Michigan State holds off pesky Wisconsin
Wagner added 20, and Michigan (26-7) dealt a significant blow to Nebraska’s NCAA hopes by routing the Cornhuskers (22-10). Despite a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten, and winning eight of nine to end the regular season, many have Nebraska firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards each scored 26 points to lead Purdue (27-5) past Rutgers (1519). Corey Sanders scored 23 points, including a baseline jumper in the closing minute to pull the Scarlet Knights to 78-75. But Both Edwardses made free throws in the final 30 seconds to send Purdue to the semifinals against Penn State.
Mike Laster scored 22 points, Jordan Dartis added 21 points with five threepointers, and visiting Ohio (14-16, 7-11 MidAmerican Conference) rallied to beat Miami University (15-16, 8-10). Trailing 35-32 at halftime, the Bobcats took a 41-40 lead on a three by Dartis before the lead traded hands four more times. Dartis hit back-to-back threes amid a 13-1 run for a 61-52 lead with 8:57 left.
CJ Massinburg and Nick Perkins scored 19 points each, and visiting Buffalo (23-8, 15-3) clinched the outright MAC regular-season title by blowing out Bowling Green (16-15, 7-11).
Elijah Minnie scored 25 points, Paul Jackson added 16, including the game-winning three-point play with 8.8 seconds left, and visiting Eastern Michigan (20-11, 11-7) beat Toledo (21-10, 13-5). Eric Parrish made a pair of free throws with three seconds left to lift host Akron (15-16, 9-9 MAC) over Kent State (13-17, 6-12).
Host Wittenberg (27-2) had five players score in double figures and shot 57.6 percent from the field in overwhelming Misericordia (17-11) of Dallas, Pennsylvania, in an NCAA Division III Tournament first-round game. The Tigers will host Wisconsin-Oshkosh in a second-round game Saturday night.
Reece Dupler scored 15 points and went 7-for-8 at the free-throw line in the final 1:47 to help Wooster (22-6) beat Illinois Wesleyan (19-8) in a first-round game of the Division III tournament at John Carroll. Danyon Hempy led the Scots with 20 points. Wooster will play the host Blue Streaks (24-5), who beat Thomas More 95-72, on Saturday night in the second round.
Four players scored in double figures, but a late rally by Marietta (21-7) wasn’t enough against Wisconsin-Oshkosh (21-7) in a Division III tournament opener in Springfield. After not scoring for a 5:16 stretch in the second half, the Quakers used a 17-2 run to get to 68-67 before running out of steam. Central Michigan’s game against Western Michigan on Friday night was postponed to Saturday morning because of an early-morning shooting on the Central Michigan campus (See Page A10). The game will be played at Northwood University in Midland, Michigan, 30 miles from the Central Michigan campus. It will be closed to the public, with the exception of family members.