Men’s basketball allows most points in a game since 2004
With 9:50 to go in the first half, a blowout didn’t seem out of the question.
The offense was rolling for the Central Michigan men’s basketball team in the Mid-American Conference opener. They led Eastern Michigan 28-17, mostly due to four consecutive 3-pointers from sophomore guard Josh Kozinski in a 2:21 span.
The game ended in a blowout, but not favoring the maroon and gold.
It was a game of runs for the Eagles, as they put together a 10-0 run at the end of the first half, taking the lead for good. They shot 66 percent from the field and made 13-of-20 3-point attempts in route to a 99-80 win over the Chippewas.
The 99 points was the most Central Michigan have allowed since losing 100-85 to Evansville Nov. 19, 2004. The last time they allowed 99 or more in a regulation MAC game was Jan. 21, 1998.
After being shutout of the first half, sophomore guard Braylon Rayson’s 17 second-half points pulled CMU close, but EMU continually responded. Scoring bursts in the second half included 11-3, 9-1 and 12-0 Eagle runs to put the Chippewas away.
Head Coach Keno Davis said the Eagles shot much better than he expected and their 2-3 zone defense was tough to get through at times.
“I definitely would say we’re streaky against Eastern Michigan,” said Head Coach Keno Davis. “Everybody’s streaky against Eastern Michigan. They can really take away parts of your game and did a really nice job on that. I don’t know that I would say that we’ve been streaky up until this game against them.”
It was CMU’s first regulation loss at McGuirk Arena since March 7, 2014 and the Chippewas’ worst MAC loss since the last time they lost to the Eagles — a 64-42 loss Feb. 26, 2014.
“It feels bad. Really bad,” said senior guard Rayshawn Simmons. “They shot better than expected. That has something to do with them and something to do with us.”
Falling to .500
Davis said his team is better than the 7-7 record indicates.
“Oh yeah. I don’t put a whole lot of stock into our record,” Davis said. “I know that if we were able to have a great nonconference record, then RPI and all those things come in. But we’re better than a .500 team.”
He credited the 9-5 Eagles, who had four players score 19 points or more — including 32 for sophomore guard Raven Lee.
Officiating woes
Davis was frustrated with the officials numerous times throughout the night, campaigning for many travel and foul calls — along with the 2,207 in attendance.
He described the multiple conversations he had with the officials as “one-sided.”
“I have to be careful that I don’t get fined,” Davis said. “I think you’re always as a coach looking for consistency in officiating. You’re not looking for the best calls or the best officials, you just want to know that if a call’s going to be made one way, it’s going to be made the other. That was a talking point from myself to the officials that we hadn’t seen in three years.”
He also mentioned that it was the first time those three officials had worked a game for CMU in the past two years.
“I think around the country, (coaches) want to see the same guys that work in leagues,” Davis said. “We didn’t have any of those guys the last two years. That’s disappointing, but you understand some of the reasons for it and go on.”
What’s next
After losing at home for the first time all year Wednesday, the Chippewas can pick up their first road win of the year at Bowling Green (10-4, 1-0 MAC) at 2 p.m. Saturday.
BGSU topped the Chippewas 76-74 in overtime last season at McGuirk Arena.
