Wednesday, December 7
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
4-5,0-0MAC
66
vs
71
Robert Morris
4-6,1-1Horizon
1
2
F
Robert Morris
32
39
71
Central Mich.
25
41
66
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Robert Morris Holds Off Men's Basketball, 71-66
12/7/2022 10:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jesse Zarzuela and Markus Harding both return after missing games; Zarzuela scores a career and game-high 25 points, while Harding goes for 13 points and seven rebounds.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—In a rugged, back-and-forth basketball contest, Robert Morris put together a decisive 7-0 run late in the game and fended off host Central Michigan for a 71-66 men's basketball win Wednesday evening at McGuirk Arena.
Central Michigan junior Jesse Zarzuela returned to the lineup after missing each of the last two games and scored a game and career-high 25 points on 7-17 shooting. He also tied a career-high by hitting 4-8 3-pointers. The contest marked his second 20-point game this year. Sophomore Markus Harding also returned after missing each of the last six games and finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Reggie Bass added 10 points and a career and team-high eight rebounds for the Chippewas.
Robert Morris was led by Josh Corbin's 20 points and 6-11 3-point performance. Kahliel Spear did the damage down low as he finished with 18 points (7-14 FG) with game-highs of 15 rebounds and seven assists, while Enoch Cheeks tallied 17 points and four assists.
CMU shot just 32.3 percent (20-62) from the floor and registered only five assists on 20 field goals. CMU was also outrebounded 43-35. On defense, the Chippewas allowed Robert Morris to shoot 52 percent (13-25) in the second half.
Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee was not pleased with his team's performance.
"It was a product of not having Kevin Miller on the floor, the best point guard in our conference," Barbee said of his sophomore point guard, who has missed each of the last five games. "He is the head of our ship and it's obvious when he's not available to play, we do not have someone who can think the game, run the team, be the point of our defense, get us organized, lead us, huddle us. It's just glaring. Kevin Miller is a 40-minute-a-game guy. When he's not available, this is what we look like—unorganized, helter-skelter, bad shots—because we have other guys who don't understand the game right now like Kevin does."
Barbee was also critical of his team's defensive performance.
"The Spear kid dominated the game with 18 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists," Barbee said. "We've got a bunch of 6-foot-10, 250-pound guys. It doesn't matter how big you are. Spear is 6-foot-7, 220-pounds at best, and he dominated the game. Defensively, we were not very good tonight. They shot 52 percent in the second half, a by-product of bad defense. They have two players who can play on the perimeter, and we continually left them. Our defense was not good."
Trailing 41-39, Robert Morris used a 7-0 run to regain the lead, 46-41, at the 9:27 mark. The run featured a Matt Mayers dunk, Enoch Cheeks step back jumper, and deep 3-pointer by Corbin. A dunk by Mayers and a Spear tip-in pushed the Colonials' lead to eight points with 6:40 left, then the Colonials kept the Chippewas at bay when Spear scored on a driving layup, converted two free throws, and a corner 3-pointer by Corbin pushed RMU's lead to 60-50 with 3:41 to play.
Though Central Michigan cut RMU's lead down to four points (70-66) on a Harding layup with 21 seconds to play, that was as close as the Chippewas came as Robert Morris converted four of its last five shots down the stretch.
A 12-0 CMU run featuring a Taylor layup, Bass 3-pointer, Zarzuela jumper, Zarzuela 3-pointer and Zarzuela driving layup put Central Michigan back in the game with a 41-39 lead with 13:17 to play and erased a 10-point Robert Morris lead (39-29).
The first half proved to be a rugged defensive struggle as Robert Morris held a 32-25 lead at the half. The Chippewas were held to 28 percent (7-25) field goal shooting, but Zarzuela scored 12 of CMU's 25 points. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Harding and Zarzuela gave CMU its first lead at 14-11 with 8:45 to play in the first half. But Robert Morris took the lead back on back-to-back 3-pointers by Corbin.
Central Michigan dropped to 4-5 on the year, while Robert Morris improved to 4-6. The loss snapped CMU's two-game win streak.
Zarzuela, Bass, Taylor, Ola Ajiboye and Nicolas Pavrette all made starts on the evening. CMU wore all gold uniforms for the first time this year.
