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Photo by: CMU ATHLETICS
Minnesota Outlasts Chippewas in Close Game, 68-65
11/25/2024 10:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Back-and-forth, closely contested game goes to Minnesota, Ugnius Jarusevicius finishes with a career-high 17 points, Jakobi Heady totals a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—In a back-and-forth, closely contested contest, Minnesota outlasted Central Michigan in the game's final four minutes as it claimed a 68-65 men's basketball win on Monday evening at historic Williams Arena. With the loss, Central Michigan drops to 3-3 overall, while Minnesota improves to 5-1 on the young season.
Central Michigan is back in action on Sunday when it hosts NCAA Division II Purdue Northwest at McGuirk Arena. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.
It was the second high-major team that Central Michigan took down to the wire this season. The Chippewas had a chance to win the game as they trailed by two points with 15 seconds to play and missed two 3-pointers in the last three seconds when trailing 68-65. In the game's final four minutes Central Michigan made too many mistakes as it missed four free throws and had a lane violation.
Central Michigan's Ugnius Jarusevicius scored a career-high 17 points on 5-8 shooting and converted 3-3 of his 3-point attempts to go along with four rebounds. Jakobi Heady registered his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Kyler VanderJagt came off the bench to score nine points and Bryan Ndjonga added eight points.
Minnesota's Dawson Garcia scored a game-high 22 points on 6-9 field goals, hit 3-5 3-pointers and 7-11 free throws to go along with 11 rebounds. Lu'cye Patterson added 19 points on 4-9 3-pointers.
Neither team led by 10 points or more. CMU has not led by more than four points. After a back-and forth second half, a Frank Mitchell layup with 5:08 to play gave Minnesota a 56-55 lead. The host Golden Gophers would not trail again. Following a pair of missed free throws by CMU, Garcia hit a 3-pointer for a 59-55 Minnesota lead with 3:17.
But Central Michigan would not go away. Jakobi Heady took a pass from Cayden Vasko and nailed a 3-pointer to put the Chippewas back within one point, 59-58, with 3:01 to play. Patterson answered with a 3-pointer that popped off the rim and bounced in for a four-point Minnesota lead (62-58) with 1:49 to go. CMU's Heady converted a layup at the 1:28 mark to cut the lead to 62-60. Then Garcia converted four free throws to push the Minnesota lead to 66-60 with 34 seconds to play.
With 28 seconds to play, VanderJagt converted the first of a one-and-one, then CMU was whistled for a lane violation on the second attempt. After Garcia missed a free throw, Pritchard pushed ball up the floor and found Drew Barbee open for 3-pointer with 18 seconds to cut the margin to 66-64.
After fouls, the two teams traded free throws and Garcia made a free throw to give Minnesota a 68-65 lead with 15 seconds to play. Central Michigan missed two 3-pointers with under 3 seconds to play.
At halftime, the two teams played to a 34-34 tie. CMU's Jarusevicius finished the half with 13 points on 4-5 shooting and 3-3 on 3-pointers and Ndjonga had six points.
Minnesota took a 14-4 lead with a 10-0 run fueled by 3-pointers from Patterson and Garcia. The Chippewas gradually battled back and went on a 9-0 run to take a 25-21 lead. Bonds started the run with a 3-pointer, Jakobi Heady tied the game at 21-21, Ndjonga gave the Chippewas a 23-21 lead, then Quentin Heady put CMU up 25-21 on a layup with 7:19 to play in the first half.
The Chippewas led the rest of the half until Minnesota's Isaac Asuma hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 32-32 at the 2:16 mark. A driving layup by Pritchard with 56 seconds left tied the game at 34-34 at the half.
Central Michigan was searching for its 12th victory over a Big Ten opponent. CMU's last victory over a Big Ten opponent was in December 2022 at Michigan.
Central Michigan started Ndjonga, Jarusevicius, Jakobi Heady, Vakso, and Pritchard.
