Men's Basketball Outruns Eastern Illinois, 76-60

Sunday, November 13

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

2 p.m.

Central Michigan University

1-1,0-0MAC

Eastern Illinois

0-3,0-0OVC

Eastern Ill.

Central Mich.

Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw

11/13/2022 5:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Kevin Miller finishes with game-highs of 23 points and nine assists, Markus Harding scores 19 points on 8-9 shooting as Chippewas hold Panthers to 23 percent shooting in first half.

By: Greg Hotchkiss

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Displaying a quick, fast-break offense and suffocating pressure defense, the Central Michigan men's basketball team raced to a 76-60 win over Eastern Illinois Sunday in its home opener at McGuirk Arena. The victory evened CMU's record at 1-1 on the young season.

Sophomore point guard Kevin Miller led Central Michigan with game-highs of 23 points and nine assists. He converted eight of 11 field goals and played a role in 17 of CMU's 29 field goals while playing in 39 minutes on the day. In his second game in a CMU uniform, sophomore forward Markus Harding finished the day with 19 points on eight of nine shooting and nine rebounds, while senior Brian Taylor totaled career-highs for rebounds (13) and blocked shots (four), while also adding eight points. Junior guard Jesse Zarzuela came off the bench to score nine points, junior forward Carrington McCaskill finished with eight points, and freshman guard Reggie Bass added seven. At the end of the day, the Chippewas outrebounded Eastern Illinois 49-37, blocked seven shots, and scored 42 points in the paint.

Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee was satisfied with the win and saw many positive things from his young team.

"There was a lot of good that came out of this today," Barbee said. "We got better from the Marquette game and we've got to have the same progression heading into the Minnesota game. Kevin Miller had a good game and we wanted to establish Markus Harding inside and we did that today. He took his time and did his thing. As a team, we protected the rim really well today. We had seven blocks at the rim which is a direct result of our length. You want to contest everything at the rim and make them take tough shots. At the end of the day, it's good to get that win so they can feel how they should feel after all the hard work they put in in the preseason."

Central Michigan took control of the game in the first half as it put together a dominating 15-0 run fueled by defensive pressure and rim protection. The Chippewas, which built a 42-21 halftime lead, forced visiting Eastern Illinois into converting just 23.3 percent (7-30) of its field goals and four of 15 free throws in the first half. On the other end, CMU hit 50 percent (17-34) of its shots and scored 22 of its 42 points in the paint.

The 15-0 run gave CMU a commanding 29-11 lead with 8:50 to play in the first half. After Harding converted a layup, Miller stole the ball, was fouled and hit a free throw for a six-point lead. Then Miller led CMU on a fast break, spinning 360 degrees off the dribble and finding Reggie Bass wide open for a 3-pointer. On the next play, Miller swished another 3-pointer for a 23-11 lead. Several plays later, McCaskill grabbed an Eastern Illinois miss that enabled Bass to convert an easy layup for a 25-11 advantage with 8:24 to play in the half. McCaskill made it 27-11 CMU after tipping the ball away, running the floor and receiving a fast break pass from Miller for an easy layup. Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound for an easy layup and 29-11 lead. EIU's Kinyon Hodges finally stopped the run with a layup, but the damage was already done.

The Chippewas went on to extend their lead to as many as 24 points (40-16) late in the first half and finished off the half with a 42-21 halftime lead.

Early on, it was Harding who sparked CMU offensively as he converted a 3-pointer, a dunk off an offensive rebound, back-to-the-basket layup, and a layup to give the Chippewas a 16-11 lead at the 10:08 mark. Harding scored nine of CMU's first 16 points in the ballgame.

Eastern Illinois (0-3) cut Central Michigan's lead down to as few as 13 points with 3:55 to play, but the Panthers could get no closer. The Panthers were led by Hodges' 10 points. Kyle Thomas and Sincere Malone both added eight.

"When we got a 21, 22-point lead, we let our guard down," Barbee said. "For us to have the kind of year that we want to have, we don't want to lose at home. You've got to protect your home court. If you want to make it to the postseason, you cannot let games slip at home. I thought we played with that type of intensity and dedication early, but when we had success, we didn't know how to handle it. We backed up and got sloppy. We got sloppy on the defensive end and on the offensive end of the floor, which led to 20 turnovers. It was a matter of us not being careless, sloppy and not being focused on taking care of the ball. There are lot of areas we've got to clean up."

Next up for Central Michigan is Minnesota. The Chippewas take on the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network.