Saturday, February 24
Oxford, Ohio/Millett Hall
3:30 p.m.
Central Michigan University
16-11,10-4MAC
60
at
88
Miami (OH)
13-14,7-7MAC
1
2
F
Central Mich.
24
36
60
Miami (OH)
46
42
88
Team Stats
CMU
Miami
FG%
.396
.519
3FG%
.348
.577
FT%
.526
.826
RB
34
32
TO
15
9
STL
7
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG/F
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Lauren Verellen '26 - @laurenverellen_photography
Chippewas Can't Overcome Large Halftime Deficit in Loss at Miami
2/24/2024 5:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Hot-shooting Miami registers 15 3-pointers in 88-60 win at Millett Hall; Anthony Pritchard leads the Chippewas with 16 points and four assists.
OXFORD, Ohio—Hot-shooting Miami (Ohio) converted an opponent team-season high 15 3-pointers, built a commanding 22-point halftime lead then held off Central Michigan the rest of the way in handing the Chippewas an 88-60 men's basketball decision Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall.
The loss dropped Central Michigan to 16-11 overall and 10-4 in the MAC and denied the Chippewas an opportunity to move into second place in the MAC standings. The loss also snapped a three-game win streak for Central Michigan and denied it a second straight sweep of Miami.
Central Michigan remains in third place in the MAC standings, one game behind second place Toledo (11-3), two games behind first place Akron (12-2), and one game ahead of fourth place Ohio (9-5). The Chippewas return home to host Ball State on Tuesday at McGuirk Arena. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET.
"It was one of those games," Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee said. "All of the stuff that we've done at a super high level—our competitiveness, our fight, our toughness, our hunger, our desire—they did those things at a higher level today. Some days, they happen to have it and you don't. That doesn't mean you have to lose. At some point, you have to find it and you have to raise your level and we were never able to do that."
"Give Miami credit, they were prepared, they executed on both offense and defense and then they played at a higher level in all of those areas. When that happens and you don't raise your level, you're going to walk out with a loss."
Miami never trailed in the contest. Its 88 points were the most allowed by Central Michigan since Creighton finished with 109 on Dec. 9, 2023. The Redhawks converted 57.7 percent (15-26) 3-point field goals and 51.9 percent (27-52) field goals in scoring those 88 points. Bradley Dean finished with a game high 20 points, Reese Potter and Evan Ipsaro both scored 15 points apiece to lead the Redhawks who outscored CMU 55-20 in bench scoring.
Anthony Pritchard led the Chippewas with 16 points and five assists. Aidan Rubio scored nine points and Markus Harding and Paul McMillan IV both finished with eight points on the day.
It was all Miami in the first half as the host Redhawks built a commanding 46-24 halftime lead after converting 8-15 3-pointers and 51.6 percent (16-31) of their first half field goals. Meanwhile, CMU committed eight turnovers and shot just 33.3 percent (8-24) from the floor. Potter came off the bench to score 13 points in the first 20 minutes.
The Redhawks used an 8-0 run to take a 15-6 lead at the 13:41 mark of the first half as they took advantage of 3-pointers from Bryce Bultman and Potter, and two Bradley Dean free throws. From there, Miami gradually kept the pressure on. They went up 20 points (38-18) with 2:45 to play in the first half and then led by as many as 23 points (41-18) with 1:49 left in the half.
After Miami opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers, CMU's Pritchard scored seven straight points, the first on a jumper, then a 3-pointer, and then a steal and layup and Rubio followed with a 3-pointer to fuel a 10-0 run to trim the lead to 18 points, but that was as close as CMU game.
"We've got to move on to the next one and get ready for that one," Barbee said. "We need to watch and see what we didn't do correctly in this game and move onto Ball State."
The loss dropped Central Michigan to 16-11 overall and 10-4 in the MAC and denied the Chippewas an opportunity to move into second place in the MAC standings. The loss also snapped a three-game win streak for Central Michigan and denied it a second straight sweep of Miami.
Central Michigan remains in third place in the MAC standings, one game behind second place Toledo (11-3), two games behind first place Akron (12-2), and one game ahead of fourth place Ohio (9-5). The Chippewas return home to host Ball State on Tuesday at McGuirk Arena. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET.
"It was one of those games," Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee said. "All of the stuff that we've done at a super high level—our competitiveness, our fight, our toughness, our hunger, our desire—they did those things at a higher level today. Some days, they happen to have it and you don't. That doesn't mean you have to lose. At some point, you have to find it and you have to raise your level and we were never able to do that."
"Give Miami credit, they were prepared, they executed on both offense and defense and then they played at a higher level in all of those areas. When that happens and you don't raise your level, you're going to walk out with a loss."
Miami never trailed in the contest. Its 88 points were the most allowed by Central Michigan since Creighton finished with 109 on Dec. 9, 2023. The Redhawks converted 57.7 percent (15-26) 3-point field goals and 51.9 percent (27-52) field goals in scoring those 88 points. Bradley Dean finished with a game high 20 points, Reese Potter and Evan Ipsaro both scored 15 points apiece to lead the Redhawks who outscored CMU 55-20 in bench scoring.
Anthony Pritchard led the Chippewas with 16 points and five assists. Aidan Rubio scored nine points and Markus Harding and Paul McMillan IV both finished with eight points on the day.
It was all Miami in the first half as the host Redhawks built a commanding 46-24 halftime lead after converting 8-15 3-pointers and 51.6 percent (16-31) of their first half field goals. Meanwhile, CMU committed eight turnovers and shot just 33.3 percent (8-24) from the floor. Potter came off the bench to score 13 points in the first 20 minutes.
The Redhawks used an 8-0 run to take a 15-6 lead at the 13:41 mark of the first half as they took advantage of 3-pointers from Bryce Bultman and Potter, and two Bradley Dean free throws. From there, Miami gradually kept the pressure on. They went up 20 points (38-18) with 2:45 to play in the first half and then led by as many as 23 points (41-18) with 1:49 left in the half.
After Miami opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers, CMU's Pritchard scored seven straight points, the first on a jumper, then a 3-pointer, and then a steal and layup and Rubio followed with a 3-pointer to fuel a 10-0 run to trim the lead to 18 points, but that was as close as CMU game.
"We've got to move on to the next one and get ready for that one," Barbee said. "We need to watch and see what we didn't do correctly in this game and move onto Ball State."
—CMU—
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