Tuesday’s basketball: Thompson leads EMU over WMU

Ypsilanti, Mich. — James Thompson IV had a season-best 26 points while grabbing 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season as Eastern Michigan took control in the second half to beat Western Michigan 86-80 on Tuesday night.

Thompson got off to a hot start, making 11 of EMU’s first 21 points. However Western Michigan took a 33-28 advantage into the break. Eastern took the lead at the 12:00 mark of the second when Willie Mangum IV nailed a 3-pointer to go ahead 50-47. The Eagles never trailed again, pushing their advantage to 77-67 with 1:21 remaining. EMU dominated the second half, 58-47.

Ty Toney added 16 points and Mangum finished with 15 for EMU (12-6, 4-1 Mid-American) which has won six of the last seven games.

Thomas Wilder led Western Michigan (6-11, 2-3) with 26, making 7 of 12 field goals. Reggie Jones added 17 and Tucker Haymond had 11.

More state men

(At) Ball State 98, Central Michigan 83: Trey Moses scored a career-high 20 points, on 7-of-8 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked a career-best four shots as Ball State pulled away in the second half. Tayler Persons added 18 points, Franko House scored 16 on 7-of-11 shooting, Francis Kiapway added 14 points and Jeremie Tyler 10 for Ball State.

Tyler and Moses scored five points each during a 12-2 run that gave the Cardinals (12-6, 3-2 Mid-American Conference) a 60-50 lead with 12:10 to play. Braylon Rayson hit back-to-back 3s to cut Central Michigan’s deficit to 62-59 fewer than two minutes later, but Ball State scored 15 of the next 18 points and the Chippewas never again threatened.

The Cardinals made 35 of 63 (55.6 percent) from the field and outrebounded Central Michigan 43-34.

Marcus Keene, who came in leading the nation in scoring at 28.7 points per game, made a career-high tying eight 3-pointers and finished with 29 points and seven assists for the Chippewas. Rayson had 20 points and David DiLeo added 14, including four 3s. Rayson and Keene were a combined 13 of 43 (32.6 percent) from the field.

Big Ten

(At) No. 21 Purdue 91, Illinois 68: Center Isaac Haas had 24 points and six rebounds, and power forward Caleb Swanigan added 22 points and 10 rebounds. Haas scored 13 points in the second half when the Boilermakers (15-4, 4-2 Big Ten) led by as many as 27. Swanigan had a four-point first half but was almost unstoppable during the second half, accounting for 18 points and five rebounds.

Purdue placed five players in double figures, also getting 14 from freshman guard Carsen Edwards, 11 from forward Vince Edwards — no relation — and 10 from point guard P.J. Thompson.

Illinois (12-7, 2-4) got 15 points from Maverick Morgan and 12 from Malcolm Hill but had no answer for the Boilermakers’ two post players, each of whom had his way around the basket.

With this victory, Purdue leads the all-time series with Illinois, 100-87.

Top 25

(At) No. 6 Baylor 74, Texas 64: Johnathan Motley set career highs with 32 points and 20 rebounds for No. 6 Baylor, which went ahead to stay with a big run before halftime. Nuni Omot, the junior college transfer playing in only his eighth game, had a season-high 14 points. He scored seven in the half-ending 16-4 run that put the Bears (17-1, 5-1 Big 12) up for the first time.

Jarrett Allen had 17 points for the Longhorns (7-11, 1-5), while Andrew Jones had 15. Shaquille Cleare scored 14 before fouling out midway through the second half.

No. 5 Kentucky 88, Mississippi State 81: De’Aaron Fox scored 21 points, Malik Monk added 14. Kentucky (16-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) looked like it would cruise to the win after building a 66-49 lead midway through the second half, but Mississippi State responded with 13 straight points to make things interesting down the stretch.

In the end, the Wildcats were too potent offensively. Fox, a 6-foot-3 freshman, had two impressive drives for baskets in the final minutes to thwart a final Mississippi State rally.

Mississippi State (12-5, 3-2) was led by freshman Lamar Peters, who scored a career-high 25 points.