Fowler's big first half keys home win over Bowling Green
The senior guard scored a season-high 27 points, including 21 in the first half.
With 3,758 people at McGuirk Arena on Saturday, the Central Michigan Chippewas entered into a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
And Chris Fowler was back to his old ways.
The senior guard scored 27 points, including 21 in the first half, as CMU defeated visiting Bowling Green 77-65. Fowler continued his dominance of the Falcons at home. He scored a career-high 42 points against BGSU last season.
CMU improves to 12-9 (5-3 in the Mid-American Conference) and has now won three straight games. Because Northern Illinois lost to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday, the Chippewas entered into a tie for first place in the MAC West.
“I’m proud of my team to come through and to be able to make enough plays, and obviously the home court and our fans had a lot to do with it tonight," said Head Coach Keno Davis. "It was a really nice win for us going forward.”
Fowler scored six of CMU's first eight points and 13 of its first 23. He said the first half was the best he has played this season scoring-wise.
“It’s just what they gave me defensively," Fowler said. "Their game plan was to go underneath the ball screens and try to keep me out of the lane. I was able to knock down jump shots that we’ve been practicing a lot in practice.”
Fowler ended the first half with an acrobatic layup as time expired to give CMU a 41-30 lead at the break. However, he only scored five points in the second half and snapped his streak of 25 consecutive free throws made.
The Falcons, who trailed by as much as 19, cut the lead to 10 with seven minutes remaining in the game. Fowler and redshirt sophomore guard Josh Kozinski each had four fouls by the time the clock hit zero. Sophomore forward Luke Meyer fouled out with 3:09 left.
Fowler said CMU could not "feed off the refs" as the team committed 19 personal fouls.
“Some things they let go, some things they didn’t," Fowler said. "It was tough to kind of judge it. We’ve got to do better as basketball players to keep our hands off."
Junior guard Braylon Rayson, who is fresh off reaching 1,000 points during Tuesday's win at Miami (Ohio), added 19 points for the Chippewas. He received a ball before the game to commemorate his accomplishment, but he said it is in the past.
“My confidence is always going to be high," Rayson said. "No matter if I’m shooting 20 percent, my confidence is still going to be there.”
Davis said BGSU was more aggressive than CMU during the second half and they were an "extremely tough team" to play against. He said "vintage" Fowler was on display in the first half and it was the best he saw him play and added his timing is coming back.
“I think you see with Chris how complete a player he is," Davis said. "You might think you have the answer on how to guard him but if you take away one thing from him, he can beat you in a lot of other ways."
Bowling Green falls to 13-8 (4-4 MAC). The Falcons were led offensively by Spencer Parker, who dropped in 13 points.
CMU collected water bottles to aid citizens of Flint in the ongoing Flint Water Crisis. Coaches from both teams wore tennis shoes and blue ribbons in honor of Coaches vs. Cancer week by the American Cancer Society.
“I think it’s all of our jobs to be able to have our attention to that and how we all do our part to make sure this awareness takes a step forward because it touches all of us," Davis said.
CMU will battle Kent State (15-6, 6-2 MAC) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at McGuirk Arena.
