Preview: Men's basketball entertains Kent State
Following two losses to Buffalo and Bowling Green, the Central Michigan men's basketball team scored a critical win over Ohio Feb. 16 in McGuirk Arena.
The 87-80 win over the Bobcats moved CMU to 17-8, 6-6 in the Mid-American Conference. The Chippewas are currently in second place two games behind Toledo in the MAC West Division with six games to play in the regular season.
To keep pace with the Rockets, CMU technically needs to win at least four of the six remaining games with a win over UT and another Rocket loss.
The first of those six games will be at 7 p.m. on Feb. 19 against Kent State (19-6, 8-4) at McGuirk Arena.
Senior guard Shawn Roundtree Jr. said the losses to the Bulls and Falcons took a lot out of them, but the win over Ohio set them back on the right track.
"It shows how resilient we are," Roundtree said. "Now we just have to stay consistent."
Roundtree has been consistent specifically in the last three games by scoring 20 or more points. He scored 26 points against UB, 20 against BGSU and 22 against Ohio.
His success comes from confidence and that comes from his teammates.
"They always tell me to keep shooting the ball," Roundtree said. "Even if I feel like I'm off just to stay aggressive."
KSU has won its last two games over Western Michigan Feb. 14 and Eastern Michigan Feb. 16. The Golden Flashes look for a MAC Michigan sweep with a win over the Chippewas.
Jaylin Walker has been on a scoring roll for Kent State. The senior guard from Inkster averages 22.2 points per game and shoots 40 percent from the floor and from beyond the arc.
Walker also is the second leading rebounder on the team with 5.2 boards per game and will be a high priority for the Chippewas.
Head coach Keno Davis said that the game plan will center around Walker, and CMU will need the same effort that they did against Ohio to find success.
"Everyone knows in the conference that (Walker) can put up 30 on a bad night," Davis said. "It starts with him and we'll try to be prepared in a short turn around."
Guard play will be the center stage as the Chippewas look to upend the Golden Flashes. Senior Larry Austin Jr. and Roundtree need to shut down the Kent State duo of Walker and fellow senior guard Jalen Avery.
Avery comes into this contest scoring 11.9 points per game on 35 percent shooting while Austin scores a team-leading 17.1 points per game on 49 percent shooting.
