Yesterday in MACsketball:
Alabama-Birmingham 75, Kent State 59 — Well, this one got out of hand because the Golden Flashes were unable to contain Cameron Moore, UAB's primo forward, who finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Get a body on him, guys. KSU was unable to scrape together a lead in this game, although they did battle back from a double-digit deficit to get within one in the second half, but that was all. Rodriquez Sherman finished with 15 points and Justin Greene — a concilliatory prize after having to presumably defend Moore — had 14 and seven boards. Kent State's next game: Thursday, 12/9 at Florida (TV: ESPN2)
DePaul 71, Central Michigan 62 — One thing that didn't help was freshman stud Trey Zeigler playing only 15 minutes due to foul trouble. He collected three in the first half and only played about four-and-a-half minutes in the second. But it wasn't all him — the Chips had an abysmal 28 turnovers (over a third of their possessions). Jalin Thomas had a sensible game with 19 points, and Amir Rashid provided 16 points but also eight of those turnovers. It seemed like a winnable game for CMU when I looked at the schedule today, but too many mistakes were unable to be overcome. And that's too bad — the Chippewas had a 12-point halftime lead. Central Michigan's next game: Saturday, 12/11 at LSU
Idaho 75, Eastern Michigan 60 — And EMU is finally released from this tater tot metropolis after dropping three games in three days, with this one being the least competitive of the three. The Eagles were chasing Idaho's dust for 60 minutes, and they couldn't cobble together any solid run to get back in it. This was also Brandon Bowdry's least dominant game: 17 points, six rebounds. Off the bench, Derek Thompson sank five threes to finish with 15 points. Really, both teams were on fire: EMU shot 46.7% from the field, 41.2% from behind the arc. The Vandals were 52% overall, 57.1% (8-for-14) from ThreeVille. For some reason I still think EMU is built to compete in the wide-open MAC West, but this 1-6 record doesn't help the cause. Eastern Michigan's next game: Wednesday, 12/8 vs. Drake
No basketball games today. Miami hosts Division II foe Saginaw Valley State on Tuesday evening.