Tuesday, February 11
Kent, Ohio/Memorial Athletic & Convocation Center
7:00 PM
Central Michigan University
11-13,4-7MAC
83
at
91
Kent State
16-8,6-5MAC
1
2
F
Central Mich.
33
50
83
Kent St.
48
43
91
Team Stats
CMU
KentSt
FG%
.508
.542
3FG%
.333
.533
FT%
.818
.846
RB
26
32
TO
7
11
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
32
FGM
10
3FGM
0
FTM
12
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Madison Davidson '25 - @_mld.jpeg
Chippewas Battle Back but Fall at Kent State, 91-83
2/11/2025 9:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Ugnius Jarusevicius scores a career-high 32 points with 10 rebounds; Chippewas battle back into the game, but can’t overcome a hot shooting first half and an opening run to start the second half by Kent State.
KENT, Ohio—Despite a dominant career-high 32-point, 10-rebound performance by center Ugnius Jarusevicius, Central Michigan could not overcome hot first half shooting and an early second half run by Kent State as the host Golden Flashes held off the Chippewas for a 91-83 men's basketball victory Tuesday evening at the Memorial Athletic & Convocation Center.
The loss drops Central Michigan to 11-13 overall and 4-7 in the MAC, while Kent State improves to 16-8 overall and 6-5 in the MAC.
The Chippewas return to McGuirk Arena to host MAC leader Akron on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Akron will arrive at McGuirk Arena after having won a national-best 12 consecutive games and stands undefeated at 11-0 in the MAC and 19-5 overall.
Kent State scored 91 points by hitting 16 3-pointers and shooting 54.2 percent (32-59) for the contest. For the Golden Flashes, Marquis Barnett scored 28 points on 10-13 shooting and 6-8 3-pointers, VonCameron Davis finished with 21 points and hit 4-5 3-pointers, and Jalen Sullinger added 19 points on 4-8 3-pointers.
For Central Michigan, Jarusevicius was unstoppable in the low post on offense. The 6-foot-10-inch Lithuanian converted 10 of 18 field goals and a career-high 12-15 free throws. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Anthony Pritchard finished with 18 points on 8-12 shooting with a game-high eight assists, Jakobi Heady scored 13 points off the bench to go with eight rebounds, and Kyler VanderJagt added 10 points.
The Chippewas did shoot 50.8 percent (30-59) from the floor, but it was not enough.
"They ended up scoring 91 points, it's disgusting," Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee said. "We get no rim protection whatsoever. We are a sieve at the rim. Whatever they wanted at the rim was as easy and uncontested. I've said it since I've been in this business, when you have no defensive presence at the rim, your team is fraudulent. Our team is fraudulent because we have no rim protection."
"It's internal. If you don't have pride in performance, pride in yourself, pride in not getting bullied, pride in being the bully, pride in being the competitive fighter, there's not a lot I can do at this point in the season to change who you are."
Trailing by as many as 22 points early in the second half, Central Michigan trimmed the lead all the way down to four points (83-79) with 2:53 to play on a driving layup by Pritchard. But as they did all night, Kent State responded with clutch offense as Davis scored on a layup, then Barnett converted a tipin to push the lead back up to eight points with 1:45 to play.
Kent State opened the second half by converting back-to-back 3-pointers and scored eight of the first nine points to take a commanding 22-pont lead at the 18:05 mark. Davis and Cian Medley both hit 3-pointers and Sullinger converted a layup for a 56-34 Kent State lead.
But the Chippewas came back. They got back in the game by cutting Kent State's lead all the way down to seven points (74-67) with 6:52 to play on two Jarusevicius free throws but the Golden Flashes responded with a jumper and 3-pointer by Sullinger.
Kent State took a 15-point halftime advantage by using 55.2 percent (16-29) shooting and nine 3-pointers
Central Michigan got off to a slow start, making just two of its first 11 field goals. Kent State went up by 15 points (22-7) at the 12:53 mark using a 13-0 run. Sullinger hit a 3-pointer followed by a Cian Medley layup and a 3-pointer. Sullinger scored on another 3-pointer for a 17-4 lead, then after a CMU basket, made it 22-7 on yet another 3-pointer.
