Central Michigan University Athletics
Game Notes: Men's Hoops Travels to Iowa State
12/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | Live Stats |
Central Michigan (5-5, 0-0 Mid-American)
vs
Iowa State (7-3, 0-0 Big 12)
Sunday, December 18 | 1 p.m. CST | Ames, Iowa | Hilton Coliseum (14,356)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Radio: WCFX-FM 95.3 & WUPS-FM 98.5 — Don Chiodo and Don Helinski
Television: Cyclone Television Network, ESPN Full Court (subscription) — B.J. Schaben and Paul Doerrfeld
Live Audio: CMU Sports Zone (free) — wcfx.com
Webcast: ESPN3 (free) — espn3.com
PREVIEW
Perimeter defense will be key for Central Michigan on Sunday when the Chippewas face one of the country's top 3-point shooting teams in Iowa State. Tipoff in the Hilton Coliseum is set for 2 p.m. (1 p.m. CST). The game can be seen on the Cyclone Television Network, ESPN Full Court and ESPN3.
The Cyclones rank 12th nationally in 3-pointers made with 9.2 per game. Former ISU standout Fred Hoiberg is in his second season as head coach. The Cyclones feature four transfers in the starting lineup this season, including former Michigan State Spartan Chris Allen.
CMU is looking for its second true road win of the season while ISU is 5-1 at home. The Cyclones haven't played since a Dec. 9 home win over Iowa, 86-76.
| PROBABLE STARTERS | ||||||||||
| Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | Other | Notes | ||
| (1) G | 2 | Austin McBroom | 6-0 | 162 | Fr. | 10-10 | 11.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 APG | Has hit a 3-pointer in every game |
| (2) G | 23 | Derek Jackson | 6-0 | 171 | So. | 10-10 | 11.2 | 2.5 | 2.2 SPG | Tied for third in the MAC in steals |
| (3) G | 5 | Finis Craddock | 6-1 | 179 | Jr. | 10-2 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 1.2 APG | Made ninth career start against UIC |
| (4) F | 25 | Olivier Mbaigoto | 6-7 | 225 | Jr. | 10-10 | 6.6 | 6.0 | 1.0 BPG | 23 points against UC Irvine are the most by a Chippewa this season |
| (5) F | 10 | Andre Coimbra | 6-9 | 235 | Sr. | 10-10 | 9.8 | 5.6 | 2.0 BPG | Tied a career high with 22 points in the win over UIC |
NEWS AND NOTES
Series History
This is the first meeting all-time in the series.
Against the Big 12
The Chippewas are 0-4 against schools currently in the Big 12 Conference. CMU has faced Texas A&M (1988), Texas Tech (1993), Oklahoma (2001) and Missouri (2007). Head coach Ernie Zeigler is 0-1 against Big 12 schools, falling at Missouri, 87-76, in the 2007-08 season opener. The game was part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic.
Illinois-Chicago Recap
Andre Coimbra scored a game-high 22 points including the final go-ahead bucket with 27 seconds left giving CMU a 70-67 home win over Illinois-Chicago on Friday night. Coimbra made a key defensive stop after that and the Flames were forced to foul Austin McBroom. The freshman calmly sank both free throws with 2.6 seconds left and UIC had a good look at a 3-pointer at the buzzer but it was off the mark. The game featured 21 lead changes, including 16 in the second half. Derek Jackson added 14 points, McBroom 12 and Trey Zeigler 10 off the bench. UIC was led by Daniel Barnes’ 20 points.
Iowa State Ties
• Iowa State assistant coach Cornell Mann spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Central Michigan, helping the Chippewas to a school-record 25 wins and a Mid-American Conference title in 2003. The Chippewas defeated No. 15-ranked Creighton in the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 7-ranked Duke. Mann also was an assistant coach at CMU’s archrival, Western Michigan.
• One of Iowa State’s three losses this season came at Drake on Nov. 15 as Ben Simons scored a game-high 24 points for the Bulldogs. CMU signed Ben’s younger brother, John Simons, to an NLI during the early signing period. The 6-8, 210-pound forward from Cadillac, Mich., was recently ranked the No. 8 player in the state of Michigan by the Detroit Free Press and No. 19 by the Detroit News.
Lone December Home Game
On Friday, the Chippewas played their first home game in 31 days after having seven straight contests away from McGuirk Arena.
• For those seven games, CMU traveled 12,200 miles and spent 15 nights on the road.
• That mileage equates to traveling halfway around the globe as the circumference of the equator is 24,902 miles.
• During its seven-game junket, CMU played in four different time zones (Eastern, Central, Pacific and Alaskan) and set foot in eight different states (Arizona and Washington for airplane connections).
• The Chippewas are in a stretch of games that has CMU playing 10 of 11 on the road.
• CMU is currently on a road trip that has the Chippewas playing three games in five days — at Iowa State on Sunday, at Nebraska on Tuesday and at Wright State on Thursday. The three-game trip will add another 2,580 miles to the Chippewas’ odometer and another four states to their footprint (Georgia for an airplane connection). At the conclusion of the trip, CMU will have traveled 14,780 miles entering Mid-American Conference play.
“Purple Rain” in Iowa
The Chippewas are making their first trip to the state of Iowa since 2001 when CMU played at Northern Iowa. However, that game was never completed. On Dec. 22, the Chippewas and Panthers were playing in the UNI Dome when condensation began falling from the roof and the “rain” made the court conditions unplayable. After a lengthy delay, the game was called with 8:15 remaining and CMU holding a 57-53 lead.
