Game Notes: Nebraska Next Up on Road Trip
12/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes | Live Stats |
Central Michigan (5-6, 0-0 Mid-American)
at
Nebraska (7-3, 0-0 Big Ten)
Tuesday, December 19 | 7 p.m. CST | Lincoln, Neb. | Devaney Center (13,595)
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Radio: WCFX-FM 95.3 & WUPS-FM 98.5 — Don Chiodo and Don Helinski
Television: Nebraska Educational Television — Larry Punteney and Andy Markowski
Live Audio: CMU Sports Zone (free) — wcfx.com
Webcast: Big Ten Network (subscription) — btn.com
PREVIEW
The "Chippewa Road Show" continues on Tuesday night when Central Michigan visits Nebraska. Tipoff in the Devaney Center is set for 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST).
CMU is playing its ninth road game in the last 10 outings. The Chippewas opened their current three-game road trip with a 59-52 loss at Iowa State on Sunday.
Nebraska has won three straight games and sits 5-2 at home this season.
The Cornhuskers are the second Big Ten team CMU has faced this year after falling at Minnesota, 76-56, on Dec. 13.
| PROBABLE STARTERS | ||||||||||
| Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | GP-GS | PPG | RPG | Other | Notes | ||
| (1) G | 2 | Austin McBroom | 6-0 | 162 | Fr. | 11-11 | 11.2 | 2.5 | 2.8 APG | MAC's second-leading freshman scorer |
| (2) G | 23 | Derek Jackson | 6-0 | 171 | So. | 11-11 | 10.7 | 2.5 | 2.0 SPG | 24 consecutive starts, long active streak on the team |
| (3) G | 5 | Finis Craddock | 6-1 | 179 | Jr. | 11-3 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 1.2 APG | Has started the last two games |
| (4) F | 25 | Olivier Mbaigoto | 6-7 | 225 | Jr. | 11-11 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 0.9 BPG | Held scoreless for the first time this season at Iowa State |
| (5) F | 10 | Andre Coimbra | 6-9 | 235 | Sr. | 11-11 | 9.8 | 5.6 | 2.0 BPG | Ranked 59th in the nation in blocked shots |
NEWS AND NOTES
Series History
This is the first meeting all-time between Central Michigan and Nebraska.
• CMU is 1-0 all-time against teams from the state of Nebraska, defeating No. 15-ranked Creighton, 79-73, in the first round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
Against the Big Ten
The Chippewas are 3-9 against the Big Ten since 2000. The victories were at Purdue (67-66) on a buzzer-beating layup by Todd Schrotenboer on Nov. 21, 2000, an 85-78 triumph at Michigan on Dec. 3, 2002 when Chris Kaman had 30 points and 21 rebounds, and a 78-67 win at Michigan on Dec. 15, 2007 when Giordan Watson had 22 points.
• Ernie Zeigler is 1-3 against Big Ten teams, defeating Michigan and losing to Minnesota twice and Purdue once.
Iowa State Recap
Zach Saylor hit a go-ahead jumper with 6:50 remaining but the Chippewas wouldn’t score another field goal after that in a 59-52 road loss at Iowa State on Sunday afternoon. The Cyclones 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. CMU gradually whittled the ISU advantage down, but the only scoring CMU would get in the six minutes after taking the lead was a pair of free throws. Trey 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.
Limited Trips to the Line
CMU attempted just six free throws on Sunday at Iowa State. It marked the fewest attempts from the charity stripe by the Chippewas since CMU also shot just six in a 75-66 loss at Buffalo on Feb. 14, 2004.
Twin Figures
CMU had just one double-figure scorer at Iowa State as Trey Zeigler led the Chippewas with 19 points off the bench. It marked the first time this season that the Chippewas had just one double-figure scorer. On three occasions this season the Chippewas have had a season-high four double-digit scorers and CMU is 3-0 in those contests.
Point Totals
The Chippewas have been held to 57 points or less in their last three losses. Central is averaging 69.8 points per game in victories this season compared to 60.5 points in losses.
• Nebraska is averaging 66.3 points per game. CMU is 4-2 when holding opponents to 67 points or fewer this season.
• Iowa State was averaging 78.5 points per game entering Sunday’s contest and the Chippewas held the Cyclones to just 59 points, 19 below their average.
Lone December Home Game
Last 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.
Shots Start Falling
CMU shot a season-high .538 from the floor against UIC last 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
Last 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.
In Need of a Bench Boost
• CMU’s starters account for 79 percent of the team’s scoring this season.
• That statistic is somewhat skewed considering leading scorer Trey Zeigler has come off the bench three times this season and averaged 13.3 points in those 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 18.0 points per game compared to CMU’s bench at 13.3 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.
Coh-eem-BLOCK
Andre Coimbra has blocked a team-high 22 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 11 games this season, five different Chippewas have led or tied for the team lead in scoring — Trey Zeigler (seven 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.
• Through those first six games, CMU ranked sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense. The Chippewas currently rank 52nd nationally.
• 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.
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.