Chippewas crumble against Ohio, drop fourth straight
After a 1-7 record in the month of January, CMU was poised to start February on a high note.
That high note, instead, turned out to be sour.
The Chippewas suffered an 83-69 Mid-American Conference loss to Ohio Tuesday in McGuirk Arena.
CMU (6-11, 2-8 MAC) has dropped four in a row and lost seven-of-eight. The Chippewas now trail the all-time series to the Bobcats (11-6, 7-4 MAC) 49-32 and sit ninth in the conference standings with 10 games remaining.
Head coach Keno Davis said that the Chippewas offensive execution needs to improve, but he remains optimistic for CMU’s final 10 games.
“I think what you try and do as a coach is you don’t play the result, you let the fans play the result,” Davis said. “We could have won a few of (our previous) games and not played as well and I wouldn’t be as optimistic. I think what you want is ‘how hard (is the team) working in practice, how are they developing individually’ and understand that with a couple breaks here and there and have a schedule where we played all of these tough opponents, the top of the league.
“It’s been a tough road for what we’ve had. It doesn’t get easy, but it’s easier on paper in the second half (of the season)."
CMU’s remaining MAC opponents have a combined conference record of 31-32.
Key moments
Trailing 32-20 with six minutes until halftime redshirt junior guard Matt Beachler’s second 3-pointer of the game and six-straight points from senior guard Travon Broadway Jr. put the Chippewas within five points with 3:32 to go. CMU scored five of the half’s final nine points to trail 38-34 entering intermission.
Down by six under 30 seconds into the second half, Beachler and Broadway struck again with a 6-0 run to pull CMU even with the Bobcats 40-40. Jump shots from Broadway and Devontae Lane gave the Chippewas a 44-42 advantage until a 20-4 run by the Bobcats put the home team in a 14-point deficit with 7:52 remaining.
CMU pulled within seven points with 3:46 remaining, but the Bobcats finished the game on a 12-5 run.
The Chippewas finished 23-of-60 from the floor, 35 percent from 3-point range and was outrebounded 38-26 overall and 21-10 in the final 20 minutes.
Impact players
After scoring a season-low five points in an 83-76 loss to Kent State on Jan. 30, Broadway finished with a game-high 26 points, one point away from his career-high.
Junior guards Caleb Huffman and Meikkel Murray were two of three Chippewas to finish in double figure point totals with 17 and 10, respectively.
Huffman has produced 40 points in CMU’s last two contests.
“We knew when we recruited that he was one of those guys that has a lot of talent, is able to score the ball in a hurry and is maybe at the top of the list learning how to play,” Davis said. “He’s turning down great shots to take tougher shots. I think you’re starting to see him doing a better job of that than he did in November and December, and if he can continue to make that kind of progress, I think you’ll see his percentages go up, his numbers go up and see him become more of a part of our offense going forward.”
Ohio junior guard Jason Preston finished with 17 points and a game-best 11 rebounds. Senior forward Dwight Wilson III added a double-double of his own with 14 points and 10 boards
Up next
The Chippewas are scheduled to host Ball State at 5 p.m. on Feb. 9 and are set to host Buffalo at 8 p.m. on Feb. 12 on CBS Sports Network. Both games are set for McGuirk Arena.
