Central Michigan University
Miami (Oh)
Sizzling Chippewas Roll Past RedHawks
1/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - When a team that hot, look out.
Central Michigan was sizzling Wednesday night, hitting 19 of its 27 three-point attempts in rolling past Miami (Ohio), 105-77, in a Mid-American Conference men's basketball game at McGuirk Arena.
"I think it's always possible for us," said CMU junior guard Chris Fowler, who finished with 16 points and nine assists. "This team doesn't lack for confidence. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't.
"It was just one of those games where everything was clicking for us offensively."
The win lifted the Chippewas to 12-2, 2-1 MAC. Miami is 6-10, 1-2.
Freshman Josh Kozinski scored a career-high 19 points, Austin Keel and John Simons added 15 apiece, and Rayshawn Simmons had 14 points and nine assists for the Chippewas, who bounced back from an 83-65 loss at Ball State on Saturday.
"The way our players responded when we came back to practice (after Ball State)," coach Keno said, "we had, arguably, our two best days of practice all year coming off of a loss.
"And that's what you expect as a coach, you expect them to be upset and wanting to play harder and better. I cut practices short because we were going so hard I was afraid of injury and I wanted to have legs (for Miami). I didn't want to peak in practice and come out and not play well."
Kozinski and Simons finished a combined 11-for-12 from three-point range and the Chippewas' triple total was one shy of the school record they set earlier this season in a victory over Concordia. Kozinski's six three-pointers were a career-high.
"Those guys can really shoot the ball," Fowler said of Kozinski and Simons. "They show it every day in practice, they've shown it every day since we've been here. We know what they're capable of. When they shoot the ball the way they did tonight, good things can happen for a basketball team."
CMU was on fire in the first half, making 12 of its 14 three-point attempts (85.7 percent) and was 22-of-28 (78.6 percent) from the floor overall in the first 20 minutes.
The Chippewas led by 28, 62-34, at the break. Miami never got closer than 21 points in the second half. CMU finished the night 35-for-51 from the floor for 68.6 percent, by far their season-high.
"To be able to shoot the percentage that we did in that first half was hard to believe," Davis said. "Our guys have great confidence. I think we shoot as much as any team does in our practices and our players are versatile and are able to step out away from the basket and put pressure on the defense. It's nice to be able to have those options and is able to knock them down.
"I don't know how you can guard a team that can shoot it that way."
With the students back on campus, the game drew 2,724 fans who had plenty to cheer about, particularly in the first half when the Chippewas turned it into a rout.
"We can't say enough about the crowd," Simmons said. "We really love them coming out. We hope that we can keep them coming with our performance, give them something more to see."
The crowd is critical, Davis said, as the Chippewas continue to make strides as a program. Wednesday's win lifted CMU to 9-0 at McGuirk this season, the first time it has started with nine straight wins at home since 2002-03.
"I think it's a great step, what we had tonight," Davis said. "I would envision even more, I would envision a packed house every night, where you can't get in, where you have to get your tickets early, where students are lined up two hours before the game, and it's an event to be here.
"We can't win without our fans, we can't win a championship unless we put people in the seats, we can't recruit the best student-athletes unless when they come here on their visit they see an unbelievable atmosphere that would rival any school in the country. To build towards that is the vision that we have."
Eric Washington scored 23 points to lead Miami.
The Chippewas play at Akron (11-5, 2-1) in a MAC game on Saturday.