Shots Start Falling
CMU shot a season-high .538 from the floor against UIC on Friday going 28-for-52. The Chippewas hit 61 percent from the field in the second half which was the best shooting percentage in a half this season. Central has been over 50 percent in just two games this season.
Come From Behind Win
Friday’s win over UIC marked the first time this season that the Chippewas overcame a deficit to win. The Chippewas trailed by eight in the first half before taking an eight-point lead of their own in the opening stanza. Neither team led by more than three points in the second half.
• CMU led from start to finish in each of its first four victories this season.
Chippewas on the Web
CMU fans will have a chance to watch all three of the Chippewas’ road games this week. Below are details on each game.
Dec. 18 at Iowa State — Cyclone Television Network, ESPN3.com, ESPN Full Court
Dec. 20 at Nebraska — Nebraska Educational Television, BTN.com
Dec. 22 at Wright State — horizonleaguenetwork.com
In Need of a Bench Boost
• CMU’s starters account for 83 percent of the team’s scoring this season.
• Prior to CMU’s bench scoring 16 points against UIC (when leading scorer Trey Zeigler came off the bench), the Chippewa reserves were averaging just 5.0 points over the previous four games.
• Central received no bench points at Minnesota and just one reserve scored at Tennessee State (Finis Craddock with six points).
• For the season, the opponent’s bench is averaging 17.5 points per game compared to CMU’s bench at 11.5 points per game.
Olivarez Visits the White House
CMU Director of Basketball Operations Marcelo Olivarez attended a holiday reception hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House on Dec. 9. He attended the event with his grandmother and then joined the team in Nashville on Friday evening. When Olivarez told the Commander in Chief that he was a basketball coach at CMU, the President replied “The Chippewas! How is the season going?”
• Coincidentally, head coach Ernie Zeigler’s first collegiate coaching victory came against President Obama’s brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, who was the head coach at Brown at the time. Robinson is currently the head coach at Oregon State.
Zeigler in the Top 85, Twice
Sophomore Trey Zeigler entered the week in the top 75 nationally in both scoring and rebounding. His 17.8 points per game rank 74th while his 8.6 rebounds are 82nd.
Coh-eem-BLOCK
Andre Coimbra has blocked a team-high 20 shots this season. The senior ranks third in the MAC with 2.0 blocks per game. This year he is on pace to rank in the top five on CMU’s single-season list.
Balanced Options
In CMU’s 10 games this season, five different Chippewas have led or tied for the team lead in scoring — Trey Zeigler (six times), Andre Coimbra (twice), Austin Keel (once), Olivier Mbaigoto (once) and Austin McBroom (once).
• Of those five players, three are newcomers this season, including two freshmen.
• The only starter who hasn’t led CMU in scoring is guard Derek Jackson who is averaging 11.2 points per game.
.400 is the Magic Mark
The Chippewas held the opposition below .400 shooting from the floor in the first six games this season before Temple hit 52 percent of its field goal attempts.
• The string of six straight sub-.400 games was the most in the Ernie Zeigler era, breaking the old mark of three.
• CMU is 30-11 (.732) under Ernie Zeigler when holding the opponent under 40 percent.
• The Chippewas had ranked a
80-Point Plateau
The Chippewas scored a season-high 82 points against UC Irvine. During the Ernie Zeigler era, the Chippewas are 12-2 when scoring 80 or more points.
Two Hit 20
The Temple game marked the second time this season that the Chippewas had two players tally 20 or more points. Both Trey Zeigler and Andre Coimbra had 22 points in the road loss. In the Chippewas’ win over UC Irvine in the Great Alaska Shootout, Olivier Mbaigoto had 23 points and Zeigler 21.
Alphabet Soup
With three different Austin/Austons on the team and one difficult name to pronounce, the Chippewa coaching staff commonly refers to four players by nicknames. They include:
AB - Auston Barnes AK - Austin Keel A-MAC - Austin McBroom OV - Olivier Mbaigoto
Overtime Unkind
The Chippewas have now dropped six straight overtime games and stand 3-8 in extra sessions under head coach Ernie Zeigler. The Chippewas are 2-1 in multiple-overtime games under the current Chippewa mentor.
Voss Injured
Colin Voss is out indefinitely with a hand injury suffered in practice on Thursday, Nov. 10. The sophomore averaged 6.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in the two exhibition games this season.
Rookie Leads in Debut
Austin Keel scored a team-high 12 points in his collegiate debut for CMU. The last time a Chippewa newcomer led CMU in scoring in their first game was 2007-08 when Jeremy Allen scored 17 at Missouri, edging out fellow freshman Chase Simon who had 14 against the Tigers.
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).
MAC Poll
After finishing third in the MAC West Division last season, CMU was picked to finish third again this season by a MAC news media panel. Western Michigan (West) and Kent State (East) were both predicted to defend their respective division titles.
Fastbreak Buckets
• Two Chippewas were high school teammates of National Player of the Year honorees. Austin McBroom played his freshman season at Campbell Hall High School with 2008 Gatorade Player of the Year Jrue Holiday (UCLA/Philadelphia 76ers). Austin Keel played his senior season at Winter Park High School with 2011 Naismith Prep Player of the Year Austin Rivers (Duke).
• CMU signed 6-8, 210-pound forward John Simons (Cadillac, Mich./Cadillac HS) to a National Letter of Intent during the early signing period. As a junior at Cadillac High School, Simons averaged 23 points and eight rebounds while leading the Vikings to a 20-5 record and a Class B regional championship. He was named second team all-state by the Detroit Free Press.
