Second half offensive onslaught leads CMU past EMU for first MAC win of season
Detroit freshman Aundre Polk celebrates after a teammate hits a shot against St. Francis, Monday, Dec. 14, at McGuirk Arena.
Senior guard Travon Broadway Jr. caught a swing pass in the left corner of the Convocation Center against the Eastern Michigan zone.
Quick ball movement led him to be wide open, six feet from the nearest defender. Easily draining a 3-pointer, Broadway Jr. turned his body to get back on defense -- and his focus never wavered from Bryce McBride, the defender who couldn't close out fast enough on his 3-pointer.
Broadway Jr. jumped in front of McBride, stealing the inbounds pass and laying in the ball for two more points to push CMU ahead by 22. That effort told the story of the Chippewas' second half which propelled the team to an 87-60 win Tuesday and earn its first Mid-American Conference win of the season.
Coming into the game, a major talking point was the difficulty presented by the Eagles zone defense. Despite all the length of the EMU (2-3) defense, the Chippewas (5-4) had little trouble finding holes.
"When we were winning championships, it was John Simons and Braylon Rayson and those guys, Luke Meyer, shooting from three, just going in and kicking it out," said coach Keno Davis, who coached his 400th career game on Tuesday. "But we didn't have guys that could really finish well around the basket. And now you've got Aundre Polk, Malik Muhammad, Meikkel Murray, Ralph Bissainthe. Those guys are pretty physical players both on the offense and defensive end."
CMU opened the game strong, forcing multiple early turnovers and turning them into transition buckets. Junior guard Meikkel Murray established himself as a catalyst early with a pair of lay-ins, and freshman forward Aundre Polk converted a thunderous put-back dunk as part of his six first-half points.
EMU stayed tight thanks to the efforts of senior Ty Groce, who didn't miss from the field on five first-half attempts and played every minute of the half despite picking up three fouls. The Chippewas were able to get their lead to as much as 11, but the Eagles closed the first half on the strength of five consecutive 3-pointers to cut their deficit to five as they jogged to the locker room at halftime.
"Although we were only up five, we had gone five-for-15 from the free throw line and felt like (with) a couple of breakdowns late, obviously some missed free throws, we could've had a sizable lead," Davis said.
Groce opened the second half scoring with a dunk to trim the lead to one possession. Yet, the Chippewas didn't waver. Broadway Jr. knocked down a triple, and junior guard Matt Beachler followed another Groce layup with a 3-pointer of his own. A 7-0 run capped off by a Murray layup gave the Chippewas a 10-point advantage, and a 3-point play by Polk made it 15 with 8:06 remaining.
With the game in hand, Broadway Jr. and EMU senior forward Noah Morgan each received technical fouls, with Morgan being ejected after receiving a second almost instantly.
Broadway Jr. finished with 21 points, tying a career-high mark set against Valparaiso on Dec. 12. Murray tied his career-high as well with 18. Beachler scored 13 while both Polk and junior forward Malik Muhammad had nine points. Muhammad and Murray tied for the team lead with seven rebounds, and three players paced the team with three assists.
"They both had great games," Davis said of Broadway and Murray. "In the most important spot against Eastern Michigan, (our) two guys played the best. I think that was the story of our offense."
Groce and McBride each scored 15 to lead the Eagles, with Groce grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds. The Chippewas outscored the Eagles in fast break points 22-6 and bested them in the paint 44-22.
Tuesday's win was the largest win for CMU over the Eagles since 1987 and was the 100th win for the Chippewas in the series, which dates back to 1908.
The Chippewas next take the court at 7 p.m. Jan. 1 at Akron as the third conference game of four straight on the road.
