Saturday, December 21
Tucson, Ariz./McHale Memorial Center
4:00 PM ET/2:00 PM MT
Central Michigan University
5-6,0-0MAC
41
at
94
Arizona
6-5,0-0Big 12
1
2
F
Central Mich.
23
18
41
Arizona
44
50
94
Team Stats
CMU
UA
FG%
.259
.545
3FG%
.188
.345
FT%
.556
.923
RB
27
45
TO
17
10
STL
3
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography
Arizona Defeats Shorthanded Chippewas
12/21/2024 6:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Arizona defeats shorthanded Central Michigan 94-41; Cayden Vasko leads Central Michigan with 10 points; Arizona shoots 55 percent from the floor, hits 10 3-pointers.
TUCSON, Ariz.—Caleb Love scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half and Arizona used a 10-0 run midway through the first half to secure a 21-point halftime lead, then coasted to a 94-41 men's basketball win over Central Michigan Saturday afternoon at the McKale Center.
With the win, Arizona improved to 6-5, while Central Michigan dropped to 5-6 on the year. The matchup marked the fourth of four straight road games for Central Michigan. The Chippewas now take nine days off for the holidays before coming back to Mount Pleasant to host on Cleary (Dec. 30).
Arizona shot an opponent season-high 55 percent (36-66) from the floor against CMU, hit 10 3-pointers and converted 92 percent (12-13) of its free throws. The Wildcats took advantage of 17 Central Michigan turnovers. In the second half, Arizona held Central Michigan to just 18 points, CMU's fewest points scored in a half this season. The second half also saw the Chippewas convert just 17 percent (5-29) of their field goals and Arizona held a 28-11 rebounding margin.
Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee was not pleased with the Chippewas' effort.
"We weren't very good today," Barbee said. "I'm not going to make excuses. It was a lack of fight today that we didn't have from start to finish and regardless of who was on the floor. It was disturbing."
Love hit 9-15 field goals and 3-8 3-pointers. He did the damage in the first half when he converted 7-11 field goal and 3-6 3-pointers. KJ Lewis added 11 of his 13 points in the first half, Tobe Awaka finished with 10 points.
For Central Michigan, Cayden Vasko led the Chippewas with 10 points and two 3-pointers. Jakobi Heady finished with nine points and Bryan Ndjonga added eight points. Eight players saw action for Central Michigan. For the second consecutive game, Ugnius Jarusevicius did not play.
Arizona built a 44-23 halftime lead. The Wildcats took advantage of 10 Central Michigan turnovers and 46.9 percent (15-32) shooting from the floor.
Arizona went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half in building a 29-12 advantage at the 7:26 mark. KJ Lewis started the rally with a layup, Henri Veesaar followed with a dunk, Conrad Martinez added two free throws, Lewis had a tip-in dunk and contributed two free throws for the 10-0 run before CMU's Ndjonga scored on a driving layup. Later, the Wildcats closed the first half on a 7-0 run for their 21 point lead.
Central Michigan travels back to Michigan early tomorrow morning.
"We get on the red-eye tonight," Barbee said. "We'll get back together right after Christmas to start preparing for our final non conference game on December 30."
Central Michigan started Harding, Heady, Ndjonga, Vasko, and Pritchard.
CMU men's basketball season tickets and single game tickets are 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 are also on sale. For more information, click here.
With the win, Arizona improved to 6-5, while Central Michigan dropped to 5-6 on the year. The matchup marked the fourth of four straight road games for Central Michigan. The Chippewas now take nine days off for the holidays before coming back to Mount Pleasant to host on Cleary (Dec. 30).
Arizona shot an opponent season-high 55 percent (36-66) from the floor against CMU, hit 10 3-pointers and converted 92 percent (12-13) of its free throws. The Wildcats took advantage of 17 Central Michigan turnovers. In the second half, Arizona held Central Michigan to just 18 points, CMU's fewest points scored in a half this season. The second half also saw the Chippewas convert just 17 percent (5-29) of their field goals and Arizona held a 28-11 rebounding margin.
Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee was not pleased with the Chippewas' effort.
"We weren't very good today," Barbee said. "I'm not going to make excuses. It was a lack of fight today that we didn't have from start to finish and regardless of who was on the floor. It was disturbing."
Love hit 9-15 field goals and 3-8 3-pointers. He did the damage in the first half when he converted 7-11 field goal and 3-6 3-pointers. KJ Lewis added 11 of his 13 points in the first half, Tobe Awaka finished with 10 points.
For Central Michigan, Cayden Vasko led the Chippewas with 10 points and two 3-pointers. Jakobi Heady finished with nine points and Bryan Ndjonga added eight points. Eight players saw action for Central Michigan. For the second consecutive game, Ugnius Jarusevicius did not play.
Arizona built a 44-23 halftime lead. The Wildcats took advantage of 10 Central Michigan turnovers and 46.9 percent (15-32) shooting from the floor.
Arizona went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half in building a 29-12 advantage at the 7:26 mark. KJ Lewis started the rally with a layup, Henri Veesaar followed with a dunk, Conrad Martinez added two free throws, Lewis had a tip-in dunk and contributed two free throws for the 10-0 run before CMU's Ndjonga scored on a driving layup. Later, the Wildcats closed the first half on a 7-0 run for their 21 point lead.
Central Michigan travels back to Michigan early tomorrow morning.
"We get on the red-eye tonight," Barbee said. "We'll get back together right after Christmas to start preparing for our final non conference game on December 30."
Central Michigan started Harding, Heady, Ndjonga, Vasko, and Pritchard.
CMU men's basketball season tickets and single game tickets are 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 are also on sale. For more information, click here.
—CMU—
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