Turnovers lead Miami (OH) past men's basketball
A season-high 22 turnovers led to the Central Michigan men's basketball team's 81-76 loss to Miami (OH) Saturday night.
CMU fell to 16-9 overall, and 6-6 in Mid-American Conference play.
"We have got enough guys that have developed, but you also have to be mentally tough," said head coach Keno Davis. "The turnovers, not getting to the free-throw-line, relying on the three-point shot, and getting disrupted is something that costed us tonight."
CMU led 38-35 at halftime, even though 13 of CMU's 22 turnovers came in the first half.
"It's frustrating, but at least it hasn't been a pattern," Davis said on CMU's 22 turnovers. "We have to make sure that when we get a taste of this tonight, that that doesn't happen again.
The Chippewas tied the game at 76 with a David DiLeo 3-pointer with under a minute to play. Miami took the lead back with 31.5 seconds left.
CMU raced down the court to find a shot and DiLeo misses the 3-point attempt. Following the missed three, CMU was forced to foul to stop the clock and Miami (Ohio) never looked back, resulting in a five-point win for the Redhawks.
One positive for the Chippewas is they out-rebounded Miami 46-34. Senior Luke Meyer led the team with 10 rebounds, followed by Cecil Williams with 8 rebounds.
Marcus Keene struggled with his shot going 5-for-17 from the field with 12 points. Keene tallied eight assists, seven rebounds, and six turnovers in a game where he had the opportunity to break CMU's single season scoring record. Keene now needs 12 more points to break the record held by Dan Majerle.
Braylon Rayson was CMU's leading scorer in today's game. He shot 9-for-18 scoring 24 points. Rayson also led the team in turnovers today, with a season-high 10 turnovers.
"It's easy to pick on Braylon (Rayson) and Marcus (Keene), obviously they have been great all season," Davis said. "But we've got to have other guys too. We've got to have other guys be able to score and make plays."
The Chippewas begin a three-game home stretch on Tuesday against Buffalo at McGuirk Arena.
