Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, February 22
Kalamazoo, Mich./Read FieldHouse/University Arena
1:00 PM
Central Michigan University
12-15,5-9MAC
86
at
57
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Western Michigan
9-18,6-8MAC
1
2
F
Central Mich.
46
40
86
Western Mich.
27
30
57
Team Stats
CMU
WMU
FG%
.525
.356
3FG%
.455
.231
FT%
.708
.643
RB
43
30
TO
9
11
STL
7
5
Game Leaders
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Chippewas Dominate, Notch Largest Win in Rivalry, Sweep Western Michigan 86-57
2/22/2025 5:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Anthony Pritchard registers first triple double in program history with 10 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists; Central Michigan wins by 29 points, its largest margin of victory in the 167-game series dating back to 1908, and largest CMU win in a game played in Kalamazoo.
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Anthony Pritchard registered the first triple double in program history and the Central Michigan men's basketball team swept Western Michigan as it rolled to a dominant 86-57 victory on Saturday at University Arena.
The 29-point win marked Central Michigan's largest victory over Western Michigan in the 167-game series dating back to 1908. It eclipsed CMU's 27-point (69-42) win on Feb. 17, 2024 at McGuirk Arena. It also marked the largest CMU win in a game played in Kalamazoo, surpassing the previous 20-point victory (91-71) on March 2, 1991.
Pritchard wove in and out of the Western Michigan defense all day long as he notched 10 points, a career-high 12 assists, and a career-high 10 rebounds. He ripped down his 10th rebound of the day with 2:13 to play for the record-setting performance. It marked his second career double-double.
Pritchard wasn't the only Chippewa to put up an outstanding performance. Ugnius Jarusevicius extended his 20-game scoring streak to four games as he scored 21 points (8-13 FG) to go along with six rebounds, Kyler VanderJagt, wearing No. 72 in the game to honor his grandfather who played football at Western Michigan, added 15 points with three 3-pointers off the bench, Bryan Ndjonga tied a career-high with 15 points, and Jakobi Heady added 11 points. Cayden Vasko grabbed 10 rebounds and added six points.
The Chippewas, who entered the game after dropping three consecutive close MAC games, converted 52.5 percent (32-61) of their field goal attempts, made 70.8 percent (17-24) of their free throws and outrebounded the Broncos 43-30. Western Michigan was held to 35.6 percent (21-59) and made just 23 percent (6-26) of their 3-point field goals.
More importantly, the victory puts Central Michigan back in the conversation for a MAC Tournament postseason berth. CMU improved to 12-15 overall and 5-9 in the MAC and is now one game behind eighth place. Four games remain for Central Michigan against teams that it is competing against for a MAC Tournament berth: Buffalo (home on Tuesday at 7 p.m.), at Eastern Michigan (next Friday, Feb. 28), at Ball State (March 4), and home against Northern Illinois (Friday, March 7).
Central Michigan played a dominating first half and built a commanding 19-point (46-27) lead at the break. Jarusevicius finished with 13 points and Ndjonga provided a spark with 10 in the first half as CMU shot 54.5 percent (18-33), held the hosts to 36.5 percent shooting (11-31) and outrebounded the Broncos 22-16.
Leading 21-19, Central Michigan went on an 8-0 run to take a commanding 29-19 advantage at the 7:12 mark. Jarusevicius made a free throw and followed with a layup, then Vasko hit a 3-pointer and Jakobi Heady converted a layup for the 10-point lead.
The Chippewas extended the lead to 16 points (43-27) with a 9-0 run fueled by a Jarusevicius layup, a layup and 3-pointer by VanderJagt, and two Jarusevicius free throws.
Jarusevicius gave CMU its 19-point lead at halftime with a 3-pointer with four seconds.
In the second half, the game was never in doubt offensive assault continued. The Chippewas maintained the lead through the first 15 minutes when the Chippewas used a 7-0 burst to go up by 30 points. Vasko finished off an impressive 3-point play in which he ran all the way the down the floor and scored on a layup while being fouled. Ndjonga hit two free throws, Pritchard added a steal and layup for his 10th points, and Ndjonga rocked the rim with a dunk.
