Big, Big Win For MBB At Miami

OXFORD, Ohio – The Central Michigan men’s basketball team played its best half of the season just when it needed it the most.
 
Central Michigan outscored Miami (Ohio), 50-32, over the final 20 minutes on Thursday in posting an 83-69 Mid-American Conference victory at the RedHawks’ Millett Hall.
 
The Chippewas snapped a five-game losing streak and took a big step toward a MAC Tournament berth against their closest competitor for that tourney spot. The Chippewas improved to 7-19, 6-9 MAC and sit in seventh place. Miami is 6-11 in league play and is in eighth.
 
The top eight teams make to Cleveland for the tournament. The Chippewas play host to third-place Kent State on Saturday and then entertain the RedHawks on Tuesday, March 1.
 
“Proud of the guys,” first-year CMU coach Tony Barbee said. “This time of year, no matter the standings, no matter the (tournament) implications or where you’re at … none of that matters.
 
“It’s the team that’s still excited to still be around each other in the locker room, in the restaurants, in the hotels; those are the teams that play hard and give themselves a chance.”
 
Point guard Kevin Miller triggered it all night long for CMU, scoring 24 points and dishing out six assists. He hit six of CMU’s 13 3-pointers as the Chippewas made 54.2 percent of their triples, their second-best performance of the season. The six triples marked a career best for Miller, a freshman.
 
“I liked his composure under the pressure that they tried to apply to him,” Barbee said of Miller, who had just two turnovers. “Every team is trying to do that to wear him out.”
 
CMU trailed, 37-33, at halftime then used two big second-half runs — the first 13-0, the second 17-0 — in seizing a 66-46 lead with under nine minutes to play. Miami whittled its deficit to 11, 77-66, with under two minutes left, but could get no closer.
 
CMU made eight of its 13 second-half 3-point tries and shot 70.8 percent from the floor overall in the final 20 minutes.
 
The 83 points was a season high for CMU in a non-overtime game, and the Chippewas finished with 15 assists, matching their second-highest total of the season.
 
“It’s pretty to watch when you do that,” Barbee said. “Guys passed up on what would be a good shot for them to get somebody a great shot. Guys were sharing the ball tonight which makes it fun and easy to play.”
 
Also for the Chippewas, Ralph Bissainthe had 17 points, Brian Taylor had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Harrison Henderson and Miroslav Stafl added 10 points each. The 11 rebounds marked a career high for Taylor as he registered his first double-double as a Chippewa.
 
The Chippewas outscored the RedHawks, 32-20, in the paint and that success in the post helped free up the outside shooters. The 6-foot-11, 235-pound Stafl, who missed much of the season with an injury, played just seven minutes but posted his first double-digit scoring game since he scored 15 in the season opener at Missouri.
 
His inside presence was a major factor, Barbee said.
 
“That’s the Miro we’ve been expecting all year long,” he said. “That’s how we need him to play (and) he finally did that tonight. He was strong, he fought for position, he wasn’t trying to go up and around people; he just overpowered people. Those were big buckets for us to establish something on the interior.”