Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, January 13
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
2 p.m.
Central Michigan University
77
vs
62
Kent State
CMU's Brian Taylor dunks in the second half of the Chippewas' 79-62 win over Kent State on Saturday at McGuirk Arena.
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Benchmark Win for Men's Basketball over Kent State
1/13/2024 6:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Chippewas outscore Golden Flashes, 45-26, in second half in running win streak to three; Chippewas improve to 3-1 in MAC play.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – There's a long, long way to go in the Mid-American Conference men's basketball race.
Tony Barbee and his Central Michigan men's basketball team know all about long journeys.
Derrick Butler scored 19 points and the Chippewas outscored Kent State, 45-26, in the second half on Saturday as CMU posted a 79-62 MAC victory at McGuirk Arena.
It was the Chippewas' third straight league win, the first time they have done that in two seasons, and they are 3-1 in conference play for the first time since 2019-20 and are now 8-8 overall.
"We're only four games into the league," said Barbee, whose team held Kent State to 17 points below its season average. "We've got another 14 games to go before the conference tournament.
"Who do we got next? I don't know. I was locked in on Kent State. That's what we're focused on. We want to get lost in the moment, we want these (players) to get lost inside the team and great things will happen and this team has bought into that.
"We're not there yet. We've still got major room for improvement. But we're making steps."
The Chippewas, who go to Ohio on Tuesday, Jan. 16, limited Kent State to 31.8 percent shooting and overcame an early 15-3 deficit. They were down, 36-32, at halftime and won for the first time this season after trailing at the break.
CMU committed just eight turnovers – five of which came in the first eight minutes of the game – matching their second-lowest total of the season.
"We made a lot of defensive mistakes early on in the game, missing block outs, giving them second-chance shots and missing assignments," said CMU senior Brian Taylor, who scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. "We tightened that up and that's when we started making our way back.
"Past teams, adversity hit us hard and we wouldn't be able to bounce back from it. But now, this team, we take adversity and we fight; we don't give up. Guys have bought into the process no matter what their role is, and that's important on any winning team."
Anthony Pritchard added 11 points and six assists for CMU, while Markus Harding finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Chippewas, clearly bolstered by a boisterous student section, used a 13-2 second-half surge to turn a one-point deficit into a 66-56 lead with just over five minutes to play.
Butler scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half. He made four 3-pointers (on five attempts) in the game. One of those tripled ignited the run, putting the Chippewas in front for good, 56-54, with 9:25 play. He closed the spurt with another 3-pointer which left CMU ahead by 10, 66-56, with just over five minutes to play.
Kent State never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. The final margin was CMU's largest lead of the day.
"Just seeing everybody in the crowd, being here, giving us support, it really means a lot," said Taylor, who hit seven of his 11 field goal tries as the Chippewas finished at 56.6 percent from the floor. "We really haven't been getting that the last couple of the years because of the way we've been playing. Seeing them there and supporting us is really good for us and I definitely see the program turning around."
Clearly, there is a long way to go, but a win over Kent State – long one of the MAC's bellwether programs which was picked to finish second in the league preseason poll – a .500 overall mark in mid-January, and a three-game win streak with the first two wins coming on the road, are good indicators that the Chippewas have turned a corner.
"In this portal generation when you try to put this many new kids together – we've got one of the youngest teams in the MAC – it's a process," said Barbee, whose team was 3-6 at one point after losses to high-profile programs such as Oklahoma, Ohio State, Florida State and Creighton.
"Nobody on our staff or on our team pushed the panic button," Barbee said. "We knew we were getting better; it's hard to see it when you're playing top-five, top-10 teams in the country. But you come out on the other side when you've got really good people that can weather that adversity. Adversity reveals character. We've got a bunch of good kids.
"These games aren't going to be easy. This league is a hard league. You've got really good coaches, and you've got really good players. So any game, no matter where you play, it's going to be a dogfight and there's going to be some adversity. The only way you get through that is if you learn how to handle adversity and how to handle hard. … We're getting pretty good at that."
Tony Barbee and his Central Michigan men's basketball team know all about long journeys.
Derrick Butler scored 19 points and the Chippewas outscored Kent State, 45-26, in the second half on Saturday as CMU posted a 79-62 MAC victory at McGuirk Arena.
It was the Chippewas' third straight league win, the first time they have done that in two seasons, and they are 3-1 in conference play for the first time since 2019-20 and are now 8-8 overall.
"We're only four games into the league," said Barbee, whose team held Kent State to 17 points below its season average. "We've got another 14 games to go before the conference tournament.
"Who do we got next? I don't know. I was locked in on Kent State. That's what we're focused on. We want to get lost in the moment, we want these (players) to get lost inside the team and great things will happen and this team has bought into that.
"We're not there yet. We've still got major room for improvement. But we're making steps."
The Chippewas, who go to Ohio on Tuesday, Jan. 16, limited Kent State to 31.8 percent shooting and overcame an early 15-3 deficit. They were down, 36-32, at halftime and won for the first time this season after trailing at the break.
CMU committed just eight turnovers – five of which came in the first eight minutes of the game – matching their second-lowest total of the season.
"We made a lot of defensive mistakes early on in the game, missing block outs, giving them second-chance shots and missing assignments," said CMU senior Brian Taylor, who scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds. "We tightened that up and that's when we started making our way back.
"Past teams, adversity hit us hard and we wouldn't be able to bounce back from it. But now, this team, we take adversity and we fight; we don't give up. Guys have bought into the process no matter what their role is, and that's important on any winning team."
Anthony Pritchard added 11 points and six assists for CMU, while Markus Harding finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Chippewas, clearly bolstered by a boisterous student section, used a 13-2 second-half surge to turn a one-point deficit into a 66-56 lead with just over five minutes to play.
Butler scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half. He made four 3-pointers (on five attempts) in the game. One of those tripled ignited the run, putting the Chippewas in front for good, 56-54, with 9:25 play. He closed the spurt with another 3-pointer which left CMU ahead by 10, 66-56, with just over five minutes to play.
Kent State never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. The final margin was CMU's largest lead of the day.
"Just seeing everybody in the crowd, being here, giving us support, it really means a lot," said Taylor, who hit seven of his 11 field goal tries as the Chippewas finished at 56.6 percent from the floor. "We really haven't been getting that the last couple of the years because of the way we've been playing. Seeing them there and supporting us is really good for us and I definitely see the program turning around."
Clearly, there is a long way to go, but a win over Kent State – long one of the MAC's bellwether programs which was picked to finish second in the league preseason poll – a .500 overall mark in mid-January, and a three-game win streak with the first two wins coming on the road, are good indicators that the Chippewas have turned a corner.
"In this portal generation when you try to put this many new kids together – we've got one of the youngest teams in the MAC – it's a process," said Barbee, whose team was 3-6 at one point after losses to high-profile programs such as Oklahoma, Ohio State, Florida State and Creighton.
"Nobody on our staff or on our team pushed the panic button," Barbee said. "We knew we were getting better; it's hard to see it when you're playing top-five, top-10 teams in the country. But you come out on the other side when you've got really good people that can weather that adversity. Adversity reveals character. We've got a bunch of good kids.
"These games aren't going to be easy. This league is a hard league. You've got really good coaches, and you've got really good players. So any game, no matter where you play, it's going to be a dogfight and there's going to be some adversity. The only way you get through that is if you learn how to handle adversity and how to handle hard. … We're getting pretty good at that."
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballMBB Sign Video
Wednesday, July 23
MBB Insider - 6.13.25
Friday, June 13
Men's Basketball Summer Practice 1
Thursday, June 12
Men's Basketball Move-In Day
Friday, June 06