The game marked the third consecutive game for Central Michigan as the Chippewas hit the road for two consecutive road games at Tulsa (Saturday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.) and at Missouri State (Dec. 18) around final exams.
Central Michigan junior Jesse Zarzuela returned to the lineup after missing each of the last two games and scored a game and career-high 25 points on 7-17 shooting. He also tied a career-high by hitting 4-8 3-pointers. The contest marked his second 20-point game this year. Sophomore Markus Harding also returned after missing each of the last six games and finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Reggie Bass added 10 points and a career and team-high eight rebounds for the Chippewas.
Robert Morris was led by Josh Corbin's 20 points and 6-11 3-point performance. Kahliel Spear did the damage down low as he finished with 18 points (7-14 FG) with game-highs of 15 rebounds and seven assists, while Enoch Cheeks tallied 17 points and four assists.
CMU shot just 32.3 percent (20-62) from the floor and registered only five assists on 20 field goals. CMU was also outrebounded 43-35. On defense, the Chippewas allowed Robert Morris to shoot 52 percent (13-25) in the second half.
Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee was not pleased with his team's performance.
"It was a product of not having Kevin Miller on the floor, the best point guard in our conference," Barbee said of his sophomore point guard, who has missed each of the last five games. "He is the head of our ship and it's obvious when he's not available to play, we do not have someone who can think the game, run the team, be the point of our defense, get us organized, lead us, huddle us. It's just glaring. Kevin Miller is a 40-minute-a-game guy. When he's not available, this is what we look like—unorganized, helter-skelter, bad shots—because we have other guys who don't understand the game right now like Kevin does."
Barbee was also critical of his team's defensive performance.
"The Spear kid dominated the game with 18 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists," Barbee said. "We've got a bunch of 6-foot-10, 250-pound guys. It doesn't matter how big you are. Spear is 6-foot-7, 220-pounds at best, and he dominated the game. Defensively, we were not very good tonight. They shot 52 percent in the second half, a by-product of bad defense. They have two players who can play on the perimeter, and we continually left them. Our defense was not good."
Trailing 41-39, Robert Morris used a 7-0 run to regain the lead, 46-41, at the 9:27 mark. The run featured a Matt Mayers dunk, Enoch Cheeks step back jumper, and deep 3-pointer by Corbin. A dunk by Mayers and a Spear tip-in pushed the Colonials' lead to eight points with 6:40 left, then the Colonials kept the Chippewas at bay when Spear scored on a driving layup, converted two free throws, and a corner 3-pointer by Corbin pushed RMU's lead to 60-50 with 3:41 to play.
Though Central Michigan cut RMU's lead down to four points (70-66) on a Harding layup with 21 seconds to play, that was as close as the Chippewas came as Robert Morris converted four of its last five shots down the stretch.
A 12-0 CMU run featuring a Taylor layup, Bass 3-pointer, Zarzuela jumper, Zarzuela 3-pointer and Zarzuela driving layup put Central Michigan back in the game with a 41-39 lead with 13:17 to play and erased a 10-point Robert Morris lead (39-29).
The first half proved to be a rugged defensive struggle as Robert Morris held a 32-25 lead at the half. The Chippewas were held to 28 percent (7-25) field goal shooting, but Zarzuela scored 12 of CMU's 25 points. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Harding and Zarzuela gave CMU its first lead at 14-11 with 8:45 to play in the first half. But Robert Morris took the lead back on back-to-back 3-pointers by Corbin.
Central Michigan dropped to 4-5 on the year, while Robert Morris improved to 4-6. The loss snapped CMU's two-game win streak.
Zarzuela, Bass, Taylor, Ola Ajiboye and Nicolas Pavrette all made starts on the evening. CMU wore all gold uniforms for the first time this year.
The game marked the third consecutive game for Central Michigan as the Chippewas hit the road for two consecutive road games at Tulsa (Saturday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.) and at Missouri State (Dec. 18) around final exams.
—CMU—
Team Stats
RM
CMU
FG%
.464
.323
3FG%
.444
.389
FT%
.611
.864
RB
43
35
TO
19
15
STL
3
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
7
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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