“They were just better,” said Ernie Zeigler. “Better than us at every position.”

And after a 68-42 loss against Ohio Saturday in Athens, Ohio, the Central Michigan men’s basketball head coach is now tasked with finding a way to change course. His team has lost seven straight games — at one time looking like it would be able to compete for a Mid-American Conference West Division title, now fighting to stay out of the league basement.

In what has become a sure bet the past few seasons, CMU struggled offensively out of the gate. The Chippewas fell behind 9-1 in the first three minutes after following a triad of 3-pointers from guards Nick Kellogg and D.J. Cooper.

A Trey Zeigler jumper with 10:16 to go in the first half cut the Bobcats’ lead to 15-11, but that was as close as CMU got the rest of the game. And despite its initial scoring burst, Ohio struggled to shoot the basketball in the first half – shooting just 32 percent from the field and went 4-for-20 in 3-point attempts.

The caveat? The Chippewas weren’t any better, and closed the half shooting 30.8 percent and 1-for-12 from long range. Throw in nine turnovers and 12 OU points off those turnovers and the Bobcats end the half with a comfortable 33-20 lead.

“It’s very difficult (to come back) when you’re playing against a good team, and we’ve been playing against some good teams,” Zeigler said, referring to Ohio’s MAC-best 19-4 overall record and the Chippewas recent losses against perennial MAC East contenders Akron (16-7, 8-1 MAC) and Kent State (16-6). “To overcome going down by double digits early, it makes it very difficult to come back against very good teams.”

The defensive struggles continued in the second half, with OU extending its lead to 16 on a 3-point bucket  from Kellogg (14 points on 5-of-11 shooting) within the first 30 seconds. When junior forward Olivier Mbaigoto responded with a jumper on the  next CMU possession, Ohio junior forward Walter Offutt (game-high 17 points, including four 3-pointers) answered with another 3-pointer of his own.

From there on out, scoring droughts stifled any opportunity for the CMU offense. After Mbaigoto’s jumper at the 18:59 mark, the Chippewas could not muster a field goal — Mbaigoto did make three free throws — for more than five minutes. Later in the half, a four-minute scoreless span was ended when Mbaigoto hit a 3-pointer with 7:45 to go, but Ohio’s lead had blossomed to 20 points. The Bobcats improve to 19-4 overall, a MAC-best, and 7-1 in the league.

Mbaigoto led the team with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while the three scorers relied upon for most of the offensive production (sophomore guards Trey Zeigler and Derek Jackson and freshman Austin McBroom) combined for just 24 points and nine rebounds. Trey had most of those with 10 points and six rebounds.

CMU (7-15, 2-7 MAC) converted just 27 percent of its shots in the second half. Ohio shot a much-improved 50 percent, including 7-of-10 from behind the 3-point line.

“You have to give Ohio credit,” Ernie Zeigler said. “They did a really good job of keying in on our main offensive options, and we struggled to make some open shots as well. They came in with a great gameplan, from the coaching on down. They dominated us in every area.”

And now CMU turns its attention to Buffalo, a team that pushed the Chippewas around — beating them by double digits — twice last season, even knocking them out in the first round of the MAC tournament. The Bulls enter Wednesday’s game at McGuirk Arena 14-6 overall and 7-2 in the MAC, and could very well be CMU’s final chance to try and turn around a once-promising season.

Despite the seven-game slide, Zeigler said he and his staff will continue pushing and teaching his players along the way.

“When you have a young team, that’s all you can do,” Zeigler said. “I’m my stated self. I’m always extremely confident in what we’re doing and how we’re going about it.”

Sophomore Trey Zeigler, center, will likely sit out of tonight's game against Bowling Green. (Jake May/Staff Photographer)

The Central Michigan men’s basketball team might have to try to snap a three-game losing streak without its leading scorer at 7 p.m. today at Bowling Green.

