​Men’s basketball loses to Kent State, road struggles continue


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Junior guard RayShawn Simmons drives to the net during the CMU men's basketball team's win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday at McGuirk Arena.

Sophomore guard Braylon Rayson hit a 3-pointer to begin the second half Tuesday, giving the Chippewas a 26-24 lead over Kent State.

But the Golden Flashes scored the game's next 17 points and KSU claimed a 63-53 victory over the Chippewas on Tuesday night.

CMU (14-4, 4-3 MAC) came into the night second in the country with 83.9 points per game, but fell into a deep scoring rut in both halves. The 53 points and 4-of-23 shooting mark on 3-pointers against KSU were both season lows for CMU this year.

“To shoot so poorly from the field, from 3-point range, from the free-throw line, those are usually games that get away from you and you don’t have an opportunity,” Head Coach Keno Davis said. “I think our team responded very well with our defensive half-court pressure and our full-court pressure forcing turnovers and giving ourselves a chance because of our defense.”

The Chippewas went more than eight minutes without a field goal in the first half as KSU went on 7-1 run to take a 12-11 lead early on. The 17-0 KSU run in the second half gave the Golden Flashes a 15-point lead and ate up more than 7:34 of game clock. CMU was scoreless during that stretch. 

Kent State (15-5, 6-1 MAC) had a scoring drought of its own in the second half.

The Golden Flashes allowed the Chippewas to close the gap to 43-40 with 8:33 left in the game thanks to a 12-0 CMU run, which included five of senior guard Austin Keel’s seven points in the loss.

“It’s nice to have a player like Austin,” Davis said. “When you need more of a calming influence, somebody who’s been through it, he’s not going to get as disrupted as some of the younger guys. He had a nice run for us and allowed us to have an opportunity.”

At one point, the Golden Flashes turned the ball over on four consecutive drives during the Chippewas' late-game rally. Kent State turned the ball over 18 times Tuesday, including five steals from guard Rayshawn Simmons. CMU committed just eight turnovers in the game. 

“They wanted to play a 50-point game and we would rather play an 80-point game,” Davis said. “Hopefully we can get to a point with our team where we can control tempo and force teams to play the way that we want to. Right now we’re not at that point.”

CMU was outrebounded 43-25. Junior forward John Simons, who had six rebounds, was the only Chippewa to gather more than three rebounds for CMU.

Junior guard Chris Fowler’s three assists ties him with Dave Grauzer with 449 career rebounds, the third-most in CMU program history. Fowler needs 40 more to tie Giordan Watson for first all-time.

Fowler led the Chippewas with 15 points. Kent State forward Jimmy Hall tallied 15 points and 15 rebounds.

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About Taylor DesOrmeau

Taylor DesOrmeau is a senior at Central Michigan University, majoring in integrative public relations ...

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