Chippewa Men Fall At Ohio

Tuesday, February 18

Athens, Ohio

7 p.m.

Central Michigan University

13-12,6-6MAC

Ohio

13-13,5-8MAC

Central Mich.

Ohio

Kevin McKay posted a double-double on Tuesday in the Chippewas' loss at Ohio.

Photo by: Allissa Rusco

2/18/2020 10:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Nick Vuylsteke, CMUChippewas.com

ATHENS, Ohio – The Central Michigan men's basketball team was outscored 50-36 in the second half on Tuesday as it fell to Ohio, 77-69, in a Mid-American Conference game at the Bobcats' Convocation Center.

It was the fourth-consecutive loss for CMU, which is 13-12, 6-6 MAC. Ohio, 13-13, 5-8, won for the third time in its last four games.

The Bobcats made 13 of their 27 3-point attempts. CMU was 4-for-22.

How It Happened
A 3-pointer by Lunden McDay with 6:25 to play gave Ohio a 60-57 lead and triggered a 14-4 Bobcat run that left in front, 71-61, with under 1:30 remaining.

The Chippewas clawed back to within four, 71-67, on 3-pointers from Dallas Morgan and David DiLeo, but the Bobcats hit six of their eight free throw attempts in the final 43 seconds to ice it.

The Chippewas went more than eight minutes in the second half – from the 11:39 mark until 3:24 remained – without a field goal.

"(Ohio) played a better second half," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "I thought defensively, we had too many breakdowns. Offensively, we didn't have our execution that we normally would have. Part of it is going through a learning process of (learning) what is good enough to win and what is not good enough to win. Hopefully our guys are able to get better from this."

Leaders
CMU senior Kevin McKay bounced back from a subpar performance last Friday in the Chippewas' loss to Akron with 23 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season and the 17^th of his career. He also tied his season high with four assists.

McKay, who entered the game averaging 14.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, went scoreless four nights ago against Akron.

"I think that's (a performance) you expect from senior leadership," Davis said. "Especially someone who's been here for four years. I'm sure nobody was more disappointed with that last game than Kevin. He's been playing injured. He doesn't use that as an excuse; doesn't talk about that. He was able to turn the page and give us a great effort on both ends of the court tonight."

Rob Montgomery also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was his second double-double of the season and the third of his career.

3-Point Barrage
Jordan Dartis made seven of his 12 3-point attempts en route to a game-high 27 points to lead the Bobcats, who entered the game averaging 8.3 triples per game and had made just five of their 27 triple tries in their previous four games.

Next
CMU heads to DeKalb, Ill. for a MAC game with Northern Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 22 (4:30 p.m.). Northern Illinois is 15-11 and leads the MAC West at 8-5. The Chippewas are in third place, 1 ½ games behind.

McKay beat the buzzer to lift the Chippewas to a 68-67 win over NIU in their first meeting on Jan. 7 at McGuirk Arena.