Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Nov. 14)
Detroit 77, Rochester College 54
Wright State 73, Belmont 70
Valparaiso 90, ETSU 76
#14 Iowa State 93, Oakland 82
Iona 78, Cleveland State 73
Auburn 83, Milwaukee 73
DePaul 72, UIC 71
Detroit 77, Rochester College 54
Junior guard Anton Wilson scored a career-high 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting as the University of Detroit Mercy men's basketball team opened its 110th season with a 77-54 victory of Rochester College Friday night at Calihan Hall.
The win also marked the 100th for head coach Ray McCallum at Detroit. He is now just the fourth coach in program history to record 100 or more wins joining Bob Calihan (306), Perry Watson (261) and Lloyd Brazil (185).
Wilson made his first seven shots, including four from downtown, en route to scoring a team-high 20 points, while senior forward Juwan Howard Jr. pitched in 16 points and freshman Paris Bass added 13. Junior guard Carlton Brundidge pitched in eight points to go with four rebounds, three assists and three steals, while freshman forward Jaleel Hogan added eight points to go along with three boards.
Wilson scored the first four points of the game to help give Detroit (1-0) an early 7-2 lead. Rochester (4-4) would answer back with a three-pointer from Nick Tatu – who finished with a game-high 21 – to make the score 7-5, but that was as close as the score would get as the Titans responded with a 7-0 run including a three-pointer from Bass for his first collegiate points. After a basket from the Warriors, Detroit went on a 19-5 run, capped off by a Brundidge layup, to build a 21-point lead 33-12 with 4:46 left in the half. The Titans would then close the half with a 12-8 run to take a 45-20 lead into the locker room. Howard and Wilson both had 12 points at the half, while Bass had nine.
The Titans opened the second stanza with seven quick points – including five from Wilson – to build a 52-20 lead with 17:23 left. The lead would then stay around 30 for most of the second half until Tatu made three trifectas in the final minute to make score 77-54. The Titans had the ball with 15 seconds left and were just three points shy of giving the 2,005 fans in attendance free pizza, but didn't attempt a shot.
Detroit shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) overall, including 35.3 percent (6-of-17) from downtown, while holding Rochester to 39.6 percent (21-of-53) overall. The Titans forced 20 Warrior turnovers, while recording nine steals and five blocked shots.
Wright State 73, Belmont 70
Down four with 2:41 remaining, the men's basketball team scored the final seven points of the game to pull out a 73-70 season-opening win over Belmont Friday night at WSU's Nutter Center.
Valparaiso 90, ETSU 76
A mix of the old and the new led the Valparaiso men’s basketball team to a 90-76 victory over East Tennessee State in the season opener Friday night at the ARC.
The Crusaders were paced by the effort from sophomore Alec Peters (Washington, Ill./Washington) on Friday evening, as the preseason First Team All-League selection lived up to the billing against the Buccaneers. Peters went 9-of-15 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from downtown, to tie for game-high honors with 27 points. The sophomore added six rebounds as well.
Meanwhile, of Valpo’s four double-figure scorers, the other three are all newcomers to the program this season. Junior Darien Walker (Chicago, Ill./Simeon [John A. Logan/Arizona Western]) showed his performance in the Crusaders’ exhibition was no fluke, pouring in 20 points – including five 3-pointers – and ripping down a game-best eight rebounds. Freshman Tevonn Walker (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier College) was a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line en route to 16 points, while fellow rookie David Skara (Zadar, Croatia/Ekonomska Skola Zadar) posted 11 points and five rebounds in just 15 minutes off the bench.
A high-scoring game early on, the lead swung back and forth until a triple by Darien Walker with 6:38 to go in the opening period gave the Crusaders the lead for good. It was still only a one-point Valpo advantage at 35-34 with 2:39 to play in the half, but the Crusaders scored on each of their next three trips to take an eight-point lead into the break. Walker got the mini-spurt going with another 3-pointer – his fourth in the opening period – and Peters followed with a pair of baskets in the paint to make it 42-34 Valpo at the half.
The Crusaders pushed their lead to double figures a couple times early and in the middle stages of the second half, but the Buccaneers would rally, drawing to within 66-64 with 6:45 to play. Peters answered immediately with a triple, however, and then when ETSU pulled to within one possession again two minutes later, it was first Darien Walker and then Peters connecting on 3-pointers on back-to-back trips to make it 78-69 Crusaders. ETSU would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
The offense was clicking Friday night for the Crusaders, who won their tenth consecutive home opener and scored their most points in a season opener since the move to Division I. Valpo shot at a 50% clip for the game, including 10-of-18 from beyond the 3-point line, and took advantage of 43 trips to the charity stripe, making 28.
East Tennessee State (0-1) was led by 27 points from Jalen Riley, while A.J. Merriweather (12 points) and Lester Wilson (10 points) both scored in double figures as well. The Crusaders held the Buccaneers’ Rashawn Rembert, their leading scorer last season, to just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting.
#14 Iowa State 93, Oakland 82
Junior Georges Niang had a career-high 30 points and nine rebounds as No. 14 Iowa State beat Oakland 93-82 on Friday night
UNLV transfer Bryce Dejean-Jones had 20 points in his debut for the Cyclones (1-0), who improved to 5-0 in openers under coach Fred Hoiberg.
Iowa State sandwiched a 15-3 run around the half after allowing Oakland to tie the score at 38-all. The Cyclones built their lead up to as much as 20 in the second half and won comfortably behind Niang, who figures to be Iowa State's top scoring option this season.
Corey Petros had 25 points and Kahlil Felder scored 23 for Oakland (0-1), which was picked seventh in the preseason Horizon League poll.
Iowa State's offense clicked from the opening tip. However, the defense took a bit longer to get going.
The Cyclones shot 50 percent in the first half. But they couldn't string together enough stops to get a significant run going, and Oakland was able to pull even just before halftime behind strong starts from Petros and Felder.
Iowa State closed the half with a 7-0 run though, and Dejean-Jones gave the Cyclones their first double-digit lead, 51-41, with 16:13 left.
Niang then found Dejean-Jones for an alley-oop - a sight Hoiberg will certainly like to see more of this season. Niang's first 3 of the year put the Cyclones up 65-50 with 11:12 to go.
Dustin Hogue had 15 points and Monte Morris had 14 for the Cyclones, who shot 5 of 9 on 3s in the second half.
Iona 78, Cleveland State 73
Cleveland State rallied from a 20 point second half deficit to take the lead, but Iona scored the final five points of the game to claim a 78-73 win in the season opener on Friday night in the Haynes Athletics Center.
Marlin Mason scored 16 points, hitting all six of his shots from the field, including two three-pointers. Trey Lewis added 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Kaza Keane scored 13 points in his CSU debut.
Andre Yates added 14 points, while Anton Grady grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
"I thought this was a very good college basketball game," head coach Gary Waters said. "We played hard to get back in the game and take the lead, but we didn't execute down the stretch. We took a few ill-advised shots that could have extended our lead. We have a tough early season schedule and we will need to learn from this game."
Iona took a 39-32 lead at the half, as the Vikings battled foul trouble with three starters – Grady, Mason and Yates – combining to play just 20 minutes due to foul trouble.
CSU's bench of Derek Sloan, Kenny Carpenter and Demonte Flannigan provided a lift in the first half to help the Vikings build a 30-26 lead with 4:49 to play on a Keane layup. However, the Gaels ended the half on a 13-2 run to take a seven point lead into the half.
The run continued early in the second half as Iona used hot three-point shooting to take a 20 point advantage (58-38) just five minutes into the half.
However, back-to-back three-pointers from Mason and another from Yates ignited a CSU spurt and pulled CSU within 11 points. Iona's lead was still 12 points (66-54) midway through the half, but once again the Vikings used the three-point ball to spark another run, taking a 71-70 lead on a Grady layup with 4:11 to play.
Iona's Schadrac Casimir stopped the bleeding with a big three-pointer to give the Gaels a two-point lead (73-71) with 2:27 left, but Lewis answered with a mid-range jumper from the wing to tie the contest with just over a minute left. Iona came right back with a layup to take a two-point lead and after a CSU miss, Isaiah Williams split a pair of free throws to put the Gaels up three with 24 seconds left.
The Vikings used their final timeout, setting up a play that freed Lewis for a good look on a three-pointer from the right wing, but it was just long and Iona hit two free throws to seal the win.
Both teams shot well from three-point, hitting 10 apiece. However, the Gaels used a 22-of-37 effort at the free throw line compared to 9-of-13 for CSU. The Vikings held a 39-31 advantage on the glass.
Auburn 83, Milwaukee 73
Visiting University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (0-1) shot 51 percent from the field, but host Auburn University (1-0) used a game-changing 19-3 run in the second half to pick up an 83-73 victory tonight at Auburn Arena. The Tigers went to the foul line 39 times on the night, compared to Milwaukee's 14.
"The second half was the key to the game. Some of our inexperience showed tonight and we didn't complete some plays defensively but I am proud of our team and how we competed," Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter said.
After getting off to a bit of a slow start, Milwaukee dialed things up defensively midway through the first half and turned a 19-10 deficit into a three-point lead thanks to a 12-0 run. All told, the Panthers closed out the first half on a 22-13 run and hit 10 of their final 19 shots from the field.
Spearheading Milwaukee to that first-half lead was the outstanding play off the bench by Justin Jordan and Brett Prahl, who combined for 13 first-half points as the Panthers took a 32-29 lead into the break.
Milwaukee led by four points early in the second period and four straight points from Akeem Springs kicked off a 12-4 spurt that extended the lead to 55-43 with 11:09 left to play.
On its next possession, a three-pointer by Auburn's KT Harrell sparked the Tigers' 19-3 run that was capped by an Antoine Mason free throw. Springs' free throws later brought the Panthers within 71-69 but four straight Auburn points cemented the outcome.
Auburn shot 28 of 39 from the foul line on the night, including a staggering 24 of 32 in the second half alone.
Springs was sensational in his Milwaukee debut, accounting for a game-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds. Jordan, who likewise shined in his Panthers debut, netted 11 points, three boards and three assists off the bench, while JR Lyle finished with 10 points.
DePaul 72, UIC 71
Facing a 21-point deficit late in the first half, the UIC men’s basketball team (0-1) rallied against DePaul (1-0) to take its first lead of the game with 30 seconds left to play, but eventually fell by one (72-71) in the season opener on Friday night at McGrath-Phillips Arena. The Flames out-scored DePaul, 41-26, in the second period after trailing, 46-30, at the break. Senior Marc Brown netted a game-high 19 points, while junior Jake Wiegand secured a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
