Michigan
Central Michigan
Late Rally Not Enough as Michigan Drops Fifth Straight
12/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team dropped its fifth straight game of the season, falling 85-78 to the Central Michigan Chippewas on Tuesday (Dec. 3) in Crisler Arena. The Wolverines rallied late, going on an 8-1 run to pull the score to 81-78 with 22 seconds left, but four straight CMU free throws iced the game. With the loss -- U-M's first to CMU since Dec. 1, 1951 -- the Wolverines (0-5) are off to the worst start in school history.
| | Horton scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half. |
The Chippewas struck first with a jumper, but U-M scored the next five points of the contest thanks to four Robinson points and a Horton free throw. Central Michigan ended that run and took a 7-5 lead with 15:45 left in the first half.
The teams went back and forth for the next four minutes and the Chippewas extended their lead to three, 10-7, after two dunks by Kaman. The Wolverines picked up the defensive intensity with Robinson getting a block and then taking it coast to coast for a layup to get U-M going. Blanchard then kept the Wolverine offense on track by scorching the nets for seven straight points to pull the Maize and Blue ahead by one, 20-19, with 7:44 remaining in the half.
One minute later, the Chippewas answered with a 7-0 run of their own to retake the lead, 25-20, but two Robinson free throws ended that run. After a flagrant foul on the Chippewas, U-M capped a five-point trip down the floor with a Blanchard triple to cut the deficit to one, 28-27.
The Chippewas answered once again, closing the opening stanza on an 11-6 run that gave them a 39-33 halftime advantage, which matched their largest lead of the half. Blanchard paced the Wolverine offense with 15 points, Robinson added nine points and four rebounds, and Horton scored seven points and dished out four assists. CMU's hot field goal shooting was the key to its first-half success, as the Chippewas shot 17-28 (.607) on all attempts and 4-9 (.444) from downtown.
After three minutes of play in the second half the Chippewas extended their lead to seven, 48-41, but the Wolverines mounted a comeback by going on a 12-2 run to take a 53-50 lead with under 13 minutes to play. During that run, Abram led the charge on both ends of the floor, forcing three straight Chippewa turnovers and scoring eight points in that three-minute stretch.
With the score knotted at 59 and 9:26 left to play, the Chippewas used a 7-0 run to swing the momentum back in their favor and push their lead back to seven, 66-59. The CMU defense held the Wolverine offense scoreless for six-plus minutes during that stretch, but Horton put an end to that dry spell by connecting on a three-ball to cut the lead to 72-64.
The Wolverines proved that they were not beaten yet by cutting the CMU lead to three, 81-78, with under one minute remaining. CMU then connected on 4-4 free throws to close the scoring in the contest and put the game out of reach for the Maize and Blue. Abram and Horton both had strong second halves, scoring 12 and 15 points, respectively.
The Wolverines will next be in action on Saturday (Dec. 7) at 3:30 p.m. when they take on the fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C. CBS Sports will televise the game, which will be the Wolverines' first national broadcast of the season.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
