CMU men's basketball fall in season opener at Oklahoma
Head coach Tony Barbee (center) talks to players during a timeout in a game against Buffalo Saturday, Jan. 14 in McGuirk Arena. Barbee is the twenty-first men's basketball coach in school history.
Eight minutes into its first game of the 2023 season Central Michigan men's basketball was ahead of the University of Oklahoma, 12-10. But things would change in a hurry Monday when the Sooners went on a 30-9 run on their home hardwood to end the half.
In the second half, CMU would cut the lead to 14 multiple times but couldn’t mount a comeback. The Chippewas fell, 89-59, in its season opener.
“We got to continue to get better,” head coach Tony Barbee said. "This game came down ... to toughness. They were the tougher team
“They were the more aggressive, more physical team and we weren't ready for this moment.”
Heading into the season, Barbee talked about how good this team's shooting was. In the game, CMU struggled from the three-point arch. As a team, the Chippewas shot 19 percent (4-21) from three.
On the other side of the court, the Sooners shot the ball at a 45 percent (9-21) clip, with four of the nine coming from the duo of guards Javion McCollum and Otegah Oweh. McCollum, who was the leading scorer in the contest, finished with 19 points while Oweh added 18.
CMU also got in foul trouble, with all bu one player finishing with at least one foul. The team had 24 overall. This led to 30 free throw attempts for Oklahoma; the Sooners capitalized on 24 of its attempts, compared to CMU's 13.
“The end result is, when you're the tougher team, the more aggressive team, you're gonna shoot more foul shots, you're gonna commit less fouls. ... You look at all those stats from today’s game (and) they dominated those areas,” Barbee said.
One newcomer had a solid debut: Tulsa junior guard Anthony Pritchard led the Chippewas in scoring, with 11 points on 40 percent shooting from the field. He also added two rebounds and steals, and an assist.
CMU had one more double-digit scorer in freshman guard Cayden Vasco, who booked 10 points in his first collegiate game. Though nobody could break through for Central Michigan, every player that registered playing time scored for the team.
Graduate guard Brian Taylor came into this season with high hopes as a team leader, but he struggled in his season debut. Taylor went 0-4 from the field and got his only points of the game on a pair of free throws.
“Brian (Taylor) looked just as scared and as nervous as the freshmen and newcomers," Barbee said. "We're not going to be a very good team if that's Brian Taylor."
The Chippewas will look to get in the win column as they host Louisiana-Monroe in their home opener on Saturday at noon.
