CMU men's basketball falls to Miami (Ohio) with MAC tournament spot on the line
Sydney, Australia graduate student Cameron Healy shoots the ball at the game against Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday, March 1 in McGuirk Arena.
With a secured spot for the Mid-American Conference tournament on the line, cold shooting from Central Michigan resulted in it falling to the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks 75-61 on Tuesday.
The Chippewas (7-21, 6-11) couldn't keep up with the RedHawks (13-17, 7-12) despite beating them five days ago. The tables were turned on all ends of the court in this rematch.
“With everything that was on the line tonight, with both teams win and you're in and for my team not being ready to play, that was on me,” said head coach Tony Barbee. “We were clearly not ready to play from the tip and it starts and stops with me.
Once again shooting plagued the Chippewas. Not only were the results effected by cold shooting, but turnovers resulted in easy points for the Redhawks allowing them to send the Chippewas down a hole. The Redhawks scored 9 points off the Chippewas 9 turnovers.
Miami went hot from beyond the arc, going 9-for-25 from the three-point line compared to the Chippewas 4-for-25.
There was a spurt of fire from the Chippewas early in the second half sending them on a 7-0 run and taking advantage of the Redhawks going scoreless for nearly four minutes.
Kamari Williams didn't let the Redhawks scoring drought last any longer. He had back-to-back baskets to send the Redhawks bench into a cheer. Williams went 4-for-6 from the arc.
Despite being down 23 points at the half, the Chippewas continued to fight but shooting hindered their attempt to keep them in the game. Although there was a large chunk of time remaining it wasn't quite enough time for the Chippewas to catch up with the Redhawks with their scoring trends. In the end the Chippewas fell to the Redhawks 75-61.
The Chippewas were led by freshman Kevin Miller with 19 points and seven assists. Cameron Healy was not far behind with 17 points.
Williams led the Redhawks with a game high of 21 points and Dae Dae Grant had 19 points and six assists.
The Chippewas will head to Akron to take on the Zips on Friday at 7 p.m. for the last game of the regular season.
