MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The game had it all. The historical pre-game Toilet Paper Toss. A matchup against rival Western Michigan. CMU legend Dan Majerle was in attendance. A raucous, energetic standing-room only, sell-out crowd. A Central Michigan comeback victory. Chippewas fans rushing the floor in wild celebration.
Before the largest crowd in McGuirk Arena history, Central Michigan battled back from an 11-point deficit with four minutes to play and senior Brian Taylor drained the game-winning 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds to go as Central Michigan claimed a dramatic 70-69 men's basketball victory over rival Western Michigan Saturday at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas trailed for 39 of the game's 40 minutes. Behind by two points, 69-67, after Western Michigan's Lamar Norman converted 1-2 free throws, sophomore Nicolas Pavrette rebounded the second missed free throw for CMU, then at the other end of the court, Pavrette set a screen on Taylor's defender, junior Jesse Zarzuela passed to Taylor in the corner, Taylor spotted up and swished the game-winning 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds.
"I'm a proud coach tonight, proud of the guys," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "We didn't play our best for 39 minutes and 48 seconds, but I thought we had poise and composure when it counted. With all the injuries we've had and the fact that we're playing without one of the best players in the MAC in Kevin Miller, and when you have that kind of youth with most of our team playing out of position, you have growing pains. It doesn't happen overnight. This team is staying patient, the guys are learning and growing."
"Western Michigan controlled the game for 99 percent of the contest, but when it mattered, we executed and made the plays that got us over the top. I'm glad that our guys can feel the results of doing it the right way and having each other's backs. That's what happens with youth and immaturity. I'm happy our team got a much-deserved win tonight."
Central Michigan outscored Western Michigan 15-3 over the game's final 4:07. Trailing by 11 points (66-55), the Chippewas battled their way back into the game. Freshman Reggie Bass began the rally with a step back 3-pointer. Minutes later the Chippewas put together a 7-0 run when Bass scored on a driving layup to cut the margin to seven points, Pavrette followed with a layup in the paint and Zarzuela swished a 3-pointer to cut WMU's lead down to two points (67-65) with 1:28 to play.
After Norman converted 1-2 free throws to give Western Michigan a 68-65 lead with 1:21 to play, Pavrette followed with a key layup off an offensive rebound to cut the lead down to one point. Norman hit 1-2 free throws for a two-point WMU lead with 16 seconds left. Taylor followed with his game-winner.
"We work on those situations every day in practice," Barbee said. "It's not what I said, it's preparation that leads to calmness and composure. That brings about poise and composure and we didn't panic."
With the victory, Central Michigan snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 8-13 overall and 3-5 in the MAC. The Chippewas have now won more games (eight) this year than the entire 2021-22 season (seven).
The crowd of 5,425 surpassed previous top McGuirk Arena crowds of 5,412 vs. Western Michigan on Feb. 3, 2017 and vs. Ball State on Feb. 18, 2017.
Zarzuela scored a team-high 25 points, his fourth consecutive 20-point scoring contest and sixth 20-point game of the year. Bass finished the night with 13 points, Taylor contributed nine points, freshman Ola Ajiboye added a career-high eight points and seven rebounds, and Pavrette scored six points to go along with eight rebounds (five offensive).
Barbee was especially pleased with the play of Pavrette.
"The impact Nicolas had on the entire game was impressive," Barbee said. "Think about Nicolas the last seven minutes. He was a terror out there. Offensive rebounds, huge, putbacks, offensive rebounds, finding the open man at the 3-point line, blocking shots, being able to switch off on Norman and keeping him in front. Now you've got to shoot over a 7-footer and then when he tried to drive Nico, now Norman's trying to score over Nicolas, it's very difficult. He does a lot of things well, for him it's a confidence thing. He set the screen on Brian Taylor's final shot. Just as important was Nicolas' screen that allowed Brian to be able to get open."
Western Michigan took the lead in the first minute and didn't trail until the last few seconds. The Broncos used a 6-0 run to go up 10 points (21-11) with 9:16 to play in the first half. Seth Hubbard hit a 3-pointer, Owen Lobsinger followed with a layup and free throw. Later, Western Michigan used a 5-0 run to go up 27-16 with 5:40 to play in the first half. The Broncos led 33-25 at halftime.
The Broncos extended their lead to 13 points (38-25) with the first two baskets of the second half on a Titus Wright hook shot and Lamar Norman 3-pointer.
Western Michigan held CMU at bay for the rest of the half.
CMU's Bass converted a 3-pointer and was fouled as the ball swished through the net to cut the deficit to 52-47 with 9:46 to play, but WMU pushed the lead back to 11 points (64-53 with 5:38 to play on a Wright second chance layup.
Western Michigan (6-15, 2-6 MAC) was led by Norman's 27 points on 6-18 shooting and 5-11 3-point attempts, Hubbard finished with 16 points and Wright added 11.
Barbee thanked the crowd for creating a huge homecourt advantage.
"Today's game showed the homecourt advantage that this arena can give you," Barbee said. "When the fans, students, alums, having some of our great, former players are back, Max's dad Dan being there, when all those groups are engaged, the crowd has just as big of an impact as Brian Taylor's shot. The crowd gave us a 15-point advantage today."
"We're going to keep doing our job to engage the students," Barbee said. "I appreciate and I love the support for the Western Michigan rivalry, but it's just as important to have the students out for Toledo, Buffalo, Ball State, Kent State, and Akron. The students have to know that they set the atmosphere, the students, the fraternities, the faculty, they are a part of this team. They are part of this program and they are just as important as my starting point guard and starting center. Just as I expect those players to show up every game, I'm expecting the students to come out. If it takes the toilet paper to get the students to come out, we'll have toilet paper every night."
"We've also got to do our job in performance to make the crowd want to come back every game. If that means we've got throw toilet paper every game. I will pay for the toilet paper supply out of our budget if it brings that type of crowd every game."
Central Michigan is next in action at Kent State on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
