Minnesota 76, CMU 56: Men’s basketball struggles against Golden Gophers

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The national spotlight had multiple effects on the Central Michigan men’s basketball team in its 76-56 loss at Minnesota Tuesday night.

Freshman guard Austin McBroom and sophomore Derek Jackson soaked up the attention of being on ESPN.

McBroom made more than half the team’s 3-pointers, shooting 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. Jackson made a highlight-reel dunk off an alley-oop pass from McBroom midway through the second half.

But others on the team struggled.

Junior forward Olivier Mbaigoto didn’t make a field goal until a 3-point basket with 4:41 remaining in the game, shooting 1-for-9 from the field.

The Chippewas first two points were scored by senior center Andre Coimbra, the only two he scored all night. He was 1-for-4 shooting in a game-high 34 minutes.

“Different things factor into how our guys end up playing, but I just think we had a tough outing upfront from our upfront guys who had been playing really well and we just have to go and watch it and hopefully get their confidence up so they can get ready for the next game,” said head coach Ernie Zeigler.

CMU (4-5) opened the game making 3-of-8 shots, taking an 11-6 lead off 3-pointers from Jackson and McBroom.

That lead was taken away by Minnesota hometown freshman Joe Coleman.

The Minneapolis, Minn., native rattled home a 3-pointer. Then Coleman made a layup while being fouled and finishing the 3-point play from the foul line.

His solo surge tied the game at 12 and the Golden Gophers never looked back.

They went on a 23-11 run, closing out the first half with a 34-23 lead.

“You’re never pleased coming out on the losing end, but I thought our guys gave great effort and came out with a sense of purpose and kept battling throughout the game,” Zeigler said. “If we can continue to build on that effort, it’s going to put us in a position to be successful more times than not. Unfortunately, we were playing against a good team at home and just wasn’t able to overcome how well they shot the ball.”

Sophomore guard Trey Zeigler rebounded after shooting 2-for-6 in the first half. He scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to catch up to Minnesota.

Junior guard Julian Welch and sophomore guard Maverick Ahanmisi propelled the Golden Gophers to a 42-33 second half finish, winning the game by 20.

Welch finished with a team-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Ahanmisi drilled back-to-back 3-pointers in the latter part of the second half. Ahanmisi was countering McBroom’s 3-point basket, keeping CMU from making a comeback.

CMU starter’s scored all 56 points. The bench has combined for six points in two games.

“Guys go through tough stages,” Ernie said. “The season is a long season and we do have to get some production from our bench, but we’re going to keep working at it and continue to move forward to the next game. I do have confidence that we’ll get that (production from the bench) with the depth we do have and it will start to be an advantage for us as we move forward.”

The Chippewas return home for a game at 7 p.m. Friday against Illinois-Chicago. CMU hasn’t played a home game since Nov. 15, a 77-75 double overtime loss against Charlotte. Illinois-Chicago is 3-5 this season, but is 0-4 on the road. It beat Mid-American Conference’s Northern Illinois 62-55 on Saturday.