Chippewa Men Go Down Swinging At Buffalo

Thursday, February 25

Buffalo, N.Y.

2 p.m.

Central Michigan University

6-14,2-11MAC

Buffalo

11-7,9-5MAC

Central Mich.

Buffalo

2/25/2021 5:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A valiant effort against a good Buffalo team in what has traditionally been a tough road trip for the Central Michigan men's basketball team.

That trip was made all the more daunting on Thursday for a CMU team missing a number of players including leading scorer Travon Broadway Jr. and point guard Devontae Lane.

Still, the Chippewas showed plenty of dig-deep moxie in hanging with the surging Bulls before succumbing, 85-73, at Buffalo's Alumni Arena.

The Chippewas dressed just eight players; six of them played 27 minutes or more against the best-rebounding and highest-scoring team in the MAC.

"We thought we would have a couple more bodies and then didn't, and yet we came out and played as hard as a team could possibly play in that situation," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "They had to stay out there for the majority of the game without substitutions.

"I don't think you could ask a team, really, to play any harder than that group played. It's tough to feel good after a loss, but I probably feel as good as I ever have after a loss."

The Chippewas, who are 6-14, 2-11 MAC, never led but were never truly out of it either. They trailed by one, 30-29, with under two minutes to play in the first half, and, despite falling behind by as many as 18 points with under five minutes remaining, drew to within eight, 77-69, with just over two minutes to play.

Buffalo, which defeated Northern Illinois by 28 points on Tuesday, won for the sixth time in its last eight starts. The Bulls, who have won four of the last five MAC Tournaments, are 11-7, 9-5.

Junior Caleb Huffman, making his second start as a Chippewa, scored 24 points, while Ralph Bissainthe added 15, and Matt Beachler had 12. Beachler tied his career high with seven rebounds, while center Malik Muhammad had a career-high four blocks.

The loss came two nights after CMU, playing its first game after a 17-day layoff due to COVID, was beaten by 42 points at home by Miami (Ohio).

Davis, who is in his 13^th year as a head coach and ninth in charge of the Chippewa program, said after that game he had never been more proud of a team for its keep-swinging performance under very trying circumstances.

His players one-upped themselves on Thursday.

"I think even more so, it's just kind of in a different way," Davis said. "I think the last game I was proud of them continuing to have a good attitude after what we had gone through with not having practice, with COVID, with injuries and how they handled that in a tough situation.

"A different way today, a different situation. We needed to get up and down and run and we didn't get a chance to do that before the (Miami) game. We looked exhausted because we were. We had no legs, we had no energy, and it wasn't because guys weren't trying. I think they just couldn't get going and that's why I was so proud of them in that situation.

"Then in a really short turnaround for this game, to just have 20 minutes of practice (Wednesday) and to travel and then to play a really physical, really talented Buffalo team and to match, if not play harder, than Buffalo did is something you questioned whether we would be able to. I give complete credit to the character of these guys that suited up today and bring that."

The Chippewas are scheduled to play at Ball State on Saturday (1 p.m.) as they continue to adjust and dig ever deeper. Through the adversity, they are going places physically and emotionally that perhaps they didn't know existed.

In a tangible sense, they are also getting contributions from players who are stepping to the forefront. Case in point: redshirt freshman PJ Mitchell, the backup to Lane at point guard, had a career-high six assists against just one turnover against the Bulls. He also had seven points, one shy of his season high.

"Our guys understand that we never this year were that far away from being as good as anybody in this league -- a couple possessions or a couple healthy players from not just being competitive, but from being right up there in the thick of things," Davis said. "It's tough when you're going through losing to believe that, but our guys do and, I think, rightfully so.

"I think they know the talent that we have on this team. That doesn't mean that we don't need to add a couple of impact players for next year; we do. But I think that with the talent we have, with as hard a working team as we showed tonight, there's not just reason for optimism, but there's a belief that we're going to be really successful in the very near future.

"For these guys you'd like to be able to finish this season off strong and get healthy because you'd like for them to be able to experience some of that success that is not that far away."