Bowling Green Claims 66-56 MAC Tournament Quarterfinal Over Chippewas

CLEVELAND, Ohio—Trey Thomas hit four 3-pointers and scored 20 points and Rashaun Agee scored 13 points to go along with 17 rebounds to lead No. 5 seed Bowling Green to a 66-56 win over No. 4 seed Central Michigan in a MAC Tournament Quarterfinal game Thursday afternoon at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Bowling Green outrebounded the Chippewas 51-28 and shot 19 free throws to CMU's six. The Falcons also scored 19 second chance points in the contest. It was the third matchup between the two schools as Central Michigan claimed both of the previous contests in overtime.

With the loss, Central Michigan is eliminated from the 2024 MAC Tournament. The loss drops CMU to 18-14 overall, while Bowling Green improves to 20-12 overall and advances to the MAC Tournament Semifinal against No. 8 seed Kent State tomorrow at 5 p.m. Kent State defeated No. 1 seed Toledo in first Quarterfinal game of the day.

The Chippewas held Bowling Green to 36.7 percent shooting (22-60) from the floor but only shot 37.3 percent (22-59) themselves. In the end, the rebounding and free throw margins were too much to overcome.

"Today, the most physical team, whoever won that battle, was going to win the game," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "I told my guys it was going to show in two stats: getting to the foul line and rebounding. We didn't have that today."

"I'm proud of my team as we continue to build the CMU Basketball program. It was a heck of a turnaround in year three. I'm proud of the accomplishments that this team made. With five games left, we were a game out of first with a chance to win the league and then got derailed by some injuries."

Junior Derrick Butler led CMU with 14 points and three 3-pointers. Graduate student Brian Taylor registered his eighth double-double of the season and 12^th of his career, while junior center Markus Harding finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

It was another close, physical game between the two teams.

Central Michigan jumped out to an 8-2 lead, but Bowling Green battled back to tie the game at 10-10 at the 12-minute mark. The teams traded leads throughout the first half. Central Michigan took 28-26 halftime lead on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Taylor. In the first half, Bowling Green shot just 27 percent but outrebounded CMU 27-17 as the Falcons grabbed 11 offensive rebounds.

The second half proved to be more of the same. A Taylor jumper gave Central Michigan a 45-41 lead with 11:19 to play. That was CMU's largest lead of the second half as Bowling Green's Sam Towns responded with a field goal and two free throws to tie the game at 45-45. Then Marcus Hill gave the Falcons a 47-45 lead with 9:11 to go.

Bowling Green would hit a shot and Central Michigan would answer with a shot of its own until the Falcons went on a 9-1 run to close out the game. Thomas converted a driving layup to give Bowling Green a 57-55 lead with 2:50 to play. After CMU missed a shot, Thomas hit a deep 3-pointer for a 60-55 lead.

After CMU's Butler hit 1-2 free throws, Thomas gave Bowling Green a commanding six-point lead (62-56) with 1:25 remaining.

In the post-game press conference, Barbee spoke of how proud of he was of his team and singled out Taylor for how he helped turn around the CMU program.

"I'm proud of Brian Taylor for the finish that he had to an outstanding college career," Barbee said. "I wish we could have extended it further in this tournament. He did so much for this program, sticking with me with this rebuild through the ups and downs and to finish with the year he had and to go out a winner, I'm proud of Brian."

—CMU—

Team Stats

Derrick Butler

Brian Taylor

Markus Harding

Paul McMillan IV

Players Mentioned

Derrick Butler

Markus Harding

Brian Taylor