Instant Analysis: What we learned during Central Michigan men's basketball's defeat of Howard
Senior guard Chris Fowler and the Chippewa basketball team attempts to grab a rebound against Howard during the game on Dec. 22, 2015 in McGuirk Arena. CMU defeated Howard 72-52.
The Central Michigan men's basketball team defeated Howard University 72-52 on Tuesday night at McGuirk Arena. The victory improved the Chippewas to 6-5 overall and kept the team's home unbeaten streak in tact.
If you didn't catch the game, here is what you missed:
1. Chris Fowler is healthy
CMU's senior point guard and all-around best player was on the court for a productive 30 minutes during which he scored 11 points and dished out four assists to his teammates.
Fowler missed the first seven games with an undisclosed injury, and Head Coach Keno Davis has been somewhat conservative with Fowler's playing time since his return.
On Tuesday, Fowler moved along the baseline well, seemed confident in his stride and created scoring opportunities for other CMU shooters with his aggressive pursuit of the basket.
2. Defense improves
The Chippewas have played solid defense during the first half of most of their games this season, but their effort has tapered down the stretch on more than one occasion.
With CMU's outside shooters keeping the pressure on one end of the floor against Howard, forwards John Simons and DaRohn Scott kept the Bison from establishing enough offensive rhythm to take the lead for any significant slice of time.
Howard's James Daniel, who entered Tuesday's game as the NCAA leading scorer (29.3 points per game average) was held to a season-low 19 points.
3. Luke Meyer shines again
Davis put Meyer in several pressure-cooker situations during key moments in last year's Mid-American Conference Championship run, and the experience is coming in handy a year later.
Meyer scored 14 points, hauled in 13 rebounds and blocked a couple of shots during his 23 minutes on the court against Howard. The sophomore has shown he could be in the conversation for the MAC's best big man sooner rather than later.
If Meyer keeps his defensive prowess this intense and CMU can get him the ball in the low post, he could a major reason the Chippewas will be playing well into March.
