Men's hoops concludes seven-game road trip, fall to Xavier
When the game finished there were no happy faces on the Central Michigan bench after its fourth loss in-a-row on the road.
The Chippewas rarely had a chance to fight back in a 78-45 loss against Xavier on Wednesday.
CMU falls to 1-6 on the season while the Musketeers are now 6-1.
The 45 points are the least scored by CMU since suffering a 64-42 loss to Eastern Michigan on Feb. 26, 2014.
How it Happened
The Musketeers wasted little time, opening an immediate 21-3 behind seven CMU turnovers. The Chippewas allowed six Xavier 3-pointers before CMU scored four points.
Despite several scoring opportunities, turnovers and fouls hampered CMU early on. Junior Brian Taylor was able to get a steal and dunk at the 7:33 mark in the first.
CMU switched to its zone defense look late in the first half, seemingly suffocating the Musketeers offense for a brief portion. The Chippewas ultimately found themselves down 41-25 entering intermission and committed 13 CMU turnovers.
The Musketeers opened the second half with a 14-4 behind three more Chippewa turnovers. CMU earned a 7-0 scoring run to chip away at the deficit. The Musketeers forced four more turnovers in the half to seal their 78-42 victory over the Chippewas.
Key performers
Xavier senior Nate Johnson lead the game with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 5-of-8 from long range. Jack Nunge contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
CMU junior Oscar Lopez Jr. had the team-high 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting and added six rebounds.
Key stats
The Musketeers shot 50.9 percent from the floor and 46.2 percent from three while CMU finished with a 31.4 percent from the field and only 16.7 percent from three.
The Chippewas committed a season-high 21 turnovers.
CMU won the rebounding battle for the first time this season, grabbing 36 total rebounds to Xavier's 31.
What’s next
The Chippewas come back for their home opener to face Western Illinois at 5 p.m. on Sunday at McGuirk Arena.
