had a seven-minute stretch where it limited the Falcons to one made field goal.
BGSU chipped away at the margin and got it down to as little as six on a couple of occasions, including 86-80 with five minutes remaining. The Broncos responded with six in a row to push their lead out to 12, 92-80, with 3:18 to play, and maintained a double-digit cushion for the remainder of the game.
Both teams connected on over half of their field goals for the game, with Western Michigan shooting 56.1 percent (37-of-66) and Bowling Green at 58.3 percent (35-of-60) for the day. The Broncos shot 30 free throws for the second consecutive game, and made a season-high 25 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
WMU committed a season-low four turnovers to help lead to a 17-8 advantage in points scored off of turnovers, as well as a 21-10 edge in fast break points.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.--Junior Jesse Zarzuela scored a career-high 29 points and freshman Reggie Bass added 21 as Central Michigan 2-2 MAC, 7-10 overall) erased a five-point deficit late in regulation to force overtime, then dominated the overtime period to notch an 87-78 victory over Buffalo (2-2 MAC, 8-9 overall) Saturday at McGuirk Arena.
Curtis Jones paced Buffalo with 20 points, followed by Yazid Powell (16), Jonnivius Smith (13) and Isaiah Adams (12).
Trailing by five points (64-59) with 2:48 to play, Central Michigan started its comeback. The Chippewas quickly tied the game at 64-64 with a 5-0 run, taking advantage of a 3-point play by Miroslav Stafl and two Bass free throws. Two Zarzuela free throws gave CMU the lead back, 66-65 with 1:28 to play, but Buffalo's Curtis Jones hit a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 68-66 lead with 1:16 to go.
Zarzuela tied it at 68-68 on a stepback jumper with 50 seconds to play. But after Jones drew a foul and hit two free throws to give Buffalo a 70-68 lead with 18 seconds to play, Central Michigan had possession with eight seconds to play under its own basket. The Chippewas inbounded, Bass dribbled up the floor, handed off to Zarzuela, who drove to the basket and found junior Carrington McCaskill down low for a layup at the buzzer to force overtime and a 70-70.
It was all Central Michigan in overtime as Central Michigan outscored Buffalo 17-8. The Chippewas scored on each of their first five overtime possessions and used a 10-0 run to take a commanding 80-70 lead with 1:52 to play. Zarzuela (11 points) and Bass (six points) combined to score all 17 of Central Michigan's points in overtime.
DeKALB, Ill. – Four Rockets scored at least 15 points to propel Toledo to its first Mid-American Conference road victory on Saturday afternoon with an 84-67 win over Northern Illinois (5-12, 1-3 MAC). UT's win was its fourth-straight over the Huskie, as well as it fifth in last six trips to DeKalb.
"This was a very good road win for us heading into Tuesday's game against a talented Ohio team," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We guarded from start to finish, played with energy and talked on defense. Northern Illinois' guards are such good scorers and a big key for us was holding David Coit to six points and 2-of-13 shooting."
Sophomore Dante Maddox Jr. led the way for Toledo (11-6, 2-2 MAC) with 18 points with senior Setric Millner Jr., senior JT Shumate and junior RayJ Dennis each scoring 15 points.
Junior AJ Edu grabbed a season-high nine rebounds to help the Rockets register a 44-32 rebounding advantage and a 19-7 edge in second-chance points.
Dennis and sophomore Ra'Heim Moss each dished out five assists to help UT collect 17 assists on its 25 field goals. Millner and Moss each grabbed a team-high three steals, while Shumate blocked a team-best three shots.
Toledo held a decided advantage at the free-throw line, knocking down 28-of-38 free throws compared to NIU's 15-of-24 totals.
The Huskies were paced in scoring by seniors Darweshi Hunter (22 pts.) and Kaleb Thornton (21 pts.).