Men's Basketball Defeats Northwood 88-61 in Exhibition Game

Thursday, November 3

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 p.m.

Central Michigan University

0-0,0-0MAC

Northwood (exhibition)

-00,00 GMAC

Northwood

Central Mich.

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

11/3/2022 9:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boxscore (PDF)Photo Gallery

With 12 steals, CMU forces Northwood into 21 turnovers and scores 27 points off turnovers, four Chippewas reach double figures in victory.

By: Greg Hotchkiss

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—In its first live competition of the season, Central Michigan took advantage of a balanced offensive attack and pressure defense as the Chippewas registered an 88-61 exhibition victory over Northwood Thursday evening at McGuirk Arena.

Four Central Michigan players reached double figure scoring led by Reggie Bass, who scored 19 points on 5-11 shooting, 7-8 free throw shooting, and two 3-pointers. Jesse Zarzuela added 17 points on 6-12 shooting and Markus Harding and Kevin Miller both turned in all-around double-double performances. Harding scored 15 points (7-9 shooting) and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Miller finished the evening with 15 points, 10 assists, and five steals.

Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said he was pleased with the effort.

"I was happy with the outcome and how we looked on the floor," Barbee said. "We looked like a team and we played together. Defensively, we got a little sloppy in spots and tried to gamble for steals and that got us out of position, but overall, I was pleased with the effort. We want to keep getting better every single day. From the start of practice to today, we've gotten markedly better. Now we have to continue that progression. There are a lot of things we need to clean up, but every day we are getting better and better."

CMU broke the game open to start the second half as the Chippewas jumped out to an 8-0 run to take a commanding 51-29 lead with 16:55 to play in the game. Markus Harding hit a jumper, Max Majerle converted a 3-pointer, and Miller followed with another 3-pointer as the Chippewas pushed their lead to a game-best 22 points. The Chippewas coasted the rest of the way and led by as many as 31 points (85-54) with 3:01 to play.

On defense, the Chippewas forced Northwood into committing 21 turnovers and finished the game with 12 steals. In all, CMU scored 27 points off turnovers. Barbee said he was pleased with the way the Chippewas played defense.

"The thing we want to do is get deflections," Barbee said. "You want to think deflections. Deflections and pressure turn into steals. If you think steals, you get out of position and your defense is exposed, so we try to create a mindset and that mentality. More important than the steals, we had 21 deflections in the game. I'm happy with our defensive effort, but we have to be better at protecting the rim. We gave up too many easy shots around the rim. With our length and size, our shot blockers need to be more active and anticipate better in certain situations."

Central Michigan led 38-25 at halftime after converting 14 of 19 free throws. Zarzuela led the Chippewas with 10 points, while Bass and Miller chipped in eight points apiece. After Northwood cut the CMU's lead down to four points (26-22) with under three minutes to play before the break, Jesse Zarzuela sparked the Chippewas off the bench as he swished a 3-pointer, then completed a 3-point play to push CMU's lead to 10 points (32-22).

From the opening tipoff, the Chippewas led the entire way. CMU started the game when Miller stole the ball in the backcourt, found Bush, who fed Pavrette for an alley-oop dunk. Central Michigan extended its lead to 9-3 in the game's after first five minutes using two Miller steals and four points from Pavrette.

Eleven Central Michigan players saw action in the contest. CMU's starting five consisted of guards Miller, Majerle and Reggie Bass, along with forward Markus Harding and center Nicolas Pavrette. Three players saw their first action in a Chippewa uniform.

"It was good to see some guys separate themselves," Barbee said. "Markus Harding separated himself today with a double-double. Carrington McCaskill separated himself today after coming back from some illness. He's been out of practice and he's only had a few practices under his belt to get himself back into shape and he goes out and gets nine rebounds and four points in half a game."

"I thought Kevin gave us exactly what you're looking for from him. I think he'll be in the mix for Player of the Year in our league. That's what you've got to have from your point guard. And, I thought Reggie Bass was really good. People don't understand what we've got in Reggie Bass. He's got a chance to be a fantastic player in this league. He just has to keep being coachable, keep being humble, and keep getting better every day."

NCAA Division II Northwood was playing its first and only exhibition game. The Timberwolves were led by Xavier Bargesser's 11 points, while De'Airrus Ware and Bennie Crenshaw, Jr. both finished with 10 points apiece.

Central Michigan opens its 2022-23 regular season at Marquette on Thursday, Nov. 10. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. ET for a national broadcast on FS2. The Chippewas play their first home game on Nov. 13 vs. Eastern Illinois.