COLUMN: Chippewas will March on to NIT
The season will continue for Central Michigan University's men's basketball team despite losing in the first MAC Tournament Final appearance in 12 years.
An invitation to the National Invite Tournament is around the corner, since winning the conference in the regular season and being the number one seed in the tournament.
This team will have a very good chance to make a run in the postseason.
CMU is one of the best scoring teams in the nation and has been shooting threes on a consistent level all season giving defenses headaches.
The many ways in which CMU can score with its length inside and its shooting on the perimeter can develop some difficulties for teams looking to stop this high-powered Chippewa offense.
Junior guard Chris Fowler and junior forward John Simons will be key players on offense, whether it’s Simons sinking a three or Fowler driving to the basket or hitting a floater in the lane.
Defensively CMU has been improving. Eleven of the Chippewas’ last 15 opponents have been scored under 70 points.
Freshman forward Luke Meyer, junior forward Blake Hibbitts and freshman forward DaRohn Scott will be players to watch in the paint, whether it's grabbing an offensive rebound and creating extra chances or setting a physical tempo against the opponents big men.
CMU is a team built to score and for most teams, that can be a daunting task to slow down.
Coming into the NIT the Chippewas are averaging north of 78 points per game ranking 15th in the nation.
A serious run in the tournament can only be accomplished if the offense is rolling.
When the three-point shot isn’t falling, the Chippewas will have to find other ways to score by creating their own shots or drawing contact down low.
There is no reason to think CMU can’t maintain this level of success deep into March. Who knows. Maybe we will see the Chippewas playing at Madison Square Garden at the end of the month.
