Saturday, January 4
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7:00 PM
Central Michigan University
6-7,0-1MAC
55
vs
57
Ohio
7-6,1-0MAC
1
2
F
Ohio
35
22
57
Central Mich.
28
27
55
Team Stats
Ohio
CMU
FG%
.436
.328
3FG%
.217
.133
FT%
.400
.813
RB
28
42
TO
13
14
STL
10
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Madison Davidson '25 - @_mld.jpeg
Men's Basketball Drops MAC Opener to Ohio, 57-55
1/4/2025 10:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Chippewas rally from 10-point deficit, but miss potential game-tying shot at the buzzer
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A tight, nip-and-tuck battle that came down to the final possession.
Get used to it. That's Mid-American Conference men's basketball in 2025.
The Central Michigan men's basketball team made just 32.8 percent of its field goal attempts – its second-worst shooting night of the season – in dropping its MAC opener on Saturday night to Ohio, 57-55, at McGuirk Arena.
It was a game that pitted the Bobcats, who finished first in the league preseason poll, and the Chippewas, who were eighth. Both came in 6-6.
"Where they were picked, where we were picked doesn't mean a damned thing," CMU coach Tony Barbee said. "This league is as open, is as even, as any of the four years I've been in it.
"This year, it's a level playing field. It's going to come down to three things: The toughest, the hardest playing, and the smartest. We weren't any of those on this court tonight."
It was a physical, every-possession-counts wrestling match in which the Chippewas trailed by 10 points, 54-44, with just under eight minutes to play.
They rallied to cut it to one, 56-55, on a Cayden Vasko tip-in with 45 seconds remaining. A.J. Brown made a free throw with 8 seconds left to make it 57-55.
Brown missed his second charity toss, the Chippewas rebounded, and, out of timeouts, rushed the ball up the floor. Vasko's baseline jumper at the buzzer caught iron and bounced away.
The Chippewas were playing the final, game-deciding seconds without point guard Anthony Pritchard, a First Team All-MAC preseason selection, who was on the bench nursing an injury.
"It's hard to execute in those situations without your first-team, all-league, player-of-the-year candidate," Barbee said. "It's not an excuse, and it's not an excuse for any of those guys because we work on these situations and when it came time to execute off of that free throw – we work on that situation all the time – somebody went to the wrong place."
Jakobi Hardy scored 15 points to lead CMU, while Pritchard had 13 and Ugnius Jarusevicius added 11 and 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and his third of the season.
CMU outrebounded the Bobcats, 42-28. The Chippewas made just two of their 15 3-point attempts.
Brown scored 14 points and Jackson Paveletzke had 11 for the Bobcats, who shot 43.6 percent from the floor.
"I saw a lot of missed open shots," Barbee said. "We were by ourselves and we missed them. We made those earlier in the year, we're not making them now.
"When (Ohio) got the ball towards the rim, they were tough and stuck them in and we threw up a lot of you-know-what hoping it went in. Big difference in the game. Big difference."
Barbee's league-is-wide-open message hit home with his team, which visits Akron and Toledo next week.
"We've just got to build from it," Heady said. "Coming down the stretch, we turned the ball over and certain plays we have for those moments, we've got to execute those.
"Not to discredit (Ohio), but I feel like we're the best team in the MAC. It comes down to execution during those times, winning time. It's a credit to coach Barbee, his attention to detail and what he gives us in practice every day; we've just got to go out there and implement it. I like us over anybody."
Get used to it. That's Mid-American Conference men's basketball in 2025.
The Central Michigan men's basketball team made just 32.8 percent of its field goal attempts – its second-worst shooting night of the season – in dropping its MAC opener on Saturday night to Ohio, 57-55, at McGuirk Arena.
It was a game that pitted the Bobcats, who finished first in the league preseason poll, and the Chippewas, who were eighth. Both came in 6-6.
"Where they were picked, where we were picked doesn't mean a damned thing," CMU coach Tony Barbee said. "This league is as open, is as even, as any of the four years I've been in it.
"This year, it's a level playing field. It's going to come down to three things: The toughest, the hardest playing, and the smartest. We weren't any of those on this court tonight."
It was a physical, every-possession-counts wrestling match in which the Chippewas trailed by 10 points, 54-44, with just under eight minutes to play.
They rallied to cut it to one, 56-55, on a Cayden Vasko tip-in with 45 seconds remaining. A.J. Brown made a free throw with 8 seconds left to make it 57-55.
Brown missed his second charity toss, the Chippewas rebounded, and, out of timeouts, rushed the ball up the floor. Vasko's baseline jumper at the buzzer caught iron and bounced away.
The Chippewas were playing the final, game-deciding seconds without point guard Anthony Pritchard, a First Team All-MAC preseason selection, who was on the bench nursing an injury.
"It's hard to execute in those situations without your first-team, all-league, player-of-the-year candidate," Barbee said. "It's not an excuse, and it's not an excuse for any of those guys because we work on these situations and when it came time to execute off of that free throw – we work on that situation all the time – somebody went to the wrong place."
Jakobi Hardy scored 15 points to lead CMU, while Pritchard had 13 and Ugnius Jarusevicius added 11 and 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and his third of the season.
CMU outrebounded the Bobcats, 42-28. The Chippewas made just two of their 15 3-point attempts.
Brown scored 14 points and Jackson Paveletzke had 11 for the Bobcats, who shot 43.6 percent from the floor.
"I saw a lot of missed open shots," Barbee said. "We were by ourselves and we missed them. We made those earlier in the year, we're not making them now.
"When (Ohio) got the ball towards the rim, they were tough and stuck them in and we threw up a lot of you-know-what hoping it went in. Big difference in the game. Big difference."
Barbee's league-is-wide-open message hit home with his team, which visits Akron and Toledo next week.
"We've just got to build from it," Heady said. "Coming down the stretch, we turned the ball over and certain plays we have for those moments, we've got to execute those.
"Not to discredit (Ohio), but I feel like we're the best team in the MAC. It comes down to execution during those times, winning time. It's a credit to coach Barbee, his attention to detail and what he gives us in practice every day; we've just got to go out there and implement it. I like us over anybody."
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