Big second-half run dooms men's basketball at Illinois
Keno Davis did not have to go into too much detail about why the Central Michigan men's basketball team fell to Illinois on Saturday.
The head coach said the bigger and better team won.
Holding a 46-36 lead at the break, Illinois went on a 24-4 run to build a 64-40 lead in the first five minutes of the second half. The Chippewas fell 92-73 in Champaign, Illinois.
“I was really proud of the way we battled back when things were going against us," Davis said. "We’re far from a finished product but I think everybody sees we’re getting better as a team and as a program.”
A back-and-forth start to the game saw CMU take a 16-15 lead early. Illinois went on a 17-0 run to double up CMU, 32-16.
After the Fighting Illini grabbed a 39-20 lead, the Chippewas marched on a run of their own. The 13-0 CMU streak was capped by a 3-pointer from junior forward Luke Meyer, cutting the Illinois advantage to six, 39-33.
Heading into the locker room at halftime down 10, CMU could only muster two buckets from junior guard Marcus Keene in the first five minutes of the second half.
The Fighting Illini, who once led by 26, shot 53.1 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Chippewas 49-25.
“They’re a lot bigger," Davis said. "I feel like we gave a great effort inside and just weren’t ready as a team to go against a team like that.”
Illinois (8-3) guard Tracy Abrams led the way with 31 points, while Leron Black added 21.
Keene paced CMU (8-3) with 25 points, while senior guard Braylon Rayson netted 18. The duo combined for 70 points in a win over Wisconsin-Green Bay on Dec. 6 - but were held to 43 against the Fighting Illini.
Saturday marked CMU's first game against a Big 10 Conference opponent in two seasons. The Chippewas defeated Northwestern in the 2014-15 season.
“Part of the reason for us to schedule a game like this was to expose the things we need to work on and the big, physical presence that they show (is) something we weren’t ready for," Davis said. "We knew we need to improve in that area. We’re going to see some physical play and some really strong teams but I know we won’t see anyone as strong or stronger than Illinois the rest of the schedule.”
The loss marks the Chippewas' first since losing 91-79 to Arkansas-Little Rock in the Lone Star Showcase in Cedar Park, Texas, on Nov. 23.
Junior forward Cecil Williams exited Saturday's game in the second half after rolling his ankle. Williams scored three points and grabbed one rebound in 17 minutes. Davis said he does not expect Williams' injury to be too serious and said the long break will help him rest.
Although Williams went down with an injury and Illinois was knocking down its shots, Davis said he was pleased with how his team responded and said it is a great sign moving forward.
“They’re so big on the inside that we couldn’t stop them on the inside and when we did and we brought guard help to the post, they shot the ball extremely well," Davis said. "When a team has a true inside-outside threat, and they’re hitting on them, there’s not a whole lot you can do it when you’re undersized. We’ll take it as a learning experience and understand the better team won tonight but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve from this game.”
The Chippewas head to Montana State on Dec. 21 before closing 2016 and nonconference play at home versus Chicago State on Dec. 30.
