Tuesday, December 29
Ypsilanti, Mich.
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
5-4,1-1MAC
87
at
60
Eastern Michigan
2-3,0-2MAC
1
2
F
Central Mich.
33
54
87
Eastern Mich.
28
32
60
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Big Win For Chippewa Men At Eastern
12/29/2020 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Murray, Broadway key 27-point victory as CMU evens MAC record
YPSILANTI, Mich. – A whole lot of matchin' going on.
And the Central Michigan men's basketball team will take it and run with it.
Travon Broadway Jr. scored 21 points and Meikkel Murray added 18 on Tuesday as the Chippewas won going away at Eastern Michigan, 87-60.
It was CMU's fifth win in its last six starts as it improved to 5-4, 1-1 Mid-American Conference. The Eagles are 2-3, 0-2.
Both Broadway and Murray matched their career best scoring totals and the 27-point margin of victory was CMU's largest over Eastern Michigan since January, 1987, when the Dan Majerle-led Chippewas also won by 27, 91-64, in Mount Pleasant.
"Being able to get a road win is important," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "They're all important. Beating Eastern Michigan – everybody knows that they routinely beat some of the best teams on their schedule each and every year – and to come in here and be able to do it on the road is definitely special."
How It Happened
The Chippewas have often struggled against the Eagles' zone defense, but on Tuesday they controlled the game nearly from the get-go, leading 33-28 at halftime.
CMU broke it open with a 21-3 run that started with a Caleb Huffman layup with 8:58 remaining, putting CMU up 10, 56-46. With just over four minutes left to play, Huffman made two free throws to extend CMU's lead to 75-49.
Rather than living and dying by the 3-point shot, as is often the strategy for opponents when they face Eastern Michigan, the Chippewas turned up the pressure early to force tempo and then worked the ball inside to the likes of Murray and Broadway who used their athleticism to score from in close or get to the free throw line.
"It was good for us defensively to wear them out and take some time off the clock even if we weren't getting the turnovers," Davis said. "Sometimes it's about being able to disrupt what they do, and I thought our guys were really good in it."
Broadway scored 17 of his points in the second half, and Matt Beachler benefited from CMU's inside-outside approach, knocking down four 3-pointers en route to 13 points to tie his season high.
"Against their zone defense, really you've got to be able to attack inside and then when they collapse, we were able to kick it to a Matt Beachler or somebody else on the perimeter for an open 3 and not just shoot a 25-, 26-foot 3 that a lot of teams against Eastern Michigan end up shooting," Davis said. "Pretty much the same stuff that we've always tried to do, we just have a little bit different personnel this year."
The Numbers
The numbers tell the tale of CMU's game plan of playing at a faster pace and working the ball inside. The Chippewas finished with a 44-22 advantage in points in the paint and tallied 16 fastbreak points to the Eagles' seven. They also outrebounded Eastern, 34-31.
The Chippewas made just 14 of their 26 free throw attempts for a .538 percentage, their second-worst performance of the season. However, they offset that by making a season-best 58.2 percent of their field goals tries. They also made 40.9 percent of their 3-point attempts, their second-best performance percentage wise from behind the long line this season.
A Big Step
A victory two games into the 20-game MAC schedule guarantees nothing, but it is big for the Chippewas considering that it came at Eastern Michigan, which has traditionally been a tough place for CMU to play, and it comes after a 15-point loss 11 days ago at Western Michigan in the MAC opener.
And CMU's next two conference games are on the road.
"I think our fans are going to see why I was so optimistic about this team," Davis said. "I knew that not having summer and fall (practice) it was going to take a little while for this group to gel. Not that we're there yet, but I think (fans are) really going to like some of these guys who are going to be in our program for a while."
Coming up Big
Broadway was whistled for two fouls in the first 37 seconds of the game but then committed just one foul the rest of the way. He made seven of his nine field goal attempts in 24 minutes. Murray was 8-for-14 from the floor.
"Going into the game we knew that Murray and Broadway were going to be our key guys going into the heart of the zone," Davis said. "I really thought that if one of them had a good game we were going to be in good shape. They both had great games. In the most-important spot against Eastern Michigan, your two guys played the best and I think that was the story of our offense."
