Weekend Recap

Friday November 17:

Buffalo 77 - Cleveland St. 73: Buffalo started its 3 games in 3 days stretch off nicely in Evansville with a come from behind victory over CSU. Buffalo was down 35-28 at the half, but battled back to win in the second half. The Bulls' starting five was dominant, scoring 24, 15, 14, 10, and 8, respectively. Surprisingly, Yassin Idbihi was the low scorer of the starting lineup, but chipped in 7 assists. Buffalo's turnovers were a little high, at 18, but better than prior outings for Buffalo.

Iowa 78 - Toledo 65: Toledo kept the game close with its Big 10 foe, but ultimately came up short. Justin Ingram led the Rockets with 22 points, while Keonta Howell added 16. The Rockets' lack of a post game was exposed, however, as Iowa out-rebounded Toledo by a whopping 51-30 margin. While the Rockets won't face many front courts in the MAC as deep and tall as Iowa's, finding a way to neutralize the disparity in size still the biggest issue by far for Stan Joplin as the season progresses.

Miami 52 - Florida A&M 33: Miami thoroughly shut down the Rattlers' offensive attack, holding A&M to 11 points in the first half, and only 22 in the second. Florida A&M was only able to muster 25% shooting from the field for the game. Tim Pollitz led the Redhawks with 16 points and 11 boards, while Michael Bramos added 13. Nate Peavy was limited to only 9 points. While Miami has to be relieved to notch its first win, the fact that the Redhawks could only muster 52 points against Florida A&M has to be a sign of concern for Miami fans hoping for a more uptempo style this season.

Saturday November 18:

Kent St. 61 - Detroit 48: The Flashes jumped out to a double digit lead during a run in the late first half, and never looked back against Detroit. Freshman guard Rodriguez Sherman led Kent with 14 points on 6-9 shooting from the field. Armon Gates chipped in 12 and 8, while Haminn Quaintance had 7 and 7. Kent was without the services of freshman stud Chris Singletary who was apparently suspended for the contest.

Buffalo 60 - Miami (FL) 57: The Bulls scored the MAC's first big win of the season, with a 3 point win over the Hurricanes of the ACC on a neutral court in Evansville. Yassin Idbihi led the Bulls with 22 points and 14 boards, while Parnell Smith chipped in 10 points. Only four other Bulls scored, but altogether Buffalo was able to muster enough offense to get by their ACC foe despite 36.5% shooting from the field. Buffalo again minimized their turnovers (15) and was able to out-rebound Miami (43-35).

Toledo 75 - Middle Tennessee St. 69 (OT): Toledo notched its first win of the season by getting a big comeback victory against MTSU. Toledo trailed by 18 at the half (39-21), but was able to even the in the second half before outlasting the Blue Raiders in OT. The Rockets were able to out-rebound MTSU 28-24, but did turn the ball over 20 times. Justin Ingram again led the Rockets with 32, while Keonta Howell added 21.

Marquette 95 - EMU 62: While a loss on the road against a Top 25 opponent is usually understandable, the margin of defeat for EMU is disappointing. First, EMU kept the game close in the first half, only trailing by 12 at the break. Moreover, Marquette has struggled with some lesser opponents this season, needing overtime to get by Idaho State at home, while only beating Division II Hillsdale by 10. Carlos Medlock again had a disappointing game for EMU, scoring only 8 points on 3-7 shooting, along with 8 turnovers. True freshman Devon Dumes led the Eagles with 16.

Sunday November 19:

Ball St. 65 - Prairie View A&M 48: Coach Thompson elected to start his career with another cupcake, as the Cards outlasted Panthers by 17. Ball State, again without the services of Skip Mills, only led by 1 at the half, 28-27. 3 Cards led the team in scoring, with Jalon Perryman, Steve Horton, and D'Andre Peyton all tallying 13. Of concern, Peyton Stovall was only able to score 2 points on 1-6 shooting.

Furman 63 - BGSU 59: BGSU was trailing the Paladins 29-20 at the half in Anderson Arena, but charged out on a 22-2 run to start the 2nd half. Unfortunately for the Falcons, and the MAC, BGSU was unable to take advantage of that run, ultimately falling to Furman. Martin Samarco showed up to play with 27 points, but was unable to hit a free throw in the final seconds that could have tied the game.

Akron 97 - Tiffin 35: In what was really just a glorified exhibition game, the Zips demolished Division II Tiffin, after jumping out to a 48-14 halftime lead. I can't wonder why is this game was even played...Akron's anemic OOC schedule will ultimately keep it out of the NCAA Tournament, unless the Zips are able to run the table in the Q in March. Cedrick Middleton scored 16 to lead the Zips.

CMU 85 - Missouri-Kansas City 68: It looked like another bad loss for the MAC, as CMU trailed the Kangaroos by 16 at the half in Mount Pleasant. However, the second half was another story entirely, as CMU outscored UMKC 59-26, en route to a 17 point win. Giordan Watson led the way with 17 points and 8 assists for the Chips.

Ohio 73 - Yale 65: In an underwhelming performance, the Bobcats move to 2-0 on the year with a hard fought win against the Ivy league. Ohio, in the midst of finals, came out flat against the Bulldogs, and trailed for much of the first half. Turnovers and poor foul shooting plagued the 'Cats early. However, Ohio was able to take control of the ball (finishing with only 10 TOs), and rode the hot hands of Whitney Davis (19) and Kenneth "KVK" van Kempen (15 points, 5 boards) for the win. Leon Williams had a quiet 10 point, 10 rebound night.

Evansville 74 - Buffalo 44: After notching the MAC's biggest win of the year on Saturday against Miami (FL), Buffalo couldn't keep its momentum going on Sunday against host Evansville. The Aces jumped all over the Bulls early and often, en route to an easy win. Yassin Idbihi was the only Bull in double figures, scoring 13 points along with 7 boards.