Three major storylines heading into men's basketball's MAC title matchup with Buffalo
Head Coach Keno Davis discusses the Central Michigan University men's basketball team's Mid-American Conference Tournament on March 13 at Quicken Loans Arena.
As narratives swirl and the stakes reach an all-season high, the Central Michigan University men's basketball team squares off with the University at Buffalo tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena in the 2015 Mid-American Conference Championship Game. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
CMU, the No. 1 seed, has been led by a high-scoring offense and conservative transition game. Meanwhile, the Bulls, the No. 2 seed, bring the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year Justin Moss and a seven-game win streak to the MAC title game.
Here are a few key storylines heading into tonight's showdown:
1. 2003:
Most Chippewas basketball fans remember that year. That was the last year CMU won the MAC Tournament Title and an clinched a NCAA Tournament berth. This year's CMU squad plays a very similar style to the one that team did.
CMU finished fourth in the nation that season in field goal percentage at 50.4 percent and was hitting shots from beyond the arc with consistency, ranking 17th in the country in 3-point field goal percentage at 39 percent.
The Chippewas will need to rekindle some of that shooting magic during the programs biggest game in 12 years.
2. Johns Simons vs. Justin Moss:
This is the matchup to watch tonight. Moss, the MAC Player of the Year, has been a driving force this season, averaging 17.9 points per game while grabbing 9.2 rebounds per game.
Simons, a Third Team All-MAC selection, will have his work cut out for him.
Moss is coming into tonight’s game with a right ankle injury. He sprained it Wednesday in practice. UB has other great players but everything revolves around what Moss does night-in-night-out.
If Simons can keep Moss under control defensively, that will go a long way in making it more difficult for the Bulls to pull out a win tonight.
3. The battle of the boards:
The Bulls are the best rebounding team in the conference averaging 38.5 rebounds per game. Many of those have led to second-chance scoring opportunities with players like senior Forward Xavier Ford and Moss capitalizing on those chances inside.
The CMU big men will have to maintain their intensity matching up down low with Ford and Moss.
Freshmen Luke Meyer and DeRohn Scott, junior Blake Hibbits along with Simons will be the players to look for when it comes to reducing UB’s extra offensive touches and follow up points.
