Keno Davis earns 100th CMU win in 101-60 victory
Central Michigan men's basketball coach Keno Davis walked into the post game press conference with his shirt in a darker shade of blue than it was designed to be.
“I promise this isn't sweat," he said. "They gave me a shower in the locker room."
In the Chippewas (2-0) 101-60 victory over Chicago State (0-3), Davis hit the century mark with his 100th win as the head coach in his sixth season with the program.
"The game-winning shots like Marcus Keene against Western (Michigan) is what the fans remember," Davis said. "I think about the times when I first got here when we were trying to do everything we could just to scrape away a win. It's enjoyable to be able to be here each and every day with the high character we have."
Davis has produced four consecutive seasons winning records. Overall, he has a 100-97 record with the Chippewas.
The victory over the Cougars was the second consecutive victory for the Chippewas by 20 points or more this season.
How it happened
With the game tied at 5-5 to start things off, sophomore guard Matt Beachler had a steal and score plus a 3-pointer that sparked a 14-0 run and produced a 19-5 CMU advantage.
Transfer guard Dallas Morgan got a steal and flipped the ball off the glass to fellow transfer guard Larry Austin Jr. for an alley-oop. He was called for a technical foul, but CMU lead 29-11 with less than 10 minutes to play in the half. Austin said the refs told him he slapped the glass after the dunk which he doesn't recall doing.
"I never slapped the glass after the dunk," Austin said. "I didn't hang on the rim or touch the backboard or anything like that."
After building a 61-32 halftime advantage, CMU picked up right where they left off in the second half.
Morgan and Austin both found buckets through traffic to help force a CSU timeout and extend CMU’s lead to 74-38 with 11 minutes remaining. For the second straight game, CMU didn’t have to look back after leading to start the game.
The story of CMU’s offense was its bench which totaled 52 points for the game (51.4 percent of the teams scoring). Leading that group was Beachler who totaled a career-high 16 points. Morgan had 10 points and transfer guard Romelo Burrell added 11 points. Austin led the team with 17 tallies and just missed a double-double with nine assists.
“We have a lot of good guards this year and they all look up when they run the floor and find you in transition," Beachler said. "It was a credit to those guys for finding me all night. It feels good."
CMU held CSU to 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from beyond the arc and forced 22 turnovers compared to just nine turnovers of their own.
The Chippewas will be back in action when they head to the Bimini, Bahamas at 6 p.m. on Nov. 15 against CSU Bakersfield in the Junkanoo Jam.
Game notes
- CMU shot over 45 percent (49.3 percent) from the field for the second consecutive game.
- 11 Chippewas scored and 10 of them played 10 minutes or more.
- CMU’s largest lead of the game was 43 points.
