Saturday's state college basketball: Central Michigan overrun by Texas

Austin, Texas — Jase Febres, the most prolific 3-point shooter for Texas, knows that are games when opponents shadow him so closely that he can’t get an open look.

Then there is the occasional day like Saturday.

Febres, a junior, established season-bests with 23 points and seven 3-point baskets, and Texas defeated Central Michigan 87-76 after trailing by nine in the first half.

“When I am open I have to take advantage because I know that in other games they might be face-guarding,” said Febres, who missed only three times from behind the line.

Courtney Ramey added a career-best 20 points for Texas (9-1) and Matt Coleman scored 12. Each handed out six assists. Royce Hamm contributed eight points and a career-best 12 rebounds in 16 minutes as a reserve. The Longhorns went 14 of 25 from 3-point range and shot 51% overall, 58% in the second half.

Kevin McKay led Central Michigan with 21 points. David Dileo scored 15, and Dallas Morgan had 14.

Central Michigan (7-4) led 42-36 at halftime after inducing 12 Texas turnovers, primarily with frenetic half-court defense. The Chippewas made six steals in the half.

The Chippewas went 6:21 in the second half without a field goal, settling for one free throw, but they never trailed by more than a point during that span.

Then Morgan heated up with three 3-point baskets in less than two minutes. But Febbres matched those with three treys of his own, in a span of 1:37.

Febres’ career-best is eight 3-pointers against Iowa State last season. He made four of them twice this season.

This was another one of those games for Febres, who has shooing 3s with pedestrian 33.8% accuracy before Saturday.

“Guys continue to find me, continues to look for me, and it’s my job to knock down threes and be a spark.”

Sometimes Febres was open in transition because of the fast pace of the game.

“A lot of times in transition, we were pushing and running,” Febres said. “Our jail break mentality.”

Coach Shaka Smart expects more of this.

“We could have got him even a couple more looks,” Smart said. “This is what Jase is capable of.”

Central Michigan (7-4) led 42-36 at halftime after inducing 12 Texas turnovers, primarily with frenetic half-court defense. The Chippewas made six steals in the half.

The Chippewas went 6:21 in the second half without a field goal, settling for one free throw, but they never trailed by more than a point during that span.

Then Morgan heated up with three 3-point baskets in less than two minutes. But Frebres matched those with three treys of his own, also in less than two minutes. Then Ramey made one with 5:09 left, giving Texas a nine-point lead.

Toledo 80, (at) Detroit 72: Spencer Littleson and Luke Knapke scored 21 points apiece as Toledo beat Detroit.

Littleson hit 5 of 6 3-pointers and all four of his free throws. Marreon Jackson had 16 points and six assists for Toledo (8-2), which earned its fifth straight victory. Willie Jackson added 13 points and 16 rebounds.

Brad Calipari scored a career-high 20 points for the Titans (1-9), whose losing streak stretched to six games. Willy Isiani added 11 points and three blocks. Dwayne Rose Jr. had 10 points.

Toledo faces Kansas City on the road on Tuesday. Detroit takes on Northeastern at home on Thursday.

Western Michigan 59, (at) Manhattan 58: Jared Printy’s 3-pointer with 4.4 seconds left helped lift Western Michigan to a win over Manhattan.

Michael Flowers and Brandon Johnson each scored 15 points for the Broncos (6-5) who have won back-to-back contests following a four-game skid. Johnson also grabbed 11 rebounds. Printy made a pair of 3s and scored six.

Printy’s game-winner followed a three-point play from Elijah Buchanan with 15 seconds to go which gave Manhattan a 58-56 lead.

The Broncos trailed 30-24 at intermission despite shooting 6 of 25 before the break and missing 11 of 21 foul shots. Western Michigan used a 17-4 run to start the second half and led 41-34 with 12:38 remaining. The Jaspers (4-5) responded with a 10-2 spurt and led by a point with 8½ minutes left.

Buchanan led Manhattan with 18 points. The Jaspers now have lost three of their last four.

Wayne State 69, (at) Ashland 64: Brailen Neely finished with 19 points while Karim Murray added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Wayne State (4-3, 1-2 GLIAC), which won at Ashland for the first time since Dec. 10, 2016. Antonio Marshall had 13 points for the Warriors, who led 31-29 at halftime. Drew Noble had 20 points to lead Ashland (6-3, 0-3).

State men scores

Ferris State 97, (at) Lake Superior State 86

Grand Valley State 79, (at) Davenport 69

Adrian 82, Loras 61

(At) Carthage 98, Alma 94

State women

(At) No. 24 Michigan 62, Appalachian State 35: Akienreh Johnson scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and No. 24 Michigan rolled.

Johnson opened and closed the game-opening 10-0 run with 3-pointers and had four of the next six points to close the first quarter for a 16-9 lead. Her 10 points in the first quarter matched her game average.

Naz Hillmon added 11 points and Emily Kiser 10 as the Wolverines (8-1) led 31-13 at the break and were never challenged, running their winning streak to five games. 

The Mountaineers (2-6), who got 11 points from Haile McDonald, shot 21% in the first half, going 0 for 10 from 3-point range. They finished 1 of 17, shooting 29.5%. McDonald went 5 of 6 overall; her teammates combined to go 8 of 38.

Michigan shot 44% despite making just 3 of 18 from 3-point range. The Wolverines had a 39-26 rebounding advantage.

The only other time the two teams met was in 1992 at a holiday tournament with the Mountaineers winning.

Toledo 82, (at) Detroit Mercy 64:Tanaya Beacham scored 22, Mariella Santucci had 13 and Mali Morgan-Elliott added 12 for Toledo (3-5). Sylare Starks had 17 points and Bridgid Fos 14 for Detroit (0-10).

(At) Western Michigan 90, Chicago State 69: Jordan Walker fired in 27 points while Breanna Mobley had 17 points to go with 10 rebounds in the Broncos' third straight win. Kamrin Reed, Leighah-Amori Wood and Reilly Jacobson each had 10 points for Western (5-3). Kourtney Crane scored 21 to lead Chicago State (0-11).

Central Michigan 79, (at) South Dakota State 74: Micaela Kelly finished with 38 points, going 7-of-8 from beyond the arc, and Molly Davis added 20 points as Central (5-3) reeled off its fifth consecutive victory. The Chippewas' Kyra Bussell had 10 rebounds. Tagyn Larson scored 15 for South Dakota State (7-5). 

No. 4 Ashland 79, Wayne State 54: Sara Loomis had 21 points and 13 rebounds while Jodi Johnson added 16 points and Karlee Pireu 12 for No. 4 Ashland (8-0, 3-0  GLIAC). Nastassja Chambers scored 18, Sadia Johnson 15 and Grace George 12 for Wayne State (6-3, 1-2), which has lost four straight.

State women scores

Ferris State 81, (at) Lake Superior State 71

Grand Valley State 82, (at) Davenport 53

Kalamazoo 68, (at) Grace Christian 62, OT

Saint Mary's (Ind) 64, (at) Adrian 41

Trine 77, (at) Calvin 41

(At) Hope 45, Albion 43

Alma 77, (at) Olivet 63