The CMU men’s basketball team seeks to beat Fairleigh Dickinson for the second consecutive season Saturday.

The teams play at 7 p.m. in Teaneck, N.J., in CMU’s first road game of the season.
The Chippewas defeated the Knights 68-62 on Feb. 21 in Rose Arena in the team’s Bracketbuster game.

Fairleigh Dickinson returns five of the seven players that saw action in that game, including guard Terence Grier and forward John Gavlin, who scored 11 and 15 points, respectively. Senior guards Jordan Bitzer (14) and Robbie Harman (13) each scored in double figures in the team’s victory.

The Knights (0-2) outshot CMU 53.5 to 44 percent last year, but was just one-for-seven from 3-point range. It also outrebounded CMU 30-28.

Coach Ernie Zeigler said rebounding is going to be a key factor in whether the team succeeds this year.

“We have to hang our hat on that,” he said. “We’ve known that, we’ve talked about in the preseason. We know we have to make strides and make improvements.”

The Chippewas outrebounded Illinois-Chicago 47-29 in Wednesday’s 67-48 victory at Rose Arena.

Fairleigh Dickinson is coming off a 80-64 loss to Wichita State on Sunday. Guards Mike Scott and Sean Baptiste led the Knights in scoring with 18 and 16, respectively.

Two in a row

The Chippewas’ win against UIC was their second consecutive victory after losing their season opener against Princeton.

CMU started the game with an 11-0 run, but UIC followed with one of its own. The Chipppewas also ran into early foul trouble, with guards Bitzer and freshman Finis Craddock getting two apiece within the first eight minutes.

“It hurts when you got Bitzer out and Finis out, but we got guys like Jalin (Thomas) who can play multiple postions,” Harman said.

Despite the foul trouble, CMU led by 17 after the first half. Harman paced CMU with 17 points in the first half and finished the game with 20. He has averaged 20 points through three games this season.

“Robbie has done a really good job of running the show, getting us in the offense but, at the same time, getting his shots off the flow of our offense,” Zeigler said. “You don’t see him really looking to hunt shots.”

Junior forward Jalin Thomas continued his strong play, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Off the bench

For the second consecutive game, junior forward Marko Spica and senior forward Chris Kellermann did not start. However, Kellermann finished with 12 rebounds and Zeigler said he was impressed with his improved effort. He finished with eight points.

“I thought he responded to the challenge here after a week ago against Princeton,” he said.

Kellermann had just one rebound in the team’s 71-68 loss Saturday against the Tigers.
The game against Fairleight Dickinson is the first in a three-game road stretch. The team plays next Tuesday at Dayton and on Nov. 28 at Purdue. The game against Purdue is on the Big Ten Network.

CMU’s next home game is against Chicago State at 7 p.m. Dec. 1 in Rose Arena.

E-mail the author: Tim Ottusch