Tuesday's hoops: CMU, EMU prevail in overtime

Mount Pleasant — Larry Austin Jr. drove for a layup that kissed softly off the glass with 2.5 seconds left and Central Michigan battled past Akron in overtime, 88-86, on Tuesday night for its seventh straight win.

Jimond Ivey scored 24 points to lead Akron, including two free throws with 12.4 seconds remaining in overtime to knot the score 86-86. Ivey also grabbed 11 rebounds and made seven assists with just one turnover.

Rob Montgomery scored a career-high 23 points for Central Michigan (13-2, 3-0 Mid-American Conference). Shawn Roundtree added 20 points, and Austin finished with 13 points and 11 assists.

Daniel Utomi added 18 points, Tyler Cheese had 16 and Loren Jackson 12 for the Zips, who led for most of the game but never by more than eight. There were 14 lead changes and seven ties.

Central Michigan trailed 76-73 when David DiLeo was fouled with 5.1 seconds on the clock. DiLeo swished all three free throws to knot the score despite Akron calling a timeout between the first and second ones.

DiLeo scored 10 points with eight rebounds.

More state men

Eastern Michigan 84, (at) Ball State 82 (2OT): Elijah Minnie scored 25 points with a career-high six 3-pointers, Paul Jackson added 15 points and the winning free throws as Eastern Michigan beat Ball State for its first win against the Cardinals since March 3, 2015.

James Thompson IV scored 18 points and grabbed 19 rebounds — 11 on the offensive end — for his fourth straight double-double for the Eagles (7-8, 1-1 MAC), who ended a two-game skid. Kevin McAdoo added 15 points.

Trey Moses’ layup tied it at 82 with 41 seconds left in the second overtime, but he missed the and-one and Jackson hit two free throws for the Eagles with 17 seconds to go. Moses missed a 3 at the buzzer and Thompson grabbed the rebound to ice it.

The Eagles led 34-32 at halftime and Minnie’s 3 with six seconds left in regulation tied it at 65. Ball State’s Austin Nehls hit a 3 at the first overtime buzzer to tie it at 73.

Tahjai Teague scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Kyle Mallers added 11 points for the Cardinals (10-5, 1-1). Moses grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 16 points for his 1,000th career point to become the 32nd player in Ball State history to reach that mark.

(At) Kent State 88, Western Michigan 73: Jaylin Walker scored 23 points and handed out five assists and Philip Whittington added 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to lead Kent State.

Walker, who came in averaging 22.6 points per game, hit 8 of 19 shots including three from beyond the arc for the Golden Flashes (12-3, 1-1 MAC). Whittington snagged six of his rebounds on the offensive glass and added two steals and two blocked shots. Jalen Avery finished with 12 points. He added eight assists and seven rebounds – both season highs. Antonio Williams had 14 points, Mitch Peterson scored 13 and the pair combined to make 11 of 13 shots.

Jared Printy’s 3-pointer gave Western Michigan a 3-0 lead, but Whittington had a layup and Kain Harris sank a 3 and the Golden Flashes never trailed again. Walker had five points in the final 35 seconds of the first half to put the Flashes up 44-31 at intermission. William Boyer-Richard sank a 3-pointer to pull the Broncos (6-9, 0-2) within 52-48 with 13:01 left to play, but Walker hit two free throws and a 3 to push the Kent State lead back to nine and Western Michigan would get no closer.

Michael Flowers hit four 3s and scored 20 to pace Western Michigan, which has lost 12 of its last 15 games against Kent State.

State women

(At) Michigan 79, Northwestern 78 (OT): Naz Hillmon had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Hallie Thome added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Nicole Munger scored 16 for Michigan (11-5, 2-2). Lindsey Pulliam led Northwestern (9-6, 2-2) with 22 points, while Abbie Wolf had 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Big Ten

Maryland 82, (at) Minnesota 67: Anthony Cowan Jr. matched his career high with 27 points and freshman Jalen Smith pitched in a season-best 21 points and eight rebounds, leading Maryland’s rally that was fueled by sharp free-throw shooting.

Bruno Fernando added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten), who went 24 for 27 from the foul line. Cowan, who also had six rebounds and five assists, made all 10 of his free throws as Maryland finished the game with a 21-6 run over the final seven minutes.

Amir Coffey had 16 points and five assists for the Gophers (12-3, 2-2), who clanked their way to defeat by missing 14 of their 23 foul shots.

Top 25

No. 1 Duke 87, (at) Wake Forest 65: Freshman sensation Zion Williamson scored a season-high 30 points with 10 rebounds, and Duke won its first road game of the season.

RJ Barrett finished with 21 points and matched a season high with seven assists, and Cameron Reddish added 10 points during his best game in a month, helping the Blue Devils (13-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their eighth in a row.

The high-flying Williamson was 13 of 16 from the field with three 3-pointers — he entered with four all season — in surpassing the 28 points he scored in his debut against No. 2 Kentucky.

Freshman forward Jaylen Hoard scored 13 points, and Sharone Wright Jr. and Brandon Childress had 12 apiece for the Demon Deacons (7-7, 0-2), who have lost three of four to fall to .500 for the first time since November.

No. 3 Tennessee 87, (at) Missouri 63: Kyle Alexander had 14 points and a career-high 17 rebounds as Tennessee recorded its second straight blowout victory in Southeastern Conference play.

Jordan Bowden came off the bench to score 20 points, Jordan Bone added 17 and Admiral Schofield finished with 16 for the Volunteers (13-1, 2-0 SEC), who beat Georgia by 46 points in their conference opener Saturday.

