Friday's Shootaround: Alabama beats Te-... Wait, wrong sport

Michigan 64, Penn State 55: The Nittany Lions built a 31-16 lead at the break as the Wolverines shot a putrid 0-12 in the first half of play. Down 42-26 with just over 12 minutes left, Lucas Laval-Perry sparked a huge run with four second half three pointers as the Wolverines outscored Penn State 38-13 over the final 12 minutes. With just under fine minutes left, Manny Harris completed a three-point play to give Michigan a lead they would never relinquish. DeShawn Sims led the way with 25 points.

Western Kentucky 67, South Alabama 64 OT: Steffphon Pettigrew scored 16 points, including a layup to force the overtime, before an AJ Slaughter three put the Hilltoppers up for good in the extra frame. Slaughter finished with 17 points as WKU is not the only undefeated team in the Sun Belt conference.

Xavier 68, La Salle 62: The Muskies were up by as much as 20 in the second half, but a 20-2 run by the Explorers got them right back into the game. La Salle was able to tie the score three times in the final seven minutes, but could never pull ahead of X. Jordan Crawford had 22 points to lead X, and converted a three point play with 1:47 left to push the lead to four.

Northeastern 71, George Mason 46: Northeastern struggled through the non-conference schedule, which made some people forget about the Huskies. But this is still a team that has the talent to win the CAA, and they proved that last night as they smacked George Mason on the strength of 20 points form Chaisson Allen. With the win, NE moves into a first place tie with GMU, William & Mary, Drexel, and Old Dominion.

Northwestern 53, UT-Pan Am 44: The Wildcats struggled against UTPA, as they failed to secure the lead until the 13 minute mark against a team that lost to Texas and Missouri by a combined 118 points. NW had 19 turnovers and shot 32% from the floor. John Shurna led the way with 21 points and 13 boards.

Oakland 67, Oral Roberts 64: Ledrick Eackles scored seven points in the final two minutes as the Grizzlies avoided blowing a late 11 points lead to ORU. Johnathon Jones led Oakland with 16.

Thursday's Best

• Jonathon Rodriguez scored 24 points, grabbed 10 boards, and added 5 assists and 4 steals, but Campbell still lost to Mercer.
• BU's Corey Lowe scored 28 points in a win over New Hampshire.
• Stony Brook's Bryan Dougher went for 26 points in a win over Hartford.
• Illinois-Chicago lost to Youngstown State, but Jeremy Buttell still had 31 points and 12 boards.
• Southern Utah's Davis Baker scored 34 points and added 5 boards in an overtime win against North Dakota State.