Men's Basketball Notches 90-66 Win Over Davenport

Tuesday, December 19

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 p.m.

Central Michigan University

4-6,0-0MAC

Davenport

3-7,0-1GLIAC

Davenport

Central Mich.

Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography

12/19/2023 10:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Brian Taylor scores 27 points on 11-14 shooting with a career-high seven assists; Cayden Vasko finishes with career-highs of 19 points and three 3-pointers as Chippewas roll.

By: Greg Hotchkiss

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.—Central Michigan's Brian Taylor registered a near-triple double with 27 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists and the Chippewas shot a season-best 57.9 percent from the floor en route to a 90-66 home victory over NCAA Division II Davenport Tuesday evening at McGuirk Arena. The win helped CMU improve to 4-6 on the young season and gave the Chippewas their second straight home win. Davenport dropped to 3-7 overall.

Next up, Central Michigan hosts one more game before it takes nine days off for holiday break. The Chippewas will host Detroit on Thursday, Dec. 21. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.

With his game-high 27 points, Taylor registered his ninth career and third season 20-point scoring games, second double-double of the year and fifth of his career. It also marked his sixth double figure scoring game of the year. He made a career-high 11 field goals and dished out a career-high seven assists.

Freshman Cayden Vasko also had his best offensive game of the year as he notched career-highs for scoring (19), field goals made (seven), 3-point field goals made (three), rebounds (tied, seven), and steals (tied, three). Derrick Butler added 14 points, his third straight double figure scoring game, and Jemal Davis contributed 11 points.

"No matter who you're playing against, it's good to see guys have breakout games like Brian Taylor did tonight," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "Brian has the ability to do it. You want to see your veteran players do that in our league games or against some of the top teams we play. That is the mark of a good player. It's also good to see Cayden Vasko have a breakout game. He's a competitor, he works hard, plays hard, competes and is better offensively than he gives him credit for. Hopefully that will spark his engine and get him going."

The Chippewas scored a season-high 90 points on 33 of 57 field goals and 7 of 19 3-point attempts. The 90 points marked the most points scored of the Tony Barbee Era. CMU's 24-point win was its largest since the Chippewas defeated Alma by 39 points (89-50) on Dec. 3, 2022. In addition, the 90 points scored were CMU's most points since it scored 127 vs. Olivet in a 127-66 win on Dec. 20, 2020.

In the first half, Central Michigan registered its highest scoring half of the season as it built a 46-39 lead. Taylor, Butler, and Vasko combined for 36 of CMU's 46 first half points. Taylor contributed 15 points on 7-9 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists, Butler added 11 points, and Vakso hit two 3-pointers for 10 points.

Central Michigan got off to a fast start as it used a 13-0 run to build a 17-4 lead just five minutes into the game. Vasko and Butler started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers, Davis followed with a 3-point play on a driving layup, Butler hit two free throws and Taylor punctuated the run with a dunk.

The Chippewas were able to maintain their lead throughout the half, keeping Davenport at bay as they led by seven at halftime, 46-39.

Right after halftime, Davenport cut the lead down to four points on a 3-pointer by Matas Deksnys. But the Chippewas responded with pressure defense as they generated steals and outscored Davenport 19-2 over the game's next six minutes. The Chippewas started with a 7-0 run, then back-to-back dunks and a jumper by Taylor and a driving layup off a hesitation dribble by Jemal Davis, and Taylor followed with two free throws and a layup which pushed CMU's lead to a commanding 19 points (65-44).

Sophomore Aidan Rubio saw his first action in four contests.

Davenport was led by Marcedes Leech, Jr., who finished with 19 points on 8-14 shooting and three 3-pointers. Central Michigan and Davenport met for the first time in men's college basketball.

Detroit is next on Thursday in a tight turnaround.

"We've got a scary game on Thursday," Barbee said. "That Detroit team is better than their record. They played a little bit of a gauntlet, most of their games away from home. Detroit is a better team than their record indicates. We always talk about from day one to today that it's not about our opponents; it's about us. We want to focus on the process and preparation of what we have to do on a daily basis to get better."

"We want to take it one day at a time we want to get better and then we'll worry about conference play when it gets here."

—CMU—