A real 'block'buster: CMU, minus Jalin Thomas, knocks off Northern Illinois
Call it Trey Zeigler’s final stand against Northern Illinois guard Xavier Silas.
Forget the freshman’s 27 points, including two key free-throws with 1:12 remaining in Thursday’s Central Michigan-Northern Illinois men’s basketball game Thursday at McGuirk Arena.
It was his defense — particularly late — that halted an NIU comeback. CMU prevailed 66-64 even without senior forward Jalin Thomas, who was out with an ankle sprain.
A timeout preluded the game’s final play with 10 seconds remaining and CMU up by two. Trey Zeigler directed a concise message toward his father and CMU coach Ernie Zeigler during the huddle.
“I just told my dad that I wanted him,” Trey Zeigler said of Silas.
Ernie Zeigler let him take the nation’s fourth-leading scorer. His decision was rewarded. Trey Zeigler’s tight defense forced a long, contested jumper from Silas, who came in averaging 23.6 points per game. Zeigler blocked the shot, his third of the game, to seemingly end it.
Afterward, Ernie Zeigler noted his son's defensive effort.
“I thought Trey grew up big time defensively tonight,” Ernie Zeigler said. “It was easy to look at his stat line and points, and there’s no doubt we needed the points to win, but he really grew up tonight down the stretch.”
‘Impressed’ with Trey
NIU coach Ricardo Patton left McGuirk Arena impressed with the player he will see a lot of in the coming years.
“I was probably as much impressed with his defense as his offense,” Patton said.
Silas, the Mid-American Conference’s leading scorer coming into the West Division game, made his mark early. The 6-foot-5, 198-pound senior guard finished with 24 points. He found life late in the first half that carried over to the second. In the end, Trey Zeigler neutralized the threat.
CMU’s 6-5, 200-pound guard started slow, scoring just 4 points in the first half, before finding his rhythm in the second half. With 15:42 remaining, he had 10 points. Less than five minutes later, he had 25.
“I got off to a slow start in the first half ... the second half, I just tried to let it come to me,” Trey said.
And he got help along the way.
Junior forward Andre Coimbra got a rare start with Thomas out with a sprained ankle. His 14-point effort helped with Thomas out. So did senior forward Will McClure, who finished with 10 points.
But it was Trey Zeigler’s night, though it was so close to being halted.
Zeigler, with just one foul on the night, was taken out with 10:23 remaining.
When he entered the game shortly thereafter, he failed to find his shot again.
His next points came at the free-throw line, with a lot at stake.
But his two makes with 1:12 to go was a fitting end. It seemed the free-throw line was the only place he struggled all night.
He started the night shooting 2-of-7 from the line. His average didn’t reach 50 percent. But the timeliness of his final two shots adds to his importance.
First half
With Thomas in street clothes and Trey Zeigler struggling from the field in the opening half — he was 2-for-8 shooting at halftime — CMU leaned heavily on its defense.
Scoring struggles aside, the Chippewas held NIU to 25 points in the first half, and Ernie Zeigler said he was pleased with just a two-point deficit, 25-23.
“We couldn’t ask for any better, for us,” Ernie Zeigler said. “It was huge for us at that point. We were playing some pretty good defense. And we actually were able to get some scoring from Will (McClure) and Andre (Coimbra) there, to keep us right there.”
CMU plays Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. Sunday in Ypsilanti. Ernie Zeigler said he does not expect Jalin Thomas to be healthy enough to play.
