The 15th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles played host to a Mid-American Conference foe in the Central Michigan Chippewas.
This marks only the third time the two teams have met in their respective histories. Their last matchup was two years ago when the Golden Eagles took down the Chippewas in a 97-73 blowout. Central Michigan is yet to defeat Marquette in the team’s three matchups. Despite the second half comeback from the Chippewas’; they couldn’t protect the ball as they had 26 turnovers.
Takeaway #1: Kyler Vanderjagt was an incredible pickup in the transfer portal
Central Michigan head coach Tony Barbee loves the transfer portal. Nine of the current players on his roster have been acquired via the transfer portal at some point in their collegiate careers. The player who made the biggest impact in the Chippewas’ second half effort was Junior transfer from Belmont Kyler Vanderjagt.
Vanderjagt scored 19 points on 6-10 shooting from the field. This included making three of four three pointers. Vanderjagt showed his ability to draw contact by getting five free throw attempts. This marks his second game of the season of scoring 15 or more points coming off of the bench. His ability as a sharp shooter off of the bench can add versatility to this Chippewas offense in the second unit. In a game where Anthony Pritchard and Jakobi Heady struggled shooting wise; Vanderjagt stepped up off of the bench and proves to be a worthy addition to this Central Michigan basketball team.
Takeaway #2: Turnovers killed the momentum for Central Michigan
Marquette held a 42-27 first half lead and that’s due in large part to the 26 points they scored off of turnovers in the first half. Central Michigan had 16 first half turnovers and this helped spark an early 21-0 run for the Golden Eagles.
The second half wasn’t much better as the Chippewas’ surrendered the ball 13 times, but were drawn back into the game with scoring droughts from the Golden Eagles’ and the Chippewas’ out rebounding Marquette 26-11. Whenever the dust settles on this game and the Chippewas’ get to their film study; I’m sure the main emphasis will be on turnovers. Especially considering that Central Michigan was at one point within five points of Marquette.
Takeaway #3: Central Michigan proves to be a potential MAC contender.
Going into this season, Central Michigan finished 8th in the MAC preseason coaches poll. This low ranking came despite of the fact that the Chippewas’ finished fourth in the MAC last season. The uncertainty with team was mainly rooted in the fact that the Chippewas’ only returned five players from last season and brought in nine new players from the transfer portal alone.
This isn’t the first time the Chippewas have been doubted. Last season they were picked to finish dead last in the MAC in the preseason coaches poll, but managed to finish fourth. Last season head coach Tony Barbee had a similar approach with his roster as the team had 12 new comers and still made their mark on the MAC. With the way Central Michigan performed against #15 Marquette; they have a shot to shock the world yet again. When you out rebound the #15 team in country by 21 boards, you know that you have something to build off of. Don’t be surprised if Tony Barbee’s Chippewas have something special in store, despite their 1-2 start.
Up next for Central Michigan (1-2): at George Mason (2-1) – Nov. 13 at 7 p.m.
Up next for Marquette (3-0): at Maryland (3-0) – Nov. 15 at 8 p.m.
[…] Central Michigan gave Marquette everything it could handle in its last time out. CMU cut Marquette’s lead to six with just over four minutes to go, but Marquette’s 26 forced turnovers were too much to overcome. […]