• Blog
  • About Us
  • Links
  MAC Reporter Online

CMU turns up ‘D’ to down Ohio

1/23/2016

 
Picture
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Defense paid off for Central Michigan Saturday as the Chippewas held Ohio to 36.5 percent shooting on the way to a 72-49 victory at McGuirk Arena.

The 49 points was far and away Ohio’s lowest point total of the season, and it was more than 30 below the ‘Cats season average.

The win lifted CMU to 10-9 (3-3 MAC). Ohio fell to 11-7 (2-4 MAC). It was the Chippewas’ third consecutive victory over the Bobcats, something CMU had not accomplished since 1987.

Luke Meyer and Braylon Rayson scored 14 points apiece and Chris Fowler added 11 to lead the Chippewas, who snapped a two-game losing streak. In those two losses, at Buffalo and at Northern Illinois, the Chippewas struggled at key times to score. That wasn’t necessarily the case on Saturday.

“Going into the year, we knew . . .

. . . we could score and that we would be streaky because of the amount of threes that we do shoot,” CMU coach Keno Davis said. “We had to get better defensively and rebounding, and that that would be a process throughout the year.

“On nights where we’ve given up a lot of points, I continue to preach that we weren’t that bad defensively, even though it might have seemed like that in the game and on a night-to-night basis.

“When we hold them to 49 points and 28 percent (shooting) in the second half, we’re not that good defensively yet either. We’re somewhere in the middle, but more importantly, can we continue to work hard and improve? And if we do, then we can win games with our defense; we can win games with our rebounding.”

Fowler finished with nine assists against just two turnovers and the Chippewas outrebounded Ohio, 37-29. John Simons and Rayson led CMU with seven rebounds apiece.

Antonio Campbell, a 6-foot-10 junior, paced Ohio with 17 points and 12 rebounds. No other Bobcat scored in double figures. CMU limited Ohio to just three 3-pointers on 16 attempts.

“Our focus all week in practice has been on the defensive end,” Meyer said. “We’ve come out and had two tough losses and knew that we needed to pick it up on the defensive end and the offense will come, as it did tonight.”

The Chippewas broke a 20-20 tie on a Meyer layup with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half. They pushed their way to a 35-28 halftime lead, then started the second half with a 12-5 surge to up their advantage to 14, 47-33, with under 14 minutes to play. 

Ohio never got closer than 11 the rest of the way. CMU won going away, scoring the final eight points of the game.

CMU finished 5-for-20 from 3-point territory (25 percent), but was 30-of-59 (50.8 percent) overall from the floor. DaRohn Scott matched his season-high with eight points for CMU.

Scott and Meyer, the Chippewas’ two post players, finished a combined 10-for-14 from the floor.

“To be able to go 10-14, a lot of that coming off of the pick-and-roll, I think it shows their development, but it also shows that our guards are working on passing and penetration,” Davis said.

The Chippewas are 9-1 at McGuirk this season, and have won 25 of their last 27 at home.

“I think familiar balls, familiar rims help,” said Meyer in explaining CMU’s home-court success. “Home-court advantage is huge. If you get a steal, a block, a free throw, or a score, you get a cheer. It feels really good and it’s deflating to the other team.” 

Saturday’s result was a relief, and, perhaps, a confidence boost, Rayson said.

“We know we’re going to have those times where we are a couple plays away from winning a game,” he said. “That’s how it’s been.  We lost some very close games and we could have finished them, but we didn’t. We learned from that and we’re growing.”
 
NEXT:
Central Michigan is at Miami (Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET)
Ohio is at Toledo (Tuesday, 7 p.m. ET)
 
(Courtesy of CMU Athletics)
 
 


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    MAC Football 

    UPCOMING GAMES
    All times Eastern

    ​

    MAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
    -- Final - 2022 -- 
    MAC EAST
    OHIO 7-1
    BUFFALO 5-3
    BOWLING GREEN 5-3

    MIAMI 4-4
    KENT STATE 4-4
    AKRON 1-7

    MAC WEST
    TOLEDO 5-3

    EASTERN MICHIGAN 5-3
    WESTERN MICHIGAN 4-4
    ​BALL STATE 3-5
    CENTRAL MICHIGAN 3-5

    NORTHERN ILLINOIS 2-6

    MAC Basketball 
    MAC BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
    CLICK HERE

    ​





    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Basketball
    Football
    Other

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly