Photo Gallery |
Buy Photos HereANN ARBOR, Mich. – Junior
Reveal Chukwujekwu led all with a game-high 10 rebounds, but the HBU men's basketball team was unable to keep pace with Michigan in an 82-57 decision on Saturday afternoon inside Crisler Center.
Chukwujekwu pulled down one offensive board and crashed the glass for nine on the defensive end for the Huskies (2-6) to tie his season-high. The native of Houston, Texas, also added five points and two assists.
Senior
Anthony Odunsi led HBU in scoring against the Wolverines (6-2), recording 15 points, while sophomore
Josh Ibarra followed with 10 second-half points. Odunsi finished 6-for-10 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line, extending his consecutive shots made at the charity stripe to his last 15 attempts. Ibarra finished 4-for-9 from the floor with two additional hits from the line.
Senior
Jourdan Stickler and freshman
Asa Cantwell each netted nine points, respectfully. Stickler sunk four shots from the field, including one splash from deep. Cantwell turned in a 3-for-3 showing from beyond the arc for the Huskies.
HBU shot 43.1 percent (22-51) from the field, 62.5 percent (5-8) from deep and 72.7 percent (8-11) from the stripe.
Michigan scored the first 11 points of the game and held the Huskies without a basket until Stickler hit a jumper at the 16:25 mark.
With 9:33 to go before the break, HBU found itself down 21-8 before putting together a strong run. The Huskies got consecutive 3-pointers from Cantwell,
Alex Fountain and
Caleb Crayton, and after a 3-poiner from the Wolverines, the team used a 7-0 surge to come within one basket at 26-24. However, Michigan countered with two quick 3-pointers and a layup to go back up by 10, eventually taking a 37-28 advantage into halftime.
The Wolverines came out strong in the second half, opening on a 21-6 run to force a timeout by HBU with 11:23 remaining. The Huskies were unable to get back within striking distance the rest of the way, as Michigan claimed the 82-57 final.
HBU will now return home for two games inside Sharp Gym. The Huskies will host Arlington Baptist on Saturday, Dec. 12, before welcoming UC Riverside to Houston on December 15. Both contests will tip at 7 p.m.
Postgame Quotes – Head Coach Ron Cottrell
Opening comments…"I thought early on we were getting the shots we wanted. We got several at the rim just by running our offense. We were able to run the things we wanted and took the shots we needed to get off to a good start, but they just weren't going down. It led to us struggling early, but Jourdan (Stickler) got us going with a few shots that gave us some confidence and we were finally able to settle in. We started guarding a lot better on the defensive end.
"They are a hard matchup with their length and athleticism, but our guys did a good job and we were able to cut it to two before a timeout. Then, they hit a couple of 3-pointers to make it a 10-point game, but we were able to make another little run to head into the lockerroom feeling like we could compete. The second half was a tough stretch there for a little bit, but we were still getting stops and scoring. We just weren't able to score at the rate we needed to."
On impact of Michigan's size…"They're just a tough team, because they are so long. You have to run your stuff offensively exactly the way you draw it up and not deviate until you see you have exactly what you're looking for. If you try to break off plays, they got the long arms that are able to disrupt you. We had a few times when Reveal (Chukwujekwu) and Anthony (Odunsi) would get to the rim and Michigan's guys were able to get just enough on it to keep it from going in."
On team's performance…"I was proud of our guys and the way they competed. There were a few times where they could've gotten down a little bit, but I thought we defended as hard as we could throughout the entire game. On the offensive, they competed there too. There was just some struggles against a very good opponent."