Sophomore guard Trey Zeigler, the Mid-American Conference’s fourth leading scorer, has flu-like symptoms, according to head coach Ernie Zeigler. Ernie said Trey has been vomiting and if he feels that way tonight, he most likely won’t play.

The Chippewas will have to look to others without their leading scorer.

Trey’s 16 points-per-game is 4.3 points per game more than sophomore guard Derek Jackson – the team’s second-leading scorer.

On Feb. 2, 2011, the Chippewas last faced the Falcons, beating them 69-64 in McGuirk Arena. But CMU leaders in that game were seniors that have since left.

Senior guard Dee Brown, the team’s fourth-leading scorer, went 7-for-10 in the loss against the Chippewas, scoring a game-high 20 points.

Junior forward A’uston Calhoun scored a game-high 29 points in the BGSU loss Saturday against Buffalo. He was in foul trouble the last time these two teams met, but was able to score 15 points.

This game begins a six-game stretch for CMU against MAC East opponents.

“It’s very important to get a win, especially coming off these three games,” said freshman guard Austin McBroom. “We’ve lost three games. It’s big to get a win, especially against the (MAC) East, to get us going further on in the season.”

Assists improving

The Chippewas are slowly improving their ball movement. In the 73-52 loss against Ball State on Jan. 18, CMU mustered up four assists.

Three days later, McBroom lead the team with six of the team’s 13 assists.

“It’s extremely important, especially because we have a lot more than one scorer on the team,” McBroom said about having ball movement. “When we get that ball moving, a lot of people have open shots, and can hit them.”

McBroom is the main facilitator, but when Trey or Jackson struggle offensively, he knows he has the ability to make shots.

He is one 3-point make shy of tying Jackson for the team lead. McBroom has 34 baskets from behind the 3-point and has a team-leading 46.6 percent from that range.

“It’s on how the game is going,” McBroom said in regard to if he passes or shoots the ball more. “If (Trey and Jackson) are struggling, then I feel the need to step up and try to see what I can do on offense.

“If not, then I have to get them the ball and see what they can do on offense.”

Nor, is it peculiar to see small schools qualify for the national tournament and gain national media exposure valuable to both the school’s overall notoriety and vital for players who aspire to play in the big city lights of the NBA.

The performance that was on display last Wednesday was simply unacceptable for a team that still has the potential to put Central Michigan University sports on the national stage, a stage we
miss, a stage where CMU can, and needs to be.

Thomas Myers

Grosse Ile junior

John Manzo/Staff Reporter

Six minutes and 44 seconds of basketball time stood between myself, and a column about how Trey Zeigler is disappointing the Central Michigan men’s basketball fans.

He shot 3-for-11 in the first half of Saturday’s 64-61 loss at Western Michigan. This was three days after shooting 3-for-12 from the field in a blowout loss against Ball State at home on Wednesday.

He is hovering around the 55 percent free-throw shooting range. At this point opponents should use the “Hack-a-Zeigler” strategy if it trails late in the game.

But then my perceptions changed, and won’t ever revert back to prior thoughts.

Zeigler showed me why he was a four-star recruit coming out of Mount Pleasant High School in 2010.

He went 3-of-4 from that point on in the WMU loss, making both his free throws, stealing the ball and creating layups with spin moves through defenders.

“Coaches have been on me about being more aggressive and trying to put the game in my hands,” Zeigler said. “It just depends what the game is and how the game is going.”

It was his game to lose Saturday.

And that’s exactly what he did, missing a 3-pointer at the top of the key off a broken play.

But that’s not the point. He can be what most CMU basketball fans expect. He will be what most CMU basketball fans expect.

He’s fifth in the Mid-American Conference in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game. Zeigler is seventh in the conference in rebounds, averaging 6.8.

The Chippewas are no doubt a work in progress, but there are few sophomores in the MAC that I would rather build around other than Zeigler.

Fans put the blame on a star player when their team struggles, but look around. LeBron James bolted from his home state and team because he couldn’t do it alone.

