Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
#4 Northern Illinois (MAC Semifinal)
Chippewas Advance To MAC Tournament Title Game
3/14/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CLEVELAND - The music keeps getting louder as the No. 1-seed Central Michigan University men's basketball team inches closer to the big dance -- an NCAA tournament bid.
With a 94-72 semifinal win over the No. 4-seed Northern Illinois Huskies, the Chippewas advance to the First Energy Mid-American Conference Basketball Tournament finals. It is the team's first appearance in the finals since 1990. The tournament champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tourney.
The semifinal win gives the Chippewas their 23rd for the season, as they are 23-6. The win total equals the effort of the 1966 and 1967 squads. The Huskies, on the other hand, end their season 17-14.
If shooting better than 50 percent from the floor is unstoppable, then how about shooting better than 60 percent from three-point range. The Chippewas hit buckets at a 59.6 percent (28-for-47) clip for the game. Even better, CMU was knocking down threes effortlessly, going 12-for-18 (66.7 percent) from behind the arc. J.R Wallace led the three-point barrage with five. The Huskies shot 48.4 percent (30-for-62) from the floor.
"We came out knocking down some threes like the first time we faced them," head coach Jay Smith commented. "It just became a little bit of a jump shooting contest and these guys can shoot. J.R. Wallace said it best, that teams have to pick their poison. They pretty much decided they didn't want Chris Kaman to hurt them and that is not a bad philosophy. If we are missing those shots, it is a different game. Tonight, we were able to knock those shots down."
It was another double-double by CMU's big man, seven-footer Chris Kaman, that lifted the Chippewas to a second-round win. Kaman finished with a team-high 23 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. He was 11-for-15 from the line. Wallace had 22 points, most of which came on 5-for-7 shooting from the three-point line. Mike Manciel had 18 points while T.J. Meerman chipped in with a career-high 12.
"I am just able to knock down some shots," Wallace said. "It is something that they give us in their defense when they are playing a zone. Honestly, I have come to look forward to playing these guys because I know I am going to get some open shots along the perimeter."
Jay Bates led the Huskies' effort with a game-high 29 points. P.J. Smith meshed 15 while the team's top scorer, Marcus Smallwood, was held to 12 points.
The Chippewas outrebounded their foe for the evening, 32-26.
The first four minutes of the game belonged to NIU. The Huskies were 6-for-8 from the field during that stretch and built a five-point lead at the 16:17 mark of the first. However, a 14-7 surge gave the Chippewas their first lead with 8:18 left, 22-20. CMU's lead would up to 13 in the final minute of play and would go into the halftime break with a 48-37 lead.
CMU's lead extended to 16 early in the second half before the Huskie offense made a run at the Chippewas. Holding a 55-39 lead with 17:50 left, the Huskies would engineer a 16-8 run to cut the lead down five with 13:26 remaining, 60-55. The Chippewas lead hovered around the six-point range but got boost when Manciel hit a three at the 7:15 mark, lifting the Maroon and Gold to a 12-point lead,71-59. NIU couldn't keep pace with CMU's offense, as the Chippewas lead upped the 16 with less than four minutes remaining. A 12-6 run in the final three minutes gave CMU the 22-point win.
The conference tournament finals will be on Saturday, March 15, in Cleveland's Gund Arena. CMU will play Kent State with tipoff slated for 7 p.m. It will be televised live on ESPN2.
