Men’s basketball blows away Ball State, keeps home-court playoff hopes alive
Sophomore guard Kevin McKay prepares to shoot a basket on Feb. 27 at McGuirk Arena.
In the second-to-last game of the season, the Central Michigan men’s basketball earned a statement 24-point win over Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State to keep its home-court playoff hopes alive.
The Chippewas (17-13, 6-11 MAC) defeated the Cardinals (19-11, 10-7 MAC), 75-51, on Feb. 27 at McGurik Arena.
“We aren’t a finished product,” said CMU head coach Keno Davis. “It gets tiring to talk about how much you’ve improved when you don’t see it on the scoreboard. We were able to find a way to win tonight.”
CMU was led by sophomore guard Kevin McKay, who poured in 23 points and seven rebounds in the winning effort.
“Every game we try to be as energetic as possible,” McKay said. “When you’re hitting shots, it makes it a lot easier. It showed tonight.”
On CMU’s opening possession, senior forward Luke Meyer hit a 3-pointer to take a 3-2 lead just 52 seconds into the game.
Sophomore forward David DiLeo dropped back-to-back triples to help CMU start 4-of-4 from 3-point range. The barrage of 3-pointers forced Ball State head coach James Whitford call a timeout with a five-point deficit.
“In warmups, I was feeling good,” DiLeo said. “They left me in transition even though I was a little deep, so I let it go. Once I saw that go down, I had all the confidence in the world in my shot.”
Ball State freshman forward Zach Gunn made his first field goal on a corner 3-pointer, trimming the deficit to 29-25, with 3:35 to go before halftime. Moments later, Ishmael El-Amin bagged a triple of his own, cutting CMU’s lead to one point.
As time expired in the first half, Meyer missed a jumper to send both teams to the locker room. At the break, CMU held a 33-30 lead over the Cardinals. DiLeo had 12 points at halftime on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
“We were just playing a lot of good defense,” McKay said. “They were missing some wide open shots they normally make, but we were just pressuring them to make bad decisions.”
CMU junior guard Shawn Roundtree Jr. opened the second half with an and-one. He converted on the free throw, giving his team a 36-30 lead.
The Chippewas jumped out to an 8-0 run in the second half, taking a 41-30 lead three minutes in. Ball State junior center Trey Moses stopped the bleeding on a free throw with 16:45 remaining in the game.
With 13:51 left in the game, sophomore guard Kevin McKay received an entry pass from junior guard Gavin Peppers, drew a foul and scored. McKay finished the old fashion 3-point play at the charity stripe to give CMU a 50-36 edge.
“Kevin McKay has seen it this year,” Davis said. “Sometimes they guard him with their center, but you can’t guard him that way. I’m not sure how you guard him because a smaller guy can’t either.”
The Chippewas went up by 19 points halfway through the second half on a 3-pointer off the hand of Meyer at the top of the key.
CMU took a 64-43 lead on a 3-pointer from the left corner by senior guard Josh Kozinski with 7:16 to go in the game. McKay’s triple three minutes later gave the Chippewas a 71-47 edge.
DiLeo fed the ball to Kevin McKay on a back-door cut and he threw down a monster slam, giving CMU a 26-point lead with 2:07 left in the game.
The Chippewas continued to dominate until the final seconds of the game, earning a 75-51 win over the Cardinals.
“Ball State was predicted to win the conference,” Davis said. “People talked about them being a pick in the conference tournament. They are a very talented team, so we knew we would have our hands full defensively to match what they do.
“The energy we brought through 40 minutes was as good as its been in a while.”
CMU finishes out a two-game home stand against Western Michigan in the final regular season game of the season at 7 p.m. on March 2 at McGuirk Arena. Then, the MAC Tournament will be underway for the Chippewas.
“Unless you’re in the mix to win the regular season, everyone is talking about the MAC Tournament,” Davis said. “We want to cut those nets down.”