Nobody can win a championship alone. The pieces around Zeigler are slowly coming. Sophomore guard Derek Jackson is a high-riser with speed and athleticism. Freshman point guard Austin McBroom is a floor general and gives added stability to a position that was in shambles because of the Amir Rashid-Antonio Weary project.

The inexperience that we all see as a negative will soon turn positive as this group matures.

And who will be at the top of it all?

Trey Zeigler.

Senior center Andre Coimbra, left, drops his head on the bench as sophomore guard Trey Zeigler watches the time tick off of the clock in the final seconds in the fourth quarterof CMU's 73-52 loss to Ball State on Wednesday night at McGuirk Arena. (Jake May/Staff Photographer)

John Manzo/Staff Reporter

The Central Michigan men’s basketball team is young.

It can’t be changed this season. Center Andre Coimbra is the only senior starter and it is only his second year on the team. There hasn’t been a consistent leader on the team, both on and off the court.

Sophomore guard Trey Zeigler should be the odds-on favorite as the team leader. He was the most highly recruited, and has the ability to lead the team through his play.

He has been benched twice for violating team rules, despite scoring a team-high 16.4 points per game.

Sophomore guard Derek Jackson has played well throughout the season, but found himself on the wrong side of the out-of-bounds line during the start of Wednesday’s 73-52 loss against Ball State at McGuirk Arena.

He also violated team rules.

“We’re so immature, our best and most talented players are probably are most immature players,” said head coach Ernie Zeigler following the loss. “We just got to continue to nurture them and hopefully keep them on a path. When they are focused and have a sense of purpose, there is a lot of talent there, but it’s more than just talent.”

Whether it’s on or off the court, the positive consistency hasn’t been there. Off the court issues have forced different starting lineups throughout the season and inconsistency from different players has shown.

Trey entered Wednesday’s loss shooting 55.1 percent from the free throw line. He decreased that percent, shooting 0-for-3. He also shot 3-of-12 from the field.

Junior forward Olivier Mbaigoto scored a career-high 23 points against UC-Irvine on Nov. 25, 2011. He hasn’t done it consistently only scoring double-digits four times in 17 games.

“Right now there isn’t that type of leadership within that group because of the youth and some of the freshness of just being a part of the program or being Division I,” Ernie said. “Some guys aren’t quite ready to do it, and the guys that need to do it aren’t mature enough to do it yet.”

CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler

An opportunity was missed, and head coach Ernie Zeigler realizes it.

Entering Saturday’s game against 1-13 Northern Illinois, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team had a chance of starting Mid-American Conference play 3-0 for the first time since 1992. The Huskies only win was against NAIA Roosevelt, a team that considered the game a scrimmage on its schedule. But an uncharacteristically strong shooting performance, coupled with travel issues before the game, shocked the Chippewas.

Now, CMU is 2-1 in the league and part of a logjam atop the MAC West.

“We’re just really focusing on a missed opportunity to be sitting at the top of the heap right now,” Zeigler said following the Chippewas 74-66 loss in DeKalb, Ill. “There’s a lot of basketball left to be played, now we got to go and take care of home.”

CMU welcomes Ball State to McGuirk Arena at 7 p.m. Wednesday in what could turn out to be a pivotal point in the season. Last season, while still in the hunt for a MAC West title, the Chippewas blew a 23-point second-half lead and lost to the Cardinals. The team went on to lose in the first round of the MAC tournament, ending a season they would rather forget.

Heading into Wednesday’s game, Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Ball State sit tied with CMU atop the MAC West at 2-1. The Chippewas play BSU and WMU (in Kalamazoo) over their next two games, and Zeigler said winning at home is going to be key.

“The team that can get the most road wins is probably going to win our side, and get a chance to get one of those seeded births in the tournament,” Zeigler said. “It’s still locked up early.”

The Cardinals boast the best scoring defense in the league, allowing an average of 58 points per game and a conference-best 37 percent defensive field goal percentage. Senior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team with 17.8 points per game, second in the MAC.