Game Recap: Men’s Basketball |
Akron
2/19/2022 | 3 p.m.
ESPN3
WEMU
Video Recap.
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — The Eastern Michigan University men’s basketball team dropped a home contest to the University at Buffalo, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center, 83-69, Thursday, Feb. 17.
Eastern (9-17, 4-11 MAC) had two players score in double figures, led by freshman Noah Farrakhan (Newark, N.J.-The Patrick School (East Carolina)), who had 14 points. Senior Nate Scott (Naperville, Ill.-Neuqua Valley (Northern Illinois)) added 13 points, while classmate Darion Spottsville (Phoenix, Ariz.-Shadow Mountain (South Mountain C.C.)) chipped in eight points. Freshman Luka Savicevic (Skopje, North Macedonia-Sports Academy Skopje) topped the Eagles with four assists, tying his career-high for the second time.
Eastern Michigan forced 13 Buffalo turnovers while committing 10 themselves. The Eagles turned those takeaways into 18 points on the other end of the floor. Senior Monty Scott (Union, N.J.-St. Benedict’s Prep (Portland State)) and Farrakhan led the way individually with two steals.On the boards, N. Scott and Spottsville both secured seven.
How It Happened
After falling behind 20-12, Eastern Michigan went on a 5-0 run with 10:05 left in the first half to narrow its deficit to 20-17. Buffalo answered back, leaving the Eagles down 38-30 entering halftime.
Buffalo kept widening its lead after intermission, constructing a 64-53 advantage before Eastern Michigan went on a 5-0 run, finished off by Farrakhan’s jumper, to shrink the deficit to 64-58 with 7:31 to go in the contest. UB responded and outscored the Eagles the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 83-69. EMU took care of business in the paint, recording 24 of its 39 points in the lane.
Game Notes
» The Eastern Michigan bench made an impact by scoring 21 points to its scoring output.
» Eastern Michigan won the turnover battles, forcing 13, and committing 10.
» Eastern Michigan got seven rebounds from both Spottsville and N. Scott to lead the team.
» EMU played a much better first half against the Bulls in today’s competition than it did at Buffalo, Feb. 8. Buffalo scored 38 points on 42 percent shooting from the floor in today’s competition, significantly stifled compared to the 50 points on 59 percent shooting that it displayed in the team’s first tilt.
» Junior Bryce McBride (Jackson, Tenn.-Southside (Dyersburg C.C.)) returned to play, after missing the team’s last game at Central Michigan, Feb. 15, to make an immediate impact for the Green and White. The junior guard dropped seven points in the opening frame on 2-of-5 shooting. That total tied N. Scott for the intermission lead. He added an assist as well, one of six that EMU dished out in the opening 20 minutes of play.
» 10 different players found the scoring column for Eastern Michigan in today’s game, with each scoring at least two points. The effort marked the fourth consecutive game and eighth overall during the 2021-22 campaign that Eastern has gotten points from nine-or-more players.
» Savicevic finished the contest with a team-best 4 assists, his second straight game with multiple helpers, and fifth overall this season. His four assists tie his career-high, which he recorded at UC San Diego, Dec. 2.
» Senior Thomas Binelli (Bologna, Italy-Bergen Catholic (Monroe College)) went 3-for-7 from beyond the arc in today’s contest. Binelli has hit multiple triples in consecutive games (led EMU with three at CMU, Feb. 15) for the first time since doing so in his initial two games of the season, Nov. 9 at Indiana, and Nov. 24 against Western Illinois. He has not hit three-or-more triples in consecutive games since he did so in three straight contests between Feb. 18-25, 2020 against Kent State (3), Ball State (3), and Northern Illinois (6), respectively.
» N. Scott has reached double-digits in seven of his last eight games (vs. Miami – 25, vs. Toledo -17, at Ohio -16, at Kent State – 11, at Buffalo – 11, at Central Michigan – 10, vs. Buffalo-13). He finished today’s game as the team’s second-leading scorer and tied for the team lead in rebounding (7).
» Center Mo Njie (Centerville, Ohio-DME Sports Academy) had another strong game on the defensive half of the court against the Bulls. The first-year Eagle recorded two blocks, which led EMU, and marks his seventh multiple-swat game of the season. Njie leads all Eagles with 26 total blocks this season and ranked seventh in the Mid-American Conference heading into today’s game in blocks per game (1.1).
» Farrakhan led the Eagles with 14 points in today’s contest, his second consecutive double-digit performance, and 16th overall this season. Farrakhan has scored a combined 38 points during the last two games, the most in a two-game stretch for the first-year Eagle since putting up 45 in a pair of games against Miami, Jan. 29, and Toledo, Feb. 1.
Historical Notes
» Today marked the 32nd all-time meeting between Eastern Michigan and Buffalo. The Bulls lead the series 20-12 after today’s victory.
Up Next
Eastern Michigan stays home, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center, for its Saturday, Feb. 19 contest against University of Akron. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be on ESPN3.
Akron
2/19/2022 | 3 p.m.
ESPN3
WEMU
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