Men's basketball can take second win against Ohio Saturday
Senior forward Luke Meyer blocks during the game on Jan. 30 at McGuirk Arena.
Central Michigan men's basketball will face a different Ohio team than they did to start Mid-American Conference play, head coach Keno Davis said.
“It’s almost like a different season,” Davis said. “It’s not like other times during the schedule when you play the same team within a week and a half. We’re probably a little different than we were then and so are other teams.”
The two teams will meet for the second time this season at 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 3 from the Convocation Center in Athens.
In the first meeting, the Chippewas ran away with a 75-50 home victory to start conference play.
The Chippewas went on a 15-0 run to start the second half to secure the win after being ahead at halftime.
The Bobcats can beat anyone when they are at their best, Davis said.
“They simply shoot the ball,” Davis said. “In the transition and in the half court (defense) we need to identify shooters. If we can defend the 3-point-line with them, we should be in good shape.”
Senior forward Luke Meyer, who’s coming off a 12-point night in a 81-67 win over Northern Illinois on Jan. 30, agreed with Davis' defensive strategy.
“We know how much they like to shoot the ball, but if we can take that away from them and clean up the boards we should be alright,” he said.
Ohio (9-12, 2-7 MAC) comes in with the worst conference and overall record in the conference. CMU (14-8, 3-6) is still at the bottom half of the MAC West Division standings — currently in a three-way tie for fourth place.
Transfer guard Shawn Roundtree said he is preparing for the Bobcats to be ready to defend its home court.
“We know they will be hungry for a win,” Roundtree said. “We have to be ready for anything they throw at us and if we play defense and rebound, everything else should take care of itself.”
Scouting Ohio
The two players who currently lead the Bobcats in scoring were the only two players to finish in double figures against CMU.
Freshman guard Teyvion Kirk totaled 13 points while adding seven rebounds against CMU and leads the Bobcats this season at 14.8 points per game. Senior guard Mike Laster dropped 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and is just behind Kirk with 14.6 points per contest.
The Bobcats are tied for ninth in the MAC in scoring offense at 73.1 points per game and are last in field goal percentage, shooting just 42.9 percent from the field.
Ohio ranks third in the MAC by allowing just a 33.7 percent conversion rate from three-point range. CMU has taken the most 3-pointers in the league.
