Game Notes: MAC East Crossover Begins at BGSU

Game Notes (.pdf)| Live Stats

Central Michigan (7-11, 2-3 Mid-American)
at
Bowling Green (8-10, 2-3 Mid-American)

Wednesday, January 25 | 7 p.m. | Bowling Green, Ohio | Stroh Center (4,347)

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Radio:  WCFX-FM 95.3 & WUPS-FM 98.5 — Don Chiodo and Don Helinski
Television: None
Live Audio: CMU Sports Zone (free) — cmuchippewas.com
Webcast: America One Network (subscription) — bgsufalcons.com

PREVIEW

A pair of MAC teams coming off one-possession losses will be looking to even their league record on Wednesday night when Central Michigan travels to Bowling Green. Tipoff in the new Stroh Center is set for 7 p.m.

After starting league play 2-0, the Chippewas have dropped three straight games for the third time this season. The previous two other three-game skids CMU snapped with a home win. The Chippewas will need to do it on the road this time against a team that Central has had great success with under head coach Ernie Zeigler. Zeigler is 4-1 all-time against the Falcons.

CMU fell at rival Western Michigan by three on Saturday, 64-61, while Bowling Green lost at home to Buffalo, 68-66.

The Falcons are led by A'uston Calhoun (13.3 ppg), Scott Thomas (12.3) and Jordon Crawford (10.7).

PROBABLE STARTERS
		Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	GP-GS	PPG	RPG	Other	Notes
(1) G	2	Austin McBroom	6-0	162	Fr.	18-18	10.7	1.9	2.8 APG	Dished out a career-high six assists at WMU on Saturday
(2) G	23	Derek Jackson	6-0	171	So.	18-17	11.7	2.6	1.9 SPG	Tallied 17 points against BGSU last year
(3) G	0	Trey Zeigler	6-5	203	So.	18-15	16.0	6.7	2.7 APG	Needs six points for 800th of career
(4) F	25	Olivier Mbaigoto	6-7	225	Jr.	18-18	6.7	4.6	0.8 BPG	One of two Chippewas to start every game this season (McBroom)
(5) F	10	Andre Coimbra	6-9	235	Sr.	18-15	8.4	5.7	1.5 BPG	Shooting a team-high .476 from the floor

NEWS AND NOTES

Series History
Bowling Green leads the all-time series, 31-36, but Central Michigan has won the last two meetings. The Chippewas defeated the Falcons in Mount Pleasant last season, 69-64.
  •  Ernie Zeigler is 4-1 all-time against Bowling Green. His .800 winning percentage versus the Falcons is his second-best against a MAC foe behind a .833 (10-2) mark against Northern Illinois. Zeigler’s lone loss against BGSU came at home in 2009.

Last Meeting
Central Michigan erased an eight-point second half deficit to defeat Bowling Green, 69-64, in McGuirk Arena last Feb. 12. The Falcons led by six at the half and then eight moments later before the Chippewas put together runs of 10-4 and 10-3 to take the lead. Andre Coimbra gave CMU a five-point advantage, 65-60, with 40 seconds left and that was the last field goal of the game. Both squads hit four free throws in the closing minute, including a pair by CMU freshman Derek Jackson with six seconds left that made it a two-possession game. Dee Brown scored a game-high 20 points for the Falcons to go along with five assists. CMU was led by Trey Zeigler’s 18 points while Jackson and Jalin Thomas added 17 apiece.   

Western Michigan Recap
CMU had the last possession of the game but following a timeout, the Chippewas were unable to get a good look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer in a 64-61 road loss at Western Michigan on Saturday. Central led by one at the half but the Broncos used a 14-0 run to take the lead for good. WMU led by 11 with 4:49 to go but CMU held Western without a field goal after that while the Chippewas drained three 3-pointers to claw back in. Trey Zeigler’s layup made it a one-possession game with 2:21 to go but neither team would score after that as the Chippewas had three possessions to try and knot the score before the final horn.  CMU committed just seven turnovers compared to 20 by the Broncos. Zeigler had a game-high 19 points to lead three Chippewas in double figures. Derek Jackson added 14 points and Andre Coimbra 11 points and eight rebounds. Nate Hutcheson had 17 points and eight boards to lead the home team.

Bowling Green Ties
•  CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler spent one season (2001) as an assistant coach at Bowling Green under Dan Dakich.
•  CMU assistant coach Darren Kohne was an administrative assistant at Bowling Green for two seasons (2000, 2001).
•  Current BGSU Board of Trustees member Fran Voll was the head women’s basketball coach at CMU for five seasons from 1997-2001.