Next
The Chippewas go to Akron on Friday (7 p.m.) and then to Bowling Green on Monday, Jan. 5 (6 p.m.). Akron is 3-1, 1-0; Bowling Green is 5-2, 1-0.
And the Central Michigan men's basketball team will take it and run with it.
Travon Broadway Jr. scored 21 points and Meikkel Murray added 18 on Tuesday as the Chippewas won going away at Eastern Michigan, 87-60.
It was CMU's fifth win in its last six starts as it improved to 5-4, 1-1 Mid-American Conference. The Eagles are 2-3, 0-2.
Both Broadway and Murray matched their career best scoring totals and the 27-point margin of victory was CMU's largest over Eastern Michigan since January, 1987, when the Dan Majerle-led Chippewas also won by 27, 91-64, in Mount Pleasant.
"Being able to get a road win is important," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "They're all important. Beating Eastern Michigan – everybody knows that they routinely beat some of the best teams on their schedule each and every year – and to come in here and be able to do it on the road is definitely special."
How It Happened
The Chippewas have often struggled against the Eagles' zone defense, but on Tuesday they controlled the game nearly from the get-go, leading 33-28 at halftime.
CMU broke it open with a 21-3 run that started with a Caleb Huffman layup with 8:58 remaining, putting CMU up 10, 56-46. With just over four minutes left to play, Huffman made two free throws to extend CMU's lead to 75-49.
Rather than living and dying by the 3-point shot, as is often the strategy for opponents when they face Eastern Michigan, the Chippewas turned up the pressure early to force tempo and then worked the ball inside to the likes of Murray and Broadway who used their athleticism to score from in close or get to the free throw line.
"It was good for us defensively to wear them out and take some time off the clock even if we weren't getting the turnovers," Davis said. "Sometimes it's about being able to disrupt what they do, and I thought our guys were really good in it."
Broadway scored 17 of his points in the second half, and Matt Beachler benefited from CMU's inside-outside approach, knocking down four 3-pointers en route to 13 points to tie his season high.
"Against their zone defense, really you've got to be able to attack inside and then when they collapse, we were able to kick it to a Matt Beachler or somebody else on the perimeter for an open 3 and not just shoot a 25-, 26-foot 3 that a lot of teams against Eastern Michigan end up shooting," Davis said. "Pretty much the same stuff that we've always tried to do, we just have a little bit different personnel this year."
The Numbers
The numbers tell the tale of CMU's game plan of playing at a faster pace and working the ball inside. The Chippewas finished with a 44-22 advantage in points in the paint and tallied 16 fastbreak points to the Eagles' seven. They also outrebounded Eastern, 34-31.
The Chippewas made just 14 of their 26 free throw attempts for a .538 percentage, their second-worst performance of the season. However, they offset that by making a season-best 58.2 percent of their field goals tries. They also made 40.9 percent of their 3-point attempts, their second-best performance percentage wise from behind the long line this season.
A Big Step
A victory two games into the 20-game MAC schedule guarantees nothing, but it is big for the Chippewas considering that it came at Eastern Michigan, which has traditionally been a tough place for CMU to play, and it comes after a 15-point loss 11 days ago at Western Michigan in the MAC opener.
And CMU's next two conference games are on the road.
"I think our fans are going to see why I was so optimistic about this team," Davis said. "I knew that not having summer and fall (practice) it was going to take a little while for this group to gel. Not that we're there yet, but I think (fans are) really going to like some of these guys who are going to be in our program for a while."
Coming up Big
Broadway was whistled for two fouls in the first 37 seconds of the game but then committed just one foul the rest of the way. He made seven of his nine field goal attempts in 24 minutes. Murray was 8-for-14 from the floor.
"Going into the game we knew that Murray and Broadway were going to be our key guys going into the heart of the zone," Davis said. "I really thought that if one of them had a good game we were going to be in good shape. They both had great games. In the most-important spot against Eastern Michigan, your two guys played the best and I think that was the story of our offense."
Next
The Chippewas go to Akron on Friday (7 p.m.) and then to Bowling Green on Monday, Jan. 5 (6 p.m.). Akron is 3-1, 1-0; Bowling Green is 5-2, 1-0.
Team Stats
CMU
EMU
FG%
.582
.382
3FG%
.409
.321
FT%
.538
.692
RB
34
31
TO
13
17
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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