Rapid Reaction: Central Michigan 76, Northern Illinois 64
The Central Michigan basketball team allowed Northern Illinois to climb back from a 14-point deficit to beat the CMU 75-70 on Jan. 19. The Chippewas let NIU come back from down 13 on Tuesday, but responded with a run of their own to earn the 76-64 win.
CMU improves to 15-13 and 8-7 in Mid-American Conference play. NIU drops to 18-10 and 7-8 in MAC play.
Davis picks up a technical
After receiving a warning in the first half for complaining about the officiating, he picked up a technical foul in the second half.
NIU earned two free throws on the technical. The Huskies made both shots and took their first lead of the game 43-42 with 16:46 to play. CMU took the lead back 22 seconds later on a pair of free throws from senior forward John Simons.
They would not surrender the lead again.
Struggling to get to the line
Head Coach Keno Davis was disappointed with CMU's zero free-throw makes in the second half in Saturday's 92-85 loss to Western Michigan. It didn't improve much in the first half, as CMU had five attempts from the line, compared to NIU's nine.
CMU had 11 attempts from the line in the second half.
Simons, Kozinski heat up
Simons had has best scoring game in the conference season, leading the Chippewas with 17 points. Sophomore guard Josh Kozinski was 5-for-8 from the 3-point line with 15 points.
Eight of CMU's 10 3-pointers came from Simons and Kozinski.
What's next
CMU finishes out the season with a pair of road games against Toledo (Saturday) and Ball State (March 1) and a home game against Western Michigan March 4.
The Chippewas beat the Rockets 77-69 on Feb. 16 at McGuirk Arena and beat UT in all three meetings last season.
Keep following Central Michigan Life for more on Tuesday's game against Northern Illinois.
