Men's basketball looks to shake off poor performance
CMU men’s basketball coach Ernie Zeigler said his team needed to seriously look at its play following Saturday’s 62-53 loss at Fairleigh Dickinson.
CMU shot just 32.3 percent in the team’s first road game of the season.
Now it heads into a game with what Zeigler is calling the most talented team it has played so far. The team plays Wright State at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.
“Wright State is going to be the toughest opponent we’ll play to date,” Zeigler said. “And we have some serious soul-searching to do before we head down to Dayton to play an extremely tough team.”
Like the game against Fairleigh Dickinson, it also will be Wright State’s home opener.
The Raiders are 2-1 on the season, with their only loss coming in the season opener at Washington State, 73-69. The team has since defeated Portland State and Belmont.
Senior guard Todd Brown leads Wright State, averaging 19 points and five rebounds per game. Cory Copperwood, Troy Tabler and N’Gai Evans also average double-figure points per game.
CMU defeated the Raiders 70-68 in overtime last season in Rose Arena. The Chippewas held Wright State to 37.7 percent shooting. The Raiders are shooting 53.6 percent this season.
Senior forward Chris Kellermann had 18 points, while Copperwood had 16 for the Raiders.
Tuesday is the second game in a stretch of nine on the road in a 10-game span. CMU’s lone home game during that stretch is Dec. 1 against Chicago State. Following Wright State, CMU plays at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at No. 7 Purdue.
Saturday’s loss
In the first half of Saturday’s game, CMU was up 9-7 before Fairleigh Dickinson took over. Shooting 43.5 percent to CMU’s 33.3 percent, the Knights were able to open up a 12-point advantage heading into the second half.
“They really came out with intensity that most teams do in their home openers,” Zeigler said.
Zeigler talked about senior center Alvin MuFanaya as a player CMU had problems with. MuFanaya finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots.
“He was an absolute man and he caused timidness throughout our front line around the basket,” Zeigler said.
Sean Baptiste also was effective, finishing with 18 points and five rebounds for the Knights. Baptiste scored eight of his points from free throws, something CMU struggled with all game.
The Chippewas allowed 34 free-throw attempts, with the Knights converting on 25. All five CMU starters had at least three fouls by game’s end. Junior center Marko Spica, who came in off the bench, fouled out.
Spica finished with 11 points, but just three rebounds.
“Marko still has a ways to go,” Zeigler said.
Senior guard Robbie Harman finished with 13 points, while senior guard Jordan Bitzer and Kellermann each finished with 12.
No CMU players had more than five rebounds.
