COLUMN: Men’s basketball loss can’t happen

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The Central Michigan men’s basketball team should not have lost on Saturday.

Plain and simple.

Texas A&M Corpus Christi was just a better team that night, and there is no excuse for that.  The Islanders sit at the bottom of the Southland Conference which, quite frankly, is one of the worst conferences in Division I basketball.

They entered the game riding a six-game losing streak while compiling a dismal record of 4-21.   And let’s not forget the long trip they had to take from Texas.

But the outcome of the game was largely because CMU could not make shots it should be making.  It shot 33.3 percent from the field and was 3-20 from three-point range.  Yes, 3-20.  And it’s not like most of them were highly contested shots.

Plus, the Chippewas had one of the most interactive crowds of the season.  They were engaged from start to finish and CMU alumnus and broadcasting icon Dick Enberg was honored at halftime.  But the Chippewas lack of depth proved to be costly once again.

Freshman Austin McBroom did not play because of disciplinary reasons and sophomore Finis Craddock was out with an illness leading to more minutes from bench players.  Junior Olivier Mbaigoto also left the game with an ankle injury early in the second half.  But that is still no excuse to lose to a team like Corpus Christi.

Come Mid-American Conference tournament time, good teams find a way to fight through adversity.  And I do think CMU can be a good team.  Its defense has shown in the past two games that it can limit opportunities for opposing offenses.

But it goes back to the basics.  If you make your free-throws and make the wide-open shots, then you have a good chance at winning the game.

The good news is sophomore Trey Zeigler looked much more agile on the floor Saturday.  After injuring his back in the game against Buffalo Feb. 8, it was clear he was not 100 percent in Tuesday’s game against Eastern Michigan. But Saturday, you could tell he was feeling much better.

Zeigler had a game-high 22 points and was 8-16 shooting.  He was also 6-8 from the line, an improvement over his .519 percent season percentage.  But outside of him and Derek Jackson, there was no other offensive presence.

The Chippewas need games like this from Zeigler, but they also need more from other players.  It just seems like they cannot get them both in the same game.