CMU men's basketball survives late attack from Valpo
Central Michigan junior guard Anthony Pritchard attempts to move past a Valparaiso player during the game against Valparaiso, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023 in McGuirk Arena. Pritchard recorded twelve points. (CM-Life | Jenna Spanola)
With Central Michigan up 10 and under a minute to play in the first half, Derrick Butler hit a three extending the lead to 13. Valparaiso turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, where Butler made a transition layup.
The quick scoring gave CMU a 15-point lead which it would carry into the half with a score of 37-22. Valpo would attempt to comeback in the second half but would fall short as the Chippewas picked up the win with a final score of 71-67, bringing them to 3-5 on the season.
“That’s the Derrick Butler I recruited,” head coach Tony Barbee said. “Proud of Derrick for just staying course and now having a breakthrough night, I’m proud of him. I know his teammates were more excited for him than he was for himself.”
Butler, a junior guard who transferred from Chipola junior college, had a career night for the Chippewas. Only having 16 points through six games, Butler more than doubled his season total as he scored a game-high 24 points.
“I had a slow start,” Butler said. “I think this is the game that I turn the corner for the rest of the season, I’m not really shocked how I played. I put the work in.”
Overall, it was a good offensive night for CMU as three other players had double-digit scoring with those being junior forward Markus Harding with 13 while junior guard Anthony Pritchard and graduate student guard Brian Taylor had 12 apiece.
Central Michigan continued to struggle from the free throw line as heading into the contest the team was shooting 65 percent on the season. It continued to get worse as the team shot 47 percent (8-17) from the charity stripe.
“Your season is not dictated on what you do when its required,” Barbee said. “Our season will be determined by what our guys do outside of what's required, guys have got to spend time in the gym shooting free throws.
“There is two areas I want the guys being selfish. I want them to be selfish rebounding the ball … The second area is at the free throw line, go make every one of them.”
CMU won the rebound battle in the contest as it outrebounded Valpo 44-36. The Chippewas also had six more offensive rebounds than Valpo.
“I thought we rebounded well tonight,” Barbee said. “We guarded well but gave up too many second chance points especially in the stretch that they made the runback.”
The “runback” Barbee is referring to is the late push that Valpo made in the final minutes of the game. As CMU led by 20 with under 10 minutes to play, Valpo went on a 27-11 run to end the game.
The biggest moment was with 10 seconds left to play and down seven, Valpo guard Darius DeAveiro, made a three-point shot where he was also fouled on the play. After he made the free throw, the lead was cut down to three points, but CMU was able to prevail.
Valpo also had a familiar face on its squad as former CMU guard Ola Ajiboye, made his way back to Mount Pleasant facing off against his former team. He finished the night with four points and seven rebounds.
Central Michigan will be back at it on Saturday as the Chippewas travel to Omaha, Nebraska when they take on Creighton, with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m.
“Creighton they’re a good team, they’re well coached, they’ve got really good players,” Barbee said. “Playing on a tough home court, but guess what, no matter where you play the court is the same dimensions, the basket is the same height, what crowd you’re playing in front of doesn’t matter, we’re gonna go let it go.”