Freshman Xavier Pinson scored 13 points and Jordan Geist had 12 — all in the first half — for Missouri (9-4, 0-1).

(At) No. 7 Texas Tech 66, No. 23 Oklahoma 59: Jarrett Culver had his first double-double of the season and scored seven straight Texas Tech points to break a tie late in the second half, leading the Red Raiders to a win over Oklahoma.

The sophomore, who finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, put his hometown Red Raiders (14-1, 3-0 Big 12) ahead for good with a layup for a 53-51 lead with 4:22 remaining, then converted a three-point play to push the lead to five.

After Aaron Calixte hit a 3-pointer to get the Sooners back with two, Culver muscled through a crowd to rebound his own miss of a short bank shot and powered up over two defenders for a bucket and a 58-53 lead.

Christian James scored 14 points for the Sooners (12-3, 1-2) and Brady Manek added 13, but second-half shooting struggles caught up with Oklahoma in a second Big 12 loss to a Top 10 opponent.

No. 12 North Carolina 90, (at) No. 15 N.C. State 82: Luke Maye scored 21 points to help North Carolina hold off North Carolina State in the longtime rivals’ latest meeting.

Freshman Coby White added 19 points for the Tar Heels (12-3, 2-0 ACC), who scored the game’s first 12 points and never trailed. But UNC had to turn away a series of pushes from the Wolfpack, who twice tied the game after halftime but never managed to push in front.

The Tar Heels went 6-for-6 at the line in the final 32.1 seconds to seal the win, their sixth straight in Raleigh. UNC also won despite playing the last 12-plus minutes without leading scorer Cameron Johnson, who exited with leg cramps.

Braxton Beverly scored 21 points to lead N.C. State (13-2, 1-1), which had won seven straight games.

(At) South Carolina 87, No. 14 Mississippi State 82 (OT): Freshman A.J. Lawson stole the ball and finished with an emphatic dunk with 13 seconds left in overtime to seal South Carolina’s upset of Mississippi State.

Maik Kotsar scored a career-high 25 points and had nine rebounds for the Gamecocks (7-7, 2-0 SEC), who were the only SEC team with a losing record in nonconference play but now sit atop the league.

Lawson, who came in as the team’s leading scorer, averaging 13 points a game, scored just six points on 3-of-11 shooting. But he may have turned around what appeared to be a lost season for South Carolina with his steal and dunk as the Bulldogs (12-2, 0-1) tried to get a potential game-tying 3.

(At) No. 18 Kentucky 85, Texas A&M 74: Tyler Herro had 21 points, Ashton Hagans scored a career-high 18 and Kentucky overcame a 10-0 deficit before holding off Texas A&M for a victory.

The Wildcats (11-3, 1-1 SEC) started badly on both ends with four missed shots, turnovers and defensive breakdowns the Aggies seized upon for a pair of 10-point leads. Kentucky quickly regrouped with a 19-6 run over 5:21. Hagans had a pair of steals during the spurt.

The Wildcats led 46-34 at the break before having to withstand a second-half comeback by the Aggies (6-7, 0-2), who got within 66-64 with 7:55 left. Immanuel Quickley answered with a 3-pointer and PJ Washington eventually followed with a three-point play for an 11-point cushion that held up.

Jay Jay Chandler and TJ Starks each had 18 points for Texas A&M, which shot above 50 percent for much of the game.

(At) No. 19 Buffalo 110, Toledo 80: Jeremy Harris scored a career-best 34 points in leading Buffalo to a rout of Toledo.

Harris scored 20 points in the first half alone and finished hitting a career-best six 3-point baskets for the Bulls (14-1, 2-0 MAC). Buffalo celebrated its first home game in 3 1/2 weeks by putting up 110 points for the second time this season. The Bulls last scored that many in a 110-71 win over Dartmouth on Nov. 21.

Nick Perkins scored 21 and Jayvon Graves had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Buffalo, which won its 18th consecutive home game in a streak dating to a 103-85 loss to St. Bonaventure on Dec. 2, 2017.

Marreon Jackson scored 20 and Chris Darrington added 21 for Toledo (12-3, 0-2). The Rockets’ leading scorer Jaelan Sanford hit just 1 of 10 for 3 points.

(At) Baylor 73, No. 20 Iowa State 70: Makai Mason scored 25 points, including five free throws in the final 38 seconds as Baylor held on to beat Iowa State.

Iowa State (12-3, 2-1 Big 12) was coming off a 17-point home win over then-No. 5 Kansas three days earlier. The Cyclones had won five in a row and entered the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time since the end of the 2016-17 season.

Devonte Bandoo made two free throws with five seconds left for Baylor (9-5, 1-1), and Iowa State had one more shot to tie the game but Nick Weiler-Babb’s defended 3-pointer from the right side was not even close.

(At) Villanova 76, No. 24 St. John's 71: Phil Booth hit a go-ahead 3-pointer late in the game and scored 23 points to help Villanova rally to beat St. John’s.

Eric Paschall scored 25 points for the defending national champion Wildcats (12-4, 3-0 Big East), who shook off four losses in nonconference play and are rounding into form as the team to beat in the conference.

Shamorie Ponds had 23 points for St. John’s (14-2, 2-2), the last on two free throws with 59 seconds left that got the Red Storm within 72-69. The Wildcats, who dropped two home games early to fall out of the Top 25, sealed their fourth straight victory at the free-throw line.