Central Michigan 80, Northwestern 67: Men's basketball grabs first win over Big Ten team since 2007


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The CMU men's basketball team lost its first Mid-American Conference game of the season on Saturday night at Ball State. (File photo | Central Michigan Life) 

Central Michigan University's men’s basketball team traveled to Evanston, Ill. looking for its first road win of the season. The Chippewas will come home with their largest margin of victory over a Big Ten team since 1986, well before any of the players on CMU's current roster were born.

Northwestern University jumped out to a 4-2 advantage to start the game, but never saw the lead again and the Chippewas claimed a 80-67 victory on Wednesday, Dec. 17.

Sophomore guard Braylon Rayson and freshman forward Luke Meyer combined for 37 points in CMU’s victory, which moved the men to 7-1 on the season.

It is the best start to a men's basketball season CMU has had since 1974.

“I thought it was such a good team win,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “Although we had some stand out performances, we had a great attitude, great effort right from the tip to the end of the game.”

The Chippewas had not beaten a Big Ten team since their 2007 victory against the University of Michigan.

The Chippewas struggled with rebounding in their only loss this year against Bradley last, but out rebounded the Wildcats 31-26.

“You outrebound a Big Ten team by five and your leading rebounder for the night has five rebounds? That’s a team effort,” Davis said. “Our team is learning. It seems like we’ve got a veteran team, but really when you delve into it a little bit, we don’t.”

Northwestern made a minor comeback in the second half, narrowing the lead to 46-43 with 14:39 to play.

After a CMU timeout, Davis' squad put together on a 10-2 run, during which four different players scored.

The Wildcat defense had been the centerpiece this season and hadn’t allowed a team to score more than 70 points in a game for 15 straight games, which was the second-longest streak in the nation.

Northwestern hadn’t allowed 80 or more points in a game since losing to Michigan State University in February.

Meyer, who didn’t score a point in the team’s first road game and only loss of the season at Bradley, hit two of his three 3-point attempts and had a rim-rattling dunk in the final minutes.

“We knew they were going to go on runs, we just had to weather the storm and keep playing like we know how to play,” Meyer said. “When I was at Bradley, I was shaken up, it was my first road game, I was nervous, I was scared, but now I’m more comfortable outside of McGuirk Arena.”

Davis said the win is exciting for the program, which hasn’t had a winning record since the 2002-2003 season.

“We can’t just be an offensive team, we can’t just be a defensive team,” Davis said. “You’ve got to have all of those to be able to contend for championships and that’s been our goal from day one.

“Maybe we’re a little closer than we thought. This was a good step forward tonight.”

CMU will look to pick up its eighth win of the season at 7 p.m. on Friday at McGuirk Arena against Concordia University.

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About Taylor DesOrmeau

Taylor DesOrmeau is a senior at Central Michigan University, majoring in integrative public relations ...

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