The Chippewas battled back to within five points on a Pritchard 3-pointer, but Kent State just kept hitting shots and pushed the lead back up to 15 points at halftime.
For the second straight game, the Chippewas started Anthony Pritchard, Quentin Heady, Cayden Vasko, Ugnius Jarusevicius and Kyler VanderJagt.
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.
The loss drops Central Michigan to 11-13 overall and 4-7 in the MAC, while Kent State improves to 16-8 overall and 6-5 in the MAC.
The Chippewas return to McGuirk Arena to host MAC leader Akron on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. Akron will arrive at McGuirk Arena after having won a national-best 12 consecutive games and stands undefeated at 11-0 in the MAC and 19-5 overall.
Kent State scored 91 points by hitting 16 3-pointers and shooting 54.2 percent (32-59) for the contest. For the Golden Flashes, Marquis Barnett scored 28 points on 10-13 shooting and 6-8 3-pointers, VonCameron Davis finished with 21 points and hit 4-5 3-pointers, and Jalen Sullinger added 19 points on 4-8 3-pointers.
For Central Michigan, Jarusevicius was unstoppable in the low post on offense. The 6-foot-10-inch Lithuanian converted 10 of 18 field goals and a career-high 12-15 free throws. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Anthony Pritchard finished with 18 points on 8-12 shooting with a game-high eight assists, Jakobi Heady scored 13 points off the bench to go with eight rebounds, and Kyler VanderJagt added 10 points.
The Chippewas did shoot 50.8 percent (30-59) from the floor, but it was not enough.
"They ended up scoring 91 points, it's disgusting," Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee said. "We get no rim protection whatsoever. We are a sieve at the rim. Whatever they wanted at the rim was as easy and uncontested. I've said it since I've been in this business, when you have no defensive presence at the rim, your team is fraudulent. Our team is fraudulent because we have no rim protection."
"It's internal. If you don't have pride in performance, pride in yourself, pride in not getting bullied, pride in being the bully, pride in being the competitive fighter, there's not a lot I can do at this point in the season to change who you are."
Trailing by as many as 22 points early in the second half, Central Michigan trimmed the lead all the way down to four points (83-79) with 2:53 to play on a driving layup by Pritchard. But as they did all night, Kent State responded with clutch offense as Davis scored on a layup, then Barnett converted a tipin to push the lead back up to eight points with 1:45 to play.
Kent State opened the second half by converting back-to-back 3-pointers and scored eight of the first nine points to take a commanding 22-pont lead at the 18:05 mark. Davis and Cian Medley both hit 3-pointers and Sullinger converted a layup for a 56-34 Kent State lead.
But the Chippewas came back. They got back in the game by cutting Kent State's lead all the way down to seven points (74-67) with 6:52 to play on two Jarusevicius free throws but the Golden Flashes responded with a jumper and 3-pointer by Sullinger.
Kent State took a 15-point halftime advantage by using 55.2 percent (16-29) shooting and nine 3-pointers
Central Michigan got off to a slow start, making just two of its first 11 field goals. Kent State went up by 15 points (22-7) at the 12:53 mark using a 13-0 run. Sullinger hit a 3-pointer followed by a Cian Medley layup and a 3-pointer. Sullinger scored on another 3-pointer for a 17-4 lead, then after a CMU basket, made it 22-7 on yet another 3-pointer.
The Chippewas battled back to within five points on a Pritchard 3-pointer, but Kent State just kept hitting shots and pushed the lead back up to 15 points at halftime.
For the second straight game, the Chippewas started Anthony Pritchard, Quentin Heady, Cayden Vasko, Ugnius Jarusevicius and Kyler VanderJagt.
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—
MBB Sign Video
Wednesday, July 23
MBB Insider - 6.13.25
Friday, June 13
Men's Basketball Summer Practice 1
Thursday, June 12
Men's Basketball Move-In Day
Friday, June 06