Dallas Morgan makes first career start, aids CMU to marquee win
Shawn Roundtree Jr. started all 27 games of the regular season coming into Central Michigan's matchup on Feb. 26 with Eastern Michigan.
He was forced to the sideline with a head injury. Junior guard Dallas Morgan had to take his place.
In the first half, Morgan was held to just three points and his team dug themselves a 35-25 deficit.
Roundtree, meanwhile, watched from the edge of his seat, looking like he wanted to jump out of his white-laced Adidas sneakers.
When asked if he said anything to Morgan, Roundtree shrugged his shoulders and smiled.
"I didn't have to say anything, he knows what's up," he said.
In the second half, Morgan made a difference. His team followed.
Morgan hit a jumper at the 8:57 mark of the second half to give CMU a 50-49 lead, its first since 3-2. He followed with a triple in transition on the next possession.
After that, the Chippewas kept scoring and the emotion was visible. They had EMU right where they wanted them. CMU (20-8, 9-6 Mid-American Conference) won 77-66 and set itself up for a chance at the MAC West Division lead against Toledo on March 2.
"I knew I had to play smart, things weren't really going my way to start this one," Morgan said. "Shawn came to me in the huddle during the second half and said stay confident.
"These guys helped me out, my teammates. They deserve all the credit."
CMU came out slow offensively. The Chippewas shot just over 34 percent in the first half but went 6-of-10 from beyond the arc to keep themselves in the game.
To open the second half, it was more of the same.
EMU had its lead to 12 points by 16:54 in the second half. The forward tandem of Elijah Minnie and James Thompson IV, looking like a pair of skyscrapers compared to CMU's big men, were having their way with a combined six blocks.
Then the Chippewas got scrappy and clenched their fists. CMU went on a 25-12 run led by a pair of junior forward David DiLeo triples and an abundance of junior guard Kevin McKay layups.
It got them within one point before Morgan had his moment.
The Peoria, Illinois native found a pass rocketed into his hands with the shot clock winding down. He sidestepped a defender launching past him trying to block his shot which was pure.
On the following possession, CMU ran down in transition and found Morgan behind the arc as he stepped into a 3-pointer.
All net.
"Like I've said before I have to be confident in myself and I work on my shot all the time for chances like this," Morgan said. "Larry (Austin) did a good job of finding me and I felt like those shots were going to fall."
From there, CMU outscored the Eagles 24-17 and earned its fourth-straight victory. McKay led CMU with a double-double scoring 23 points and adding 10 boards. Austin nearly had a triple-double with nine points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Morgan added 12 points, almost all of which were timely.
Austin said the message was clear in the locker room — playing with fire and beating your man.
"We were dead for the first half, didn't show energy," Austin said. "Defense is going to win us this game, we were down 10 and if we trade baskets were going to lose. We started to get stops in transition and they couldn't handle us."
CMU coach Keno Davis said he was proud of the way McKay and Austin attacked the basket and deflated the EMU zone defense in the second half.
However, he said the effort from Morgan didn't surprise him. Playing with unlimited range and confidence is just what he does.
"He's got quite the green light," Davis said. "He can put points up in a hurry and tonight that green light was not turning off."
