Central Michigan University Athletics
Game Notes: Chippewas Host Ferris State Saturday
11/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LIVE COVERAGE | GAMEDAY CENTRAL
* Statistics are from exhibition season
CMU is 68-21 all-time against Ferris State in the series began in 1926. Ernie Zeigler is 1-0 versus the Bulldogs, an 82-69 victory in the second game of the 2009-10 season.
Last Meeting
Robbie Harman led six Chippewas in double figures with 18 points and Jalin Thomas added a double-double as CMU posted a 82-69 win over the Bulldogs on Nov. 16, 2009. The Bulldogs led by as many as nine early in the first half after hitting five of their first six shots, including four threes, but the Chippewas tightened up on defense and held FSU to just two makes on its next nine attempts. Darien Gay led Ferris State with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-9 shooting from long range. Former Chippewa Jon Yeazel had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Northern Michigan Recap
Olivier Mbaigoto’s double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds paced Central Michigan to a 90-82 victory over Northern Michigan in the Chippewas’ final exhibition game last Saturday. CMU led by as many as 20 in the first half but the Wildcats went on a 12-2 run early in the second to claw back into the game. NMU went 16-for-16 from the line in the second half and finished the game 20-for-22 for 91 percent while the Chippewas shot just 60 percent from the stripe. Austin McBroom had 18 points to lead four Chippewas in double figures. DeAndre Taylor tallied 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Wildcats.
Lid Lifters
The Chippewas are 2-3 in season openers under head coach Ernie Zeigler, and both wins were one-possession games. CMU won at Princeton (55-53) to open the 2008-09 season and Jalin Thomas hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Chippewas a 70-67 win over Cal State Fullerton last season in the Rainbow Classic.
High Scoring Freshman
CMU’s Trey Zeigler was the nation’s third-leading freshman scorer among Division I schools last season. He also ranked third overall among all Mid-American Conference scorers with 16.3 points per game. The only two freshmen to average more were Kentucky’s Brandon Knight (17.3 ppg) and Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger (17.2 ppg).
Scouring the Map
The Chippewas have a diverse roster in 2011-12 with 16 players hailing from six different states and two foreign countries. There are nine players from the state of Michigan and one each from California (McBroom), Florida (Keel), Illinois (Paramore), Ohio (Jackson) and Texas (Craddock). The two imports are from Africa (Mbaigoto) and Brazil (Coimbra).
Still a Green Roster
There are seven upperclassmen on the roster but the Chippewas are relatively inexperienced. All the regulars are in their first or second season with the Chippewas except for junior Finis Craddock. He has appeared in a team-high 52 career games, including seven starts.
Jackson Finishes Strong
Sophomore shooting guard Derek Jackson is one of two returning starters for the Chippewas. He started 16 times as a rookie, including the final 13 games of the year. Over those last 13 games as a starter, he averaged 10.2 ppg with eight double-figure outings. His 50 steals were a team high and he ranked seventh in the MAC with 1.6 per game. Jackson’s top game was a 19-point, six-assist, five-steal and five-rebound night off the bench at South Alabama (11/20/10). He finished third on the team in scoring with 7.5 points per game.
New MAC Tournament Format
The Mid-American Conference Tournament had some drastic changes made to the format for this season. Most notably is the fact that the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds receive byes to the semifinals while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds receive byes to the quarterfinals. Also, seeding will be based on conference winning percentage, regardless of division. So this year, the top two seeds could come from the same division. Seeds No. 5 through No. 12 will play first round games on campus sites with those four winners advancing to the second round in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. “This format is going to amplify the regular season races, especially down the stretch, as teams will be battling for the top four seeds and the byes,” head coach Ernie Zeigler said. “If you look at the past several years and how competitive things have been, the tiebreakers were used a lot in the seeding. There is a tremendous difference now between being a No. 2 and a No. 5, even though there’s only two seeds in between.”
Shooting It Out In Alaska
CMU will play three games in three days as part of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 24-26. The Shootout, in its 34th season, is the longest-running regular season college basketball tournament in the nation, taking place every Thanksgiving in Anchorage since 1978. It marks CMU’s first trip to the state of Alaska and the Chippewa women’s team also will be playing in the women’s bracket at the same time. CMU’s first round matchup is against New Mexico State.
Traveling Across the Land
With a visit to four new states this season, the Chippewas will have traveled to half of the 50 states in the USA during Ernie Zeigler’s six seasons as head coach at CMU. The Chippewas will add Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Tennessee to the itinerary this year. The states the Chippewas have visited the past five years under Zeigler include: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
Packing Their Bags Early
The Chippewas will be road-tested by the time they enter MAC play. CMU’s nonconference schedule includes just three home games to 10 road contests. Central will take only four trips to play those games as the junket includes a four-game trip (Pepperdine and three games at the Great Alaskan Shootout), a three-game trip (Iowa State, Nebraska and Wright State) and a two-game trip (Tennessee State and Minnesota). The only nonconference game that will be played on a single trip is Temple.
Morris Steps In
Last season, walk-on point guard John Morris scored just four points and had two assists on the year prior to starting five straight games in the middle of conference play. During that five game stretch, Morris averaged 4.8 points and 2.4 assists while leading CMU to three wins. He tallied 11 points, four assists and three three-pointers in a home win over Eastern Michigan (2/16/11).
Rookie Record
In addition to earning honorable mention All-MAC honors, Trey Zeigler was a MAC All-Freshman Team pick after finishing one vote behind Buffalo’s Javon McCrea in Freshman of the Year voting. Zeigler’s 506 total points were the most ever by a CMU freshman while his 16.3 ppg average was the fifth best all-time. Thomas Kilgore holds the top CMU freshman average with 18.9 ppg.
Another BracketBusters Appearance
The Chippewas will play in the ESPN/Sears BracketBusters event for the ninth straight year. CMU will host a wildcard opponent the weekend of Feb. 17-19. The Chippewas are 5-3 all-time in the series. All five wins have come in home matchups while all three losses were when CMU was a road team. Past opponents have included Evansville, Cleveland State, Morehead State, Illinois-Chicago, Missouri State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee State and Niagara.
Air Time
The Chippewas will have at least three games televised this season, with the possibility of more. CMU’s game at Minnesota on Dec. 13 will air nationally on ESPNU. Two home games will air as part of the MAC’s regional package — Jan. 31 versus Kent State and Feb. 26 against Northern Illinois. SportsTime Ohio is the flagship station for the MAC package with potential clearances on Comcast Michigan (channel 900) depending on the network’s syndicated schedule. Eight other MAC games will be selected as wildcard games on a 21-day advance. Three of the wildcard games will air on the MAC Network and the other five on the ESPN Family of Networks.
The Magic Mark
Under Ernie Zeigler, the Chippewas have a goal of holding their opponent under 40 percent shooting from the field each game. During Zeigler’s five seasons, CMU is 26-8 (.764) overall when holding the opposition below that mark. On the flip side, Central shot better than 40 percent from the floor in 13 games last year and the Chippewas won nine of those contests.
Playing Professionally
Four recent CMU players are currently playing overseas this season — Sefton Barrett, Robbie Harman, Marko Spica and Giordan Watson. Barrett is currently in France (Saint-Vallier), Harman in Holland (Stepco BS Weert), Spica in Slovenia (Maribor Messer) and Watson in Iceland (U.M.F. Grindavik). All four of the Chippewas were teammates together on the 2006-07 squad.
Shooting Guru Joins Staff
CMU’s .384 field goal percentage and .629 free throw percentage last season both ranked among the lowest nationally. To help boost those numbers, Ernie Zeigler hired shooting guru Pat Miller as an assistant coach. Miller spent 15 seasons as the head coach at nearby Division II Northwood University from 1976-91. Miller was the shooting coach for the NBA champion Detroit Pistons in 1988-89 and spent the past five years as an assistant coach at Milwaukee Rufus High School, a perennial state power in Wisconsin.
Postseason Players
The Chippewas play two nonconference teams who were in the postseason last year in Temple (NCAA) and Nebraska (NIT); CMU could potentially play another two postseason teams in the Great Alaska Shootout — Murray State (NIT) or San Francisco (collegeinsider.com).
Ferris State (0-0, 0-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate)
at
Central Michigan (0-0, 0-0 Mid-American)
Saturday, November 12, 7 p.m., Mount Pleasant, Mich., McGuirk Arena (5,300)
PREVIEW
Central Michigan officially tips off the 2011-12 season this Saturday when the Chippewas host Ferris State University. Action begins in McGuirk Arena at 7 p.m.
CMU posted a pair of wins in the preseason with exhibition victories over Marygrove (93-36) and Northern Michigan (90-82).
Ferris State, on the other hand, will have twice as much experience under its belt with four games played. The Bulldogs went 1-2 in exhibition action and FSU plays at Michigan on Friday night before heading up to Mount Pleasant for Saturday's game. One of the exhibition losses was at Michigan State.
"Ferris State is a very good Division II program, coming off a Sweet 16 appearance last season," coach Ernie Zeigler said. "Coach Sall has done a great job building one of the top programs in the GLIAC over the last 10 years. We are going to have our work cut out for us with their six experienced returnees, especially the quick, athletic guards."
The Chippewas have a new look this season with two newcomers in the starting lineup and a more uptempo offense than fans have seen in the past few years.
"Overall, I was pleased with our effort and consistency in the exhibition games, particularly on the offensive end," coach Ernie Zeigler said. "A big thing for us is having our first two games at home. I feel basketball is a game that is 90 percent mental and 10 percent skill. Coaches can work diligently on skills, but players have to have confidence.
"A lot of the time that comes from just being in your own building. Hopefully with two at home to start the year, it will allow us to have a level of success that will give us confidence as we start the season."
The Chippewas host Charlotte next Tuesday, Nov. 15, before hitting the road for 10 of their next 11 games.
| PROBABLE STARTERS | ||||||||||
| Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | Other | Notes | ||
| (1) G | 2 | Austin McBroom | 6-0 | 162 | Fr. | 2-2 | 14.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 SPG | Scored a game-high 18 points against NMU |
| (2) G | 23 | Derek Jackson | 6-0 | 171 | So. | 2-2 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 4.0 APG | Has eight assists to just one turnover |
| (3) G | 0 | Trey Zeigler | 6-5 | 203 | So. | 2-2 | 12.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 APG | Will start 27th consecutive game |
| (4) F | 25 | Olivier Mbaigoto | 6-7 | 225 | Jr. | 2-2 | 15.0 | 7.5 | 1.5 BPG | Scored in double figures in both exhibition games |
| (5) F | 10 | Andre Coimbra | 6-9 | 235 | Sr. | 2-2 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.5 APG | Had at least six boards in each exhibition |
NEWS AND NOTES
CMU is 68-21 all-time against Ferris State in the series began in 1926. Ernie Zeigler is 1-0 versus the Bulldogs, an 82-69 victory in the second game of the 2009-10 season.
Last Meeting
Robbie Harman led six Chippewas in double figures with 18 points and Jalin Thomas added a double-double as CMU posted a 82-69 win over the Bulldogs on Nov. 16, 2009. The Bulldogs led by as many as nine early in the first half after hitting five of their first six shots, including four threes, but the Chippewas tightened up on defense and held FSU to just two makes on its next nine attempts. Darien Gay led Ferris State with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-9 shooting from long range. Former Chippewa Jon Yeazel had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Northern Michigan Recap
Olivier Mbaigoto’s double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds paced Central Michigan to a 90-82 victory over Northern Michigan in the Chippewas’ final exhibition game last Saturday. CMU led by as many as 20 in the first half but the Wildcats went on a 12-2 run early in the second to claw back into the game. NMU went 16-for-16 from the line in the second half and finished the game 20-for-22 for 91 percent while the Chippewas shot just 60 percent from the stripe. Austin McBroom had 18 points to lead four Chippewas in double figures. DeAndre Taylor tallied 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Wildcats.
Lid Lifters
The Chippewas are 2-3 in season openers under head coach Ernie Zeigler, and both wins were one-possession games. CMU won at Princeton (55-53) to open the 2008-09 season and Jalin Thomas hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Chippewas a 70-67 win over Cal State Fullerton last season in the Rainbow Classic.
High Scoring Freshman
CMU’s Trey Zeigler was the nation’s third-leading freshman scorer among Division I schools last season. He also ranked third overall among all Mid-American Conference scorers with 16.3 points per game. The only two freshmen to average more were Kentucky’s Brandon Knight (17.3 ppg) and Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger (17.2 ppg).
Scouring the Map
The Chippewas have a diverse roster in 2011-12 with 16 players hailing from six different states and two foreign countries. There are nine players from the state of Michigan and one each from California (McBroom), Florida (Keel), Illinois (Paramore), Ohio (Jackson) and Texas (Craddock). The two imports are from Africa (Mbaigoto) and Brazil (Coimbra).
Still a Green Roster
There are seven upperclassmen on the roster but the Chippewas are relatively inexperienced. All the regulars are in their first or second season with the Chippewas except for junior Finis Craddock. He has appeared in a team-high 52 career games, including seven starts.
Jackson Finishes Strong
Sophomore shooting guard Derek Jackson is one of two returning starters for the Chippewas. He started 16 times as a rookie, including the final 13 games of the year. Over those last 13 games as a starter, he averaged 10.2 ppg with eight double-figure outings. His 50 steals were a team high and he ranked seventh in the MAC with 1.6 per game. Jackson’s top game was a 19-point, six-assist, five-steal and five-rebound night off the bench at South Alabama (11/20/10). He finished third on the team in scoring with 7.5 points per game.
New MAC Tournament Format
The Mid-American Conference Tournament had some drastic changes made to the format for this season. Most notably is the fact that the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds receive byes to the semifinals while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds receive byes to the quarterfinals. Also, seeding will be based on conference winning percentage, regardless of division. So this year, the top two seeds could come from the same division. Seeds No. 5 through No. 12 will play first round games on campus sites with those four winners advancing to the second round in Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena. “This format is going to amplify the regular season races, especially down the stretch, as teams will be battling for the top four seeds and the byes,” head coach Ernie Zeigler said. “If you look at the past several years and how competitive things have been, the tiebreakers were used a lot in the seeding. There is a tremendous difference now between being a No. 2 and a No. 5, even though there’s only two seeds in between.”
Shooting It Out In Alaska
CMU will play three games in three days as part of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout on Nov. 24-26. The Shootout, in its 34th season, is the longest-running regular season college basketball tournament in the nation, taking place every Thanksgiving in Anchorage since 1978. It marks CMU’s first trip to the state of Alaska and the Chippewa women’s team also will be playing in the women’s bracket at the same time. CMU’s first round matchup is against New Mexico State.
Traveling Across the Land
With a visit to four new states this season, the Chippewas will have traveled to half of the 50 states in the USA during Ernie Zeigler’s six seasons as head coach at CMU. The Chippewas will add Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska and Tennessee to the itinerary this year. The states the Chippewas have visited the past five years under Zeigler include: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin.
Packing Their Bags Early
The Chippewas will be road-tested by the time they enter MAC play. CMU’s nonconference schedule includes just three home games to 10 road contests. Central will take only four trips to play those games as the junket includes a four-game trip (Pepperdine and three games at the Great Alaskan Shootout), a three-game trip (Iowa State, Nebraska and Wright State) and a two-game trip (Tennessee State and Minnesota). The only nonconference game that will be played on a single trip is Temple.
Morris Steps In
Last season, walk-on point guard John Morris scored just four points and had two assists on the year prior to starting five straight games in the middle of conference play. During that five game stretch, Morris averaged 4.8 points and 2.4 assists while leading CMU to three wins. He tallied 11 points, four assists and three three-pointers in a home win over Eastern Michigan (2/16/11).
Rookie Record
In addition to earning honorable mention All-MAC honors, Trey Zeigler was a MAC All-Freshman Team pick after finishing one vote behind Buffalo’s Javon McCrea in Freshman of the Year voting. Zeigler’s 506 total points were the most ever by a CMU freshman while his 16.3 ppg average was the fifth best all-time. Thomas Kilgore holds the top CMU freshman average with 18.9 ppg.
Another BracketBusters Appearance
The Chippewas will play in the ESPN/Sears BracketBusters event for the ninth straight year. CMU will host a wildcard opponent the weekend of Feb. 17-19. The Chippewas are 5-3 all-time in the series. All five wins have come in home matchups while all three losses were when CMU was a road team. Past opponents have included Evansville, Cleveland State, Morehead State, Illinois-Chicago, Missouri State, Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee State and Niagara.
Air Time
The Chippewas will have at least three games televised this season, with the possibility of more. CMU’s game at Minnesota on Dec. 13 will air nationally on ESPNU. Two home games will air as part of the MAC’s regional package — Jan. 31 versus Kent State and Feb. 26 against Northern Illinois. SportsTime Ohio is the flagship station for the MAC package with potential clearances on Comcast Michigan (channel 900) depending on the network’s syndicated schedule. Eight other MAC games will be selected as wildcard games on a 21-day advance. Three of the wildcard games will air on the MAC Network and the other five on the ESPN Family of Networks.
The Magic Mark
Under Ernie Zeigler, the Chippewas have a goal of holding their opponent under 40 percent shooting from the field each game. During Zeigler’s five seasons, CMU is 26-8 (.764) overall when holding the opposition below that mark. On the flip side, Central shot better than 40 percent from the floor in 13 games last year and the Chippewas won nine of those contests.
Playing Professionally
Four recent CMU players are currently playing overseas this season — Sefton Barrett, Robbie Harman, Marko Spica and Giordan Watson. Barrett is currently in France (Saint-Vallier), Harman in Holland (Stepco BS Weert), Spica in Slovenia (Maribor Messer) and Watson in Iceland (U.M.F. Grindavik). All four of the Chippewas were teammates together on the 2006-07 squad.
Shooting Guru Joins Staff
CMU’s .384 field goal percentage and .629 free throw percentage last season both ranked among the lowest nationally. To help boost those numbers, Ernie Zeigler hired shooting guru Pat Miller as an assistant coach. Miller spent 15 seasons as the head coach at nearby Division II Northwood University from 1976-91. Miller was the shooting coach for the NBA champion Detroit Pistons in 1988-89 and spent the past five years as an assistant coach at Milwaukee Rufus High School, a perennial state power in Wisconsin.
Postseason Players
The Chippewas play two nonconference teams who were in the postseason last year in Temple (NCAA) and Nebraska (NIT); CMU could potentially play another two postseason teams in the Great Alaska Shootout — Murray State (NIT) or San Francisco (collegeinsider.com).
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