Central Michigan University
Ohio
Ohio Rolls Past CMU, 76-44
1/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2006
ATHENS, Ohio - Central Michigan University's shooting woes continued in a 76-44 loss at Mid-American Conference preseason favorite Ohio on Saturday afternoon.
The Chippewas shot a season-low .232 from the floor going 13-for-56. CMU managed just seven first-half points as only Giordan Watson hit a field goal in the opening frame while the Chippewas were 2-of-24 from the field.
CMU responded in the second half with 37 points and was able to trim the Bobcats' lead from 32 points down to 19 but that would be as close as the Chippewas would get.
"We played like a young team and Ohio took it to us in the first half," CMU coach Jay Smith said. "We had some resolve in the second half, and I liked that.
"Ohio is playing with some confidence right now and we're not. It comes down to being able to step up and make shots. When you start missing, your mind starts playing games with you. We were able to cut it down to 19 and a couple of hinge plays after that didn't go our way."
Three Chippewas hit double figures with Sefton Barrett and Watson each posting 12 points. Barrett added a career-high tying 11 boards for his second career double-double.
Aaron Richie tallied 11 points off the bench, including three three-pointers.
Whitney Davis' 17 points led Ohio and Leon Williams added 11 points and eight rebounds.
Watson opened CMU's scoring with a three-pointer at the 16-minute mark to make it 7-3 and the Chippewas wouldn't score again until Richie hit a pair of free throws with 2:37 left. The Bobcats scored 24 consecutive points during CMU's drought and Ohio went to the locker room at the break with a 35-7 lead.
Ohio pushed the lead to 32 at 47-15 with 13:54 remaining but CMU went on a 13-0 run to get it back under 20 points on a Richie trey. But, Ohio rattled off another 9-0 run to build its lead back up.
The Chippewas committed 18 turnovers to Ohio's 14 and the Bobcats won the battle of the boards, 42-37.
CMU returns home on Wednesday, Jan. 18, against Akron. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the CMU Public Broadcasting Network.
