Men's basketball outlasted in second half in Michigan loss
Central Michigan men's basketball was down by one point at halftime against the University of Michigan. However, the Chippewas couldn't keep up with the Wolverines in the second half.
CMU (1-1) fell to U-M 72-65 on Monday night in the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. Transfer guard Shawn Roundtree scored 21 points to lead CMU against U-M.
Michigan's guards Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Zavier Simpson and Charles Matthews combined for 42 points.
Head coach Keno Davis said he couldn't of been happier with the way his team responded to the environment in the Crisler Center.
“I was surprised to be honest,” Davis said. “I think it says a lot about this team and what we can do this season. You worry about them having nerves and I think when you look back, you couldn’t have asked for more out of this team tonight.”
Roundtree said when his shots started to fall he felt like he needed to keep putting them up when he was open.
“It was a confidence booster for me to see those shots fall like they did,” Roundtree said. “It felt good to see the ball go in, but I’m just really proud of my team and the way they played tonight. I think we showed great competitiveness.”
CMU started the game by hitting a pair of triples from senior forward Luke Meyer and freshman guard Matt Beachler to lead a 9-0 run and build a 11-3 advantage.
The Wolverines trimmed the Chippewa lead to 13-12, but Roundtree answered with back-to-back 3-pointers for a 19-12 CMU lead, midway through the first half.
U-M went on a 7-0 run to end the half, capped off by a Abdur-Rahkman 3-pointer to give the Wolverines a 32-31 advantage at the break.
Each team made five 3-pointers in the first half, while CMU shot 42 percent (11-for-26) from the field while the Wolverines shot 38 percent (10-for-26).
Roundtree and Meyer led the Chippewas with nine points a piece at halftime.
Both teams traded buckets to open the second half. Senior guard Josh Kozinski hit his first triple of the night to give CMU the lead back at 45-44 early in the half.
Abdur-Rahkman and guard Matthews hit back-to-back 3-pointer to give the Wolverines the lead.
With U-M ahead 56-53 nearing the late portion of the second half, the Wolverines went on a 6-0 run highlighted by a Matthews fast break dunk to give U-M a 62-53 lead.
CMU was 43 percent (22-for-51) from the field while the Wolverines shot 44 percent (26-for-59) as a team. Both teams ended with 10 3-pointers.
CMU turned the ball over 14 times. The Chippewas out-rebounded U-M 34-27.
Meyer said the rebounding success had a lot to do with the teams hustle on the glass and for the most part they kept it up throughout the game.
“If we would've got blown out on the boards, it wouldn’t have been a game,” Meyer said. “Obviously that kept us in the game and it lead us to where we wanted to be.”
The Chippewas will resume action on Saturday, Nov. 18 against Eureka at 1 p.m. from McGuirk Arena.
Game notes
- Meyer was the only other Chippewa in double figures with 12 points while adding three boards in 31 minutes.
- The Chippewas have now shot over 40 percent from the field in both games this season, while holding its opponents to under 40 percent
- Michigan guard Jaaron Simmons totaled 30 points with nine rebounds and nine assists against CMU last season when he played with Ohio. He was held to five points, two rebounds and an assist.