Central Michigan started Jakobi Heady, Bryan Ndjonga, Ugnius Jarusevicius, Cayden Vasko, and Anthony Pritchard.
Western Michigan dropped to 9-18 overall and 6-8 in the MAC. The Broncos were led by JaVaughn Hannah's 19 points and Chansey Willis Jr.'s 10 points.
Two home games remain for Central Michigan: Buffalo (Tuesday, Feb. 25) and Northern Illinois (Friday, March 7). 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 29-point win marked Central Michigan's largest victory over Western Michigan in the 167-game series dating back to 1908. It eclipsed CMU's 27-point (69-42) win on Feb. 17, 2024 at McGuirk Arena. It also marked the largest CMU win in a game played in Kalamazoo, surpassing the previous 20-point victory (91-71) on March 2, 1991.
Pritchard wove in and out of the Western Michigan defense all day long as he notched 10 points, a career-high 12 assists, and a career-high 10 rebounds. He ripped down his 10th rebound of the day with 2:13 to play for the record-setting performance. It marked his second career double-double.
Pritchard wasn't the only Chippewa to put up an outstanding performance. Ugnius Jarusevicius extended his 20-game scoring streak to four games as he scored 21 points (8-13 FG) to go along with six rebounds, Kyler VanderJagt, wearing No. 72 in the game to honor his grandfather who played football at Western Michigan, added 15 points with three 3-pointers off the bench, Bryan Ndjonga tied a career-high with 15 points, and Jakobi Heady added 11 points. Cayden Vasko grabbed 10 rebounds and added six points.
The Chippewas, who entered the game after dropping three consecutive close MAC games, converted 52.5 percent (32-61) of their field goal attempts, made 70.8 percent (17-24) of their free throws and outrebounded the Broncos 43-30. Western Michigan was held to 35.6 percent (21-59) and made just 23 percent (6-26) of their 3-point field goals.
More importantly, the victory puts Central Michigan back in the conversation for a MAC Tournament postseason berth. CMU improved to 12-15 overall and 5-9 in the MAC and is now one game behind eighth place. Four games remain for Central Michigan against teams that it is competing against for a MAC Tournament berth: Buffalo (home on Tuesday at 7 p.m.), at Eastern Michigan (next Friday, Feb. 28), at Ball State (March 4), and home against Northern Illinois (Friday, March 7).
Central Michigan played a dominating first half and built a commanding 19-point (46-27) lead at the break. Jarusevicius finished with 13 points and Ndjonga provided a spark with 10 in the first half as CMU shot 54.5 percent (18-33), held the hosts to 36.5 percent shooting (11-31) and outrebounded the Broncos 22-16.
Leading 21-19, Central Michigan went on an 8-0 run to take a commanding 29-19 advantage at the 7:12 mark. Jarusevicius made a free throw and followed with a layup, then Vasko hit a 3-pointer and Jakobi Heady converted a layup for the 10-point lead.
The Chippewas extended the lead to 16 points (43-27) with a 9-0 run fueled by a Jarusevicius layup, a layup and 3-pointer by VanderJagt, and two Jarusevicius free throws.
Jarusevicius gave CMU its 19-point lead at halftime with a 3-pointer with four seconds.
In the second half, the game was never in doubt offensive assault continued. The Chippewas maintained the lead through the first 15 minutes when the Chippewas used a 7-0 burst to go up by 30 points. Vasko finished off an impressive 3-point play in which he ran all the way the down the floor and scored on a layup while being fouled. Ndjonga hit two free throws, Pritchard added a steal and layup for his 10th points, and Ndjonga rocked the rim with a dunk.
Central Michigan started Jakobi Heady, Bryan Ndjonga, Ugnius Jarusevicius, Cayden Vasko, and Anthony Pritchard.
Western Michigan dropped to 9-18 overall and 6-8 in the MAC. The Broncos were led by JaVaughn Hannah's 19 points and Chansey Willis Jr.'s 10 points.
Two home games remain for Central Michigan: Buffalo (Tuesday, Feb. 25) and Northern Illinois (Friday, March 7). 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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