CMU men's basketball falls short of upset against Marquette
Central Michigan University sophomore forward Bryan Ndjonga pushes past Stony Brook's offense to go for a layup on Thursday, Nov. 7 in McGuirk Arena. (CM Life | Jasmine Brookins)
Trailing by seven with one minute left in the game, it was up to Central Michigan men’s basketball to foul Marquette to keep the hopes of an upset alive.
The Chippewas intentionally fouled Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell with hopes that he would miss both free throws and give CMU a way back into the game with under a minute to play.
Mitchell drilled both free throws to put the game out of reach and Central Michigan fell just short of a major upset as it lost to No. 15 Marquette 70-62 on Monday.
The loss puts the Chippewas at 1-2 on the season.
The first half began with both offenses on fire as the two teams combined for 30 points only nine minutes into the game in a tied at 15 contest.
At the 10 minute mark, Marquette found their footing defensively and offensively with five straight CMU turnovers turning into a 21-0 run in only three minutes for the Golden Eagles.
Marquette guard Kam Jones was the biggest contributor of the run with two steals and 10 points in the three minutes.
CMU continued to struggle with ball security in the first half, allowing 24 first half points off of turnovers.
With five minutes remaining in the half forward Kyler VanderJagt helped Central Michigan collect itself, putting together a 10-4 run to close out the half as they trailed 42-27 going into halftime.
Central Michigan came out of halftime rejuvenated. After trading buckets with the Golden Eagles, CMU put together a 10-0 run of its own, cutting the deficit to five.
The Chippewas kept themselves competitive in the game with strong defense and a breakout 16 point performance from VanderJagt as they began clawing back at the deficit.
CMU forward Ugnius Jarusevicius dominated the post and constantly gave Central Michigan second chances, recording 12 rebounds for his first double-double as a Chippewa.
The squad from Mount Pleasant continued to struggle offensively down the stretch, coughing up the ball three times in a row during crucial possessions with eight minutes remaining in the game. CMU had a season high 25 turnovers throughout the course of the game.
Despite the turnover problem that plagued CMU, the shots began to fall for the Chippewas with seven minutes remaining in the game, but Marquette was able to keep CMU at bay with consecutive buckets to keep a seven point lead as the Chippewas trailed 60-53 with five minutes remaining.
With two minutes remaining, Central Michigan trailed 66-57 and began intentionally fouling to have a chance to stay alive in the game.
However, Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell knocked down his free throws to cap off a 17 point performance and the Chippewas lost 70-62.
CMU men’s basketball is back on the road to play George Mason in Fairfax, Virginia on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
