Chippewas Douse Flames, 67-48

MOUNT PLEASANT - Robbie Harman hit six three-pointers and finished with 20 points leading the Central Michigan men's basketball team over UIC, 67-48, Wednesday night at Rose Center.

Robbie Harman hit five treys in the first half and added a pair of free throws to lead all players with 17 points at the break.

"Robbie has done a nice job of running the show, but at the same time getting his shots off the flow of the offense," head coach Ernie Zeigler said. "He's not hunting shots, he's letting them come to him and he's in a pretty good zone right now."

The Chippewas held the Flames without a two-point field goal in the first half, giving up just five threes and seven made free throws to take a 39-22 lead into halftime. CMU hit 50 percent of its attempts compared to just 23 percent for UIC. Nine three-pointers for the Chippewas fueled the offense, led by Harman's five and Jordan Bitzer's 3-for-3 effort.

"We were working to deny catches after struggling at that on Saturday," Zeigler said. "We stepped up to the challenge, and we did an excellent job today. We also made some improvements on cutting down on the fouls inside. We took a good step today, but now we have to maintain and sustain that effort."

Jalin Thomas finished with 16 points and eight boards, and Chris Kellermann grabbed a game-high 12 boards off the bench.

"Jalin's effort so far is very refreshing," Zeigler said. "The nonconference games are about seeing how the newcomers embrace what we're teaching and finding their niche in the rotation. As we get closer to conference play, those things will be important in finding our rotation."

Robo Kreps led the Flames with 12 points.

Central Michigan outrebounded UIC, 47-29, and finished at 42 percent from the floor. The Chippewas also connected at 44 percent from the arc. UIC finished at just 27 percent from the field and 31 percent from long range.

The Chippewas led by as many as 23 in the second half, thanks to a lay-in by Kellermann with 4:02 left.

"Hopefully winning these last two home games will give us some momentum, because we have a tough three-game road stretch coming up," Zeigler said.

The Maroon and Gold will take their first road trip of the season this weekend, when it travels to New Jersey to face Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday.