Late Chippewa Rally Falls Short at ISU, 59-52
12/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
AMES, Iowa – Zach Saylor hit a go-ahead jumper with 6:50 remaining but Central Michigan wouldn’t score another field goal after that in a 59-52 road loss at Iowa State on Sunday afternoon.
The Cyclones (8-3) scored the game’s first nine points and used another 14-0 run to jump out to a 16-point lead just 12 minutes in. The Chippewas (5-6) whittled the ISU advantage down to nine at the half, 35-26, and continued to chip away early in the second.
Trey Zeigler gave the Chippewas their first lead, 48-47, on a jumper in the lane with 7:21 to go and, after ISU split a pair of free throws tying the score, Saylor hit another jumper from the left wing to put CMU back up by two.
"We really picked up our pressure on the ball and did a better job in transition," coach Ernie Zeigler said. "In the stretch when they got their lead, we were really soft with our transition defense. We picked it up and kept battling.
"We have a young team that is getting better. We feel good that we were resilient and didn’t just lay down and not compete through the end."
The only scoring CMU would get in the six minutes after CMU took the lead was a pair of free throws by Zeigler.
The Chippewas were in the game because of their defensive efforts on the nation’s 12th-best 3-point shooting team. Iowa State, which averaged over nine made 3-pointers per game, hit just five in 16 attempts.
However, the physical Cyclones earned 27 trips to the foul line while CMU toed the stripe just six times.
Zeigler led CMU with 19 points and five rebounds off the bench. He was the lone Chippewa to go to the charity stripe and he made all six of his attempts.
Saylor finished with a career-high eight points and four rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.
Royce White notched 14 points and eight boards to lead three ISU players in double figures. Chris Babb and Tyrus McGee each had 11 points.
Central forced 16 ISU turnovers but the Cyclones made up for it by winning the board battle, 36-27.
Austin McBroom also scored eight points for the Chippewas but they all came in the first half.
"Where we have to get better is staying solid once we put them on their heels," coach Zeigler said. "We had two bad fouls up by two points, one 30 feet from the basket and another one 90 feet away. But, our guys were battling and our bench came in and gave us really good minutes.
"There’s a difference between being frustrated after a loss and disappointed after a loss. We should be disappointed that we lost because we know we were there and had a chance to win but we can’t allow it to be frustrating and stunt the growth this team is having."CMU continues its three-game road trip on Monday night at Nebraska.
NOTES:
• CMU’s six free throw attempts in the game (all by Trey Zeigler), were the fewest by the Chippewas since Central also attempted just six freebies in a 75-66 loss at Buffalo on Feb. 14, 2004.
• The Chippewas had just one player in double figures as Trey Zeigler tallied 19 points. It was the first time this season that CMU had just one double-figure scorer in a game.
• Zach Saylor’s eight points set a new career high. His previous best was four points in the season opener this year against Ferris State.
• Freshman Austin McBroom went 0-for-5 from 3-point range after hitting at least one trey in each of his first 10 career games played.
• With Trey Zeigler coming off the bench for the second straight game, the Chippewa reserves actually outscored the starters, 32-20.
• Central has been held under 57 points in each of its last three losses.
• Zach Saylor had three offensive rebounds in the game. On the season, 67 percent of his caroms are on the offensive glass (14 offensive, 7 defensive).
• Freshman guard Austin Keel tied for team high rebounding honors with a career-best five boards. His five points were the most he’s scored since tallying six in the win over UC Irvine.