CMU men's basketball season tickets and single game tickets are already on sale. Fans can order season tickets by calling Ticket Central at (989) 774-3045, by ordering on this link, or by stopping by Ticket Central located in the John G. Kulhavi Events Center between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Single-game tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16. For more information, click here.
Central Michigan is back in action on Sunday when it hosts NCAA Division II Purdue Northwest at McGuirk Arena. Tipoff is at 2 p.m.
It was the second high-major team that Central Michigan took down to the wire this season. The Chippewas had a chance to win the game as they trailed by two points with 15 seconds to play and missed two 3-pointers in the last three seconds when trailing 68-65. In the game's final four minutes Central Michigan made too many mistakes as it missed four free throws and had a lane violation.
Central Michigan's Ugnius Jarusevicius scored a career-high 17 points on 5-8 shooting and converted 3-3 of his 3-point attempts to go along with four rebounds. Jakobi Heady registered his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Kyler VanderJagt came off the bench to score nine points and Bryan Ndjonga added eight points.
Minnesota's Dawson Garcia scored a game-high 22 points on 6-9 field goals, hit 3-5 3-pointers and 7-11 free throws to go along with 11 rebounds. Lu'cye Patterson added 19 points on 4-9 3-pointers.
Neither team led by 10 points or more. CMU has not led by more than four points. After a back-and forth second half, a Frank Mitchell layup with 5:08 to play gave Minnesota a 56-55 lead. The host Golden Gophers would not trail again. Following a pair of missed free throws by CMU, Garcia hit a 3-pointer for a 59-55 Minnesota lead with 3:17.
But Central Michigan would not go away. Jakobi Heady took a pass from Cayden Vasko and nailed a 3-pointer to put the Chippewas back within one point, 59-58, with 3:01 to play. Patterson answered with a 3-pointer that popped off the rim and bounced in for a four-point Minnesota lead (62-58) with 1:49 to go. CMU's Heady converted a layup at the 1:28 mark to cut the lead to 62-60. Then Garcia converted four free throws to push the Minnesota lead to 66-60 with 34 seconds to play.
With 28 seconds to play, VanderJagt converted the first of a one-and-one, then CMU was whistled for a lane violation on the second attempt. After Garcia missed a free throw, Pritchard pushed ball up the floor and found Drew Barbee open for 3-pointer with 18 seconds to cut the margin to 66-64.
After fouls, the two teams traded free throws and Garcia made a free throw to give Minnesota a 68-65 lead with 15 seconds to play. Central Michigan missed two 3-pointers with under 3 seconds to play.
At halftime, the two teams played to a 34-34 tie. CMU's Jarusevicius finished the half with 13 points on 4-5 shooting and 3-3 on 3-pointers and Ndjonga had six points.
Minnesota took a 14-4 lead with a 10-0 run fueled by 3-pointers from Patterson and Garcia. The Chippewas gradually battled back and went on a 9-0 run to take a 25-21 lead. Bonds started the run with a 3-pointer, Jakobi Heady tied the game at 21-21, Ndjonga gave the Chippewas a 23-21 lead, then Quentin Heady put CMU up 25-21 on a layup with 7:19 to play in the first half.
The Chippewas led the rest of the half until Minnesota's Isaac Asuma hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 32-32 at the 2:16 mark. A driving layup by Pritchard with 56 seconds left tied the game at 34-34 at the half.
Central Michigan was searching for its 12th victory over a Big Ten opponent. CMU's last victory over a Big Ten opponent was in December 2022 at Michigan.
Central Michigan started Ndjonga, Jarusevicius, Jakobi Heady, Vakso, and Pritchard.
CMU men's basketball season tickets and single game tickets are already on sale. Fans can order season tickets by calling Ticket Central at (989) 774-3045, by ordering on this link, or by stopping by Ticket Central located in the John G. Kulhavi Events Center between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Single-game tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16. For more information, click here.
—CMU—
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