Men's basketball hopes high-energy play carries over into clash with Chicago State
Weeks before the start of the 2018-19 season, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team emphasized high energy.
The Chippewas showed that change in the first four minutes of the first game of the new season.
CMU opened the game with a pair of electrifying dunks from transfer guard Larry Austin Jr. and junior guard Kevin McKay that led to a 6-0 run and a Concordia timeout.
They didn’t stop there. They extended the run to 14-0 before the Cardinals could manage a single bucket. The crowd was into it, players were vocal and they rode it out to a 98-67 victory.
“I feel like we gave everyone a pretty good show tonight,” McKay said following a game-high 23 points. “The fans seemed excited to see us and I hope we can keep it up.”
Austin’s steal and slam to open the game got things going, but he continued to score six more points in the first four minutes. He was slapping the floor attempting to give the team more energy and fed off the crowd.
For his first game at McGuirk Arena, Austin said it felt great.
“I pride myself on defense and I felt like that led to more energy tonight,” Austin said. “It gets us started.”
CMU never led by less than 10 points after the 14-0 run. They forced 20 turnovers from Concordia and made them go 3-of-22 (13.6 percent) from beyond the arc. They played full court defense throughout the game leading to multiple steals and easy points.
However, it wasn’t just the starting five causing this defense. The Chippewas rotated in 14 players with nine of them getting 10 minutes of game time or more.
Head coach Keno Davis said we could see a full court press more throughout the season but it will be more common when the bench players become more acclimated to the system.
“I’d love to be able to change the tempo and get full court pressure where we would get steals and still improve our drop-back defense,” Davis said. “It allows us to create opportunities against teams that don’t handle it well.”
The Chippewas will continue in the Junkanoo Jam on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. against Chicago State in McGuirk Arena.
The Cougars traveled to Bloomington, IN for a matchup with the Hoosiers in the season opener which they dropped 104-55. Senior guards Anthony Harris (14) and Delshon Strickland (11) led the team in scoring.
Last season CSU went 3-29 overall and 1-13 in the Western Athletic Conference. They were 0-16 on the road.
McKay said he wants to see the Chippewas work on their transition defense this week at practice.
“(Concordia) was able to get some fast-break points and we could do a better job rebounding while sharing the ball more,” McKay said.
Following an atmosphere like game one, Davis hopes the team can continue to produce at a high-energy level.
“I think it was a good sign of what is to come from our team with the speed we have defensively,” Davis said. “I’m looking forward to seeing more strides of learning continue.”
