Chippewa Win Streak Ends at Illinois
12/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
CHAMPAIGNE, Ill. - Central Michigan had enough to fight back against one barrage.
But not two.
Tracy Abrams scored a career-high 31 points Saturday as Illinois handed the Central Michigan men's basketball team a 92-73 nonconference loss at State Farm Center.
The Chippewas (8-3) saw their win streak end at four games. They play at Montana State on Dec. 21.
"It was always our thought that we want to be peaking at the right time," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "We don't want to be the best team in November. We're moving this thing forward, and I like our guys' attitudes about where we're at."
The Chippewas found themselves in a 19-point deficit with seven minutes to play in the first half against the Illini (8-3). They whittled that down to five, 41-36, with just under two minutes to play in the first half.
But Abrams, who made all five of his first-half 3-point attempts, drilled a triple with 1:34 to play in the half then hit two free throws to restore the Illinois lead to 10, 46-36, by the break.
The Chippewas never got their deficit under 10 points in the second half and saw it balloon to as high as 26 points.
Junior guard Marcus Keene scored 25 points to lead CMU, which was outrebounded by a near 2-to-1 margin. Keene entered the game as the nation's leading scorer at 31.4 points per game.
"A lot bigger, a lot stronger, more physical all the way around, and we haven't responded real well," Davis said in describing the Illini along with the two other opponents that have defeated CMU this season, St. Bonaventure and Arkansas-Little Rock. "We're not going to have that answer tomorrow. It's about making small steps and getting better and better so that when we see a physical team - although I don't know that we'll see anyone quite as big or physical as Illinois - that we're better prepared.
"That's why you schedule a game like this. You want to find out what you need to do to improve. And I think our guys understand exactly what that is."
Braylon Rayson added 18 points and Josh Kozinski had 12 for the Chippewas.