Freshman of the Year Candidate
Freshman point guard Austin McBroom is making a bid for MAC Freshman of the Year honors. In MAC play only, the North Hollywood, Calif., native ranks second among freshmen in scoring (13.0) and assists (3.2), tied for first in steals (1.6) and first in assist/turnover ratio (1.5). Among all league players in conference action, McBroom ranks second in free throw percentage (.933) and 3-pointers made (2.6) and seventh in 3-point percentage (.464). His overall scoring average of 10.7 points per game ranks third among league freshmen.

Taking Care of the Ball and Forcing Turnovers, Too
The Chippewas have committed fewer turnovers than their opponent in all five MAC games and lead the league in conference play with a +6.8 turnover margin. In fact, the +13 (7/20) turnover margin at Western Michigan on Saturday matched the best in the Ernie Zeigler era at CMU. The Chippewas also were +13 (11/24) in a three-point home win over Bowling Green in 2007.
•  CMU’s 10.2 turnovers per game during MAC action are the fewest in the conference.
•  In all games, CMU ranks second in the league in turnover margin at +2.8.     

Tough Loss
Central is 23-11 (.676) in MAC home games under Ernie Zeigler. But, CMU’s 21-point setback to Ball State last Wednesday was the Chippewas’ worst MAC home defeat in his tenure.  

Block Leader
In just his second season at CMU, senior JUCO transfer Andre Coimbra has recorded 59 career blocks. He needs 15 more to join CMU’s career top 10 list and tie Dennis Kann’s (1989-92) career total of 74. If Coimbra maintains his 1.5 blocks per game average this season, he also will rank among CMU’s single-season top 10 leaders. He’s on pace to notch 49 blocks this year which would rank sixth on CMU’s single-season chart.

Big Board Margin
The Chippewas have been outrebounded by a double-digit margin in each of the last three games. During Ernie Zeigler’s tenure, the Chippewas have won just six games (6-17/.240) when being outrebounded by 10 or more.

Single-Season Records Watch
Two Chippewas are on pace to challenge CMU single season records this season.  
•  Sophomore Derek Jackson has 35 steals on the year while averaging 1.9 per game. The CMU single season record is 63 set by Dave Grauzer in 1979.
•  Freshman Austin McBroom is shooting .466 from 3-point range this season. Central’s season record is .510 set by Bill Slack in 1997.

Double-Double
Trey Zeigler recorded the fifth double-double of his career with 11 points and 14 rebounds at Eastern Michigan. It marked his first double-double against a MAC opponent. Andre Coimbra is the only other active Chippewa with a double-double in his career. Coimbra notched his lone double dip last season at Eastern Michigan.

Road Warriors
CMU closed non-conference action by playing 10 of 11 games on the road. During the span, the Chippewas traveled 14,780 miles, set foot in 12 different states and played games in four different time zones.  
•  CMU had 15 days off between its last non-conference game at Wright State (Dec. 22) and the MAC opener on Jan. 7.
•   The Chippewas play four of their first six MAC games on the road.

Home/Road Comparison
CMU is shooting .426 and averaging 79.4 points per game at home this season. Away from McGuirk Arena, the Chippewas are shooting .399 while averaging just 61.5 points per game.

Opponent Runs
In CMU’s last nine losses, the Chippewas have given up an extended scoring run to its opponent. Following is a list of the opponents’ scoring spurts.
at Temple —10-0
at Tennessee State —22-0
at Minnesota —13-0
at Iowa State —9-0 & 14-0
at Nebraska —11-0
at Wright State —9-0 & 9-0
at Northern Illinois —10-0 & 15-0
vs. Ball State —11-1
at Western Michigan —14-0 & 13-2

RPI Rankings
According to the NCAA’s official Jan. 23 RPI rankings, the Chippewas have a mark of 245 while Bowling Green has a rating of 180. Three MAC teams are in the top 100 — Akron (66), Ohio (74) and Buffalo (93).

.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 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 last 11 CMU opponents have all shot 40 percent or better from the floor.

80-Point Plateau
CMU scored a season-high 85 points in the win over Toledo. It marked the second time this season the Chippewas went for 80 or more. During the Ernie Zeigler era, the Chippewas are 13-2 (.867) 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.

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 Out for the Year
Colin Voss is out for the year 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.

Kaman Update
Chris Kaman is in his ninth season in the National Basketball Association. He was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the New Orleans Hornets at the start of this year.  The 7-0 center is averaging 9.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.  Kaman entered the NBA following his junior season at CMU and he was the sixth pick of the 2003 NBA Draft.  He played in the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.  

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.

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.

Central Michigan University Athletics

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