Second-half surge helps men's basketball defeat zone defense, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
A 2-3 zone defense from Arkansas-Pine Bluff was a new challenge for the Central Michigan men’s basketball team on Saturday.
Luckily for the Chippewas, they had Marcus Keene.
The junior guard, who entered the game leading the nation with 30.4 points per game, totaled a game-high 31 points as CMU (7-2) rolled to an 82-59 victory over the Golden Lions in McGuirk Arena.
Head Coach Keno Davis said he scheduled now 1-7 Pine Bluff because he felt his team needed to work on facing the zone defense when it enters Mid-American Conference play next month.
“It was nice for our guys to weather an early storm and to be able to execute down the stretch, both offensively and defensively to get a needed win," Davis said.
Keene was 9-of-16 from the field, including 8-of-14 from three. Keene’s eight 3-pointers tie him for fourth all-time in school history, tying former Chippewas John Simons (2015), Jeff Majerle (1989) and Tommie Johnson (1988).
“It’s good I’m now on a list of CMU now," Keene said. "I was just hitting (shots) and it was fine.”
The Golden Lions pounced on CMU early, starting the game off with a 9-0 run. Junior forward Cecil Williams scored the first five CMU points of the game. The Chippewas did not lead in the first 20 minutes.
After a 39-39 tie at halftime, the Chippewas outscored Pine Bluff 43-20 in the second half.
CMU notched its first lead of the game in the opening minutes of the second half. Junior forward Luke Meyer’s putback on an offensive rebound gave the Chippewas a 41-39 lead.
Keene followed with a 3-pointer and Rayson scored his first points of the game on a layup. Another three from Keene capped the 10-0 run, extending the lead to 49-39 with 16:39 remaining.
With a 53-44 lead, Keene dished an alley-oop layup to Meyer to extend the lead to 11 and earn cheers from the home crowd.
Meyer picked up his third personal foul which knocked Pine Bluff leading scorer Ghiavonni Robinson out of the game with an injury. Shortly after, Meyer blocked a layup from Kennedy McKinney and a jumper from Marcus Wallace. The Chippewas led 57-47 from that point and did not look back.
Keene scored 18 points in the second half, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.
“The zone was different for me because I wasn’t able to come off ball screens or do my one-on-one type of game," Keene said. "We were moving the ball and my teammates still found me. Braylon (Rayson) found me, (Kozinski) found me a couple of times so I was still able to get shots up and I was just hitting today again.”
Kozinski and Williams each finished with 11 points while freshman forward David DiLeo finished with 10, scoring five points in each half.
DiLeo and Williams were a combined 8-of-10 from the free-throw line playing the middle against Pine Bluff's 2-3 zone. In addition to his 11 points, Williams nearly tallied a double-double but finished with eight rebounds.
Davis said he thought Williams had an average game.
“I think Cecil, along with some of the freshman, seeing that zone and being in positions we haven’t been able to mimic in practice will only help those guys the next time," Davis said. "I think when Cecil sees the zone the next time, he’ll even do better.
CMU shot 42.4 percent from the field, including 39.5 percent from 3-point range. The Chippewas outrebounded Pine Bluff 40-37 and yielded a 77.3 percent clip from the free-throw line (17-of-22).
“I think the big positive for us coming off is not only were we able to knock down some shots but we were able to get to the free-throw line which is always important," Davis said. "You don’t want to just be the perimeter team. We’ve got to attack the basket, make sure our 3-pointers and our free throws are kind of leading the way and I think offensively that was a big sign today.”
The Golden Lions were led by Trent Steen, who finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Robinson tallied 11 points in 21 minutes of action.
CMU hosts Wisconsin-Green Bay at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The Chippewas defeated the Phoenix 89-77 on Nov. 26.
