Wednesday’s basketball: Eastern edges Oakland

Ypsilanti, Mich. — James Thompson IV, Paul Jackson and Elijah Minnie each scored 24 points and Eastern Michigan beat Oakland 95-89 on Wednesday night.

Eastern Michigan (6-2) bounced back from an 84-81 loss at North Florida on Nov. 29 and is 5-0 at home. Oakland (5-4) had its three-game win streak stopped.

Thompson made all 11 of his field goals, was 2 of 3 from the line and grabbed 12 rebounds. Jackson was 10-of-19 shooting and had six assists. Minnie made 7 of 12 shots and had 12 rebounds. Eastern Michigan shot 56.5 percent from the floor but missed 11 free throws.

Martez Walker scored 23 points and Jalen Hayes added 21 with 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Oakland. Kendrick Nunn chipped in 19 points.

Eastern Michigan had a nine-point lead before Nunn made consecutive 3-pointers to pull Oakland to 90-85 with 55 seconds left. The Eagles made just 4 of 6 free throws to seal it.

More state men

(At) Western Michigan 78, Cleveland State 67: Reggie Jones scored seven of his career-high 27 points during the decisive second-half run. Jones hit 4 of 8 from 3-point range and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. Thomas Wilder and Brandon Johnson scored 14 points each and Josh Davis grabbed a career-high tying 13 rebounds for Western Michigan (5-4).

The Broncos scored the first six points and never trailed. They hit four 3-pointers, including two by Jared Printy, during a 14-0 run that made it 30-14 with seven minutes left in the first half before taking an eight-point lead into intermission.

Cleveland State pulled within three points four times early in the second half and Tyree Appleby’s jumper trimmed the deficit to 50-46 with 11 minutes to play. Jones hit four free throws and a 3-pointer before Davis hit another 3-pointer that capped a 10-0 run and Western Michigan led by at least seven the rest of the way.

Appleby, a freshman, hit four 3-pointers and finished with 24 points — both career highs — for Cleveland State (2-6).

State women

(At) Notre Dame 90, Michigan State 59: Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw got exactly what she wanted from third-ranked Notre Dame in its first home game in 25 days with a quick start.

“I was a little worried — we’re coming into final exams, we finally get a chance to play at home and I wanted to make sure we came out ready,” McGraw said after Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points to lead four Irish players in double figures Wednesday might.

“It’s an honor to play for her and to be coached by her every day,” Ogunbowale said after hitting 7 of 15 shots and finishing one rebound shy of a double-double.

Three days after losing at No. 1 Connecticut, Notre Dame (8-1) ran out to a 47-16 halftime lead as McGraw, who was honored with a new banner in the Purcell Pavilion for her recent induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame, got plenty of production out of a seven-player rotation.

Junior transfer Jessica Shepard had 19 points, Jackie Young added 13 points and graduate transfer Lili Thompson had 12 and 10 rebounds off the bench for Notre Dame, which went 6-1 during its time away from campus.

Jenna Allen led Michigan State (5-3) with 28 points, and Lexi Gussert had 11.

“It was so important that we set a tone at the beginning of the game,” McGraw said.

Notre Dame did, especially in the second quarter while shooting 80 percent (8 of 10) from the field and holding the Spartans scoreless over the final 6:16 of the half.

Despite shooting just 33 percent in the third quarter, including a 2:23 scoreless streak to end it, Notre Dame maintained a 63-40 lead heading into the final quarter. Notre Dame shot 50.9 percent from the field while holding Michigan State to 30.8, and the Irish outrebounded the Spartans, 45-34.

Big Ten men

(At) Illinois 64, Austin Peay 57: Michael Finke scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Illinois. The Illini (7-3) shot just 39.6 percent from the field and made just 21 field goals, but it was enough to snap a three-game losing streak.

Illinois made 6 of 9 shot attempts to start the game and jumped out to an early 13-6 lead but went scoreless for almost six minutes. The Governors went on an 11-0 run to take the lead but weren’t able to sustain an offensive rhythm either, shooting only 41.4 percent from the field.

The turning point came with just under five minutes left in the game. Locked at 50, Kipper Nichols stole an entry pass to the post and pushed the ball ahead. On the other end, Da’Monte Williams spotted up on the right wing, and nailed a 3-pointer to push the Illini ahead for good.

With 19.6 seconds left, Te’Jon Lucas was fouled on a layup attempt. He knocked down both free throws to make it a two-possession game and seal the victory.

In his first career start, Williams finished with five points, four rebounds and a team-high three steals.

The Governors were led by freshman Terry Taylor and senior Averyl Ugba. Both players combined for 28 points and 15 rebounds, but their performances weren’t enough to help Austin Peay (4-5) steal a victory from its fourth Power Five opponent of the season.

(At) Temple 59, Wisconsin 55: Shizz Alston Jr. scored 22 points and hit four decisive free throws late to set a school record to lead Temple. Alston has hit 52 consecutive foul shots dating to last December. He hit two with 1:09 left to put Temple ahead 57-55, and two more to put it away with 4.6 seconds remaining as the Owls (5-2) won for the second time in four games.

Ethan Happ matched a season-high with 23 points, but was held scoreless over the final five minutes for the Badgers (4-6), who have dropped three of four.

Top 25 men

Washington 74, No. 2 Kansas 65: At Kansas City, Matisse Thybulle hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 points, Jaylen Nowell added 15 and Washington led most of the way. Noah Dickerson added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Huskies (7-2), who knocked the Jayhawks (7-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten with their first victory over them since December 1974.

Lagerald Vick had a career-high 28 points for Kansas, doing almost all his damage in the middle of the Huskies’ 2-3 zone. But he didn’t get a whole lot of help as the Jayhawks went 5 for 20 from the 3-point arc.

Loyola-Chicago 65, (at) No. 5 Florida 59: Aundre Jackson scored 23 points, Cameron Krutwig added 14 and Loyola-Chicago handed Florida its third consecutive loss.

The Gators (5-3) shot 36.9 percent from the field, missed 17 of 19 3-point attempts and finished with seven assists.

The Ramblers (9-1) were much more efficient, shooting 52 percent from the field and making half their 12 shots from behind the arc.

No Florida player reached double digits in scoring and the Gators led for just 93 seconds.

(At) No. 11 North Carolina 104, Western Carolina 61: Luke Maye had 12 points and 12 rebounds and North Carolina hit a season-high 16 3-pointers.

The Tar Heels (9-1) ran off 20 straight points during a 33-3 first-half run. UNC shot 57 percent and made 16 of 22 3-point attempts for the game, coming one shy of matching the program record for made 3s in a game.

Freshman Jalek Felton had a team-high 15 points for the Tar Heels, who finished with six players in double figures.

Deriece Parks scored 13 points for the Catamounts (3-7).

(At) No. 13 Xavier 96, Kent State 70: Trevon Bluiett scored 26 points — the seventh time he’s had 20 this season — and Xavier took control with an 18-point run.

The Musketeers (8-1) never trailed against Kent State (5-4), which kept it close at the outset with solid shooting but never recovered from the Musketeers’ run that began late in the first half. Danny Pippen led the defending Mid-American Conference champions with 15 points.

Bluiett hit two 3s as Xavier opened the game with a 14-2 spurt, making its first six shots. Kerem Kanter added a season-high 20 points along with eight rebounds.

Xavier has won 36 straight non-conference home games.