A marquee matchup: Toledo visits McGuirk Arena for showdown with men's basketball
David DiLeo stood outside of his locker room taking questions following the Central Michigan men's basketball team's 77-66 win over Eastern Michigan on Feb. 26 at the Convocation Center.
The third-year forward wiped away sweat which was dripping down to the floor from his brow, following his 18-point performance, 15 of which came on five triples. He leaned in to take one final question before starting his 140-mile quest down US-127 North to Mount Pleasant.
What's different about this team compared to the one's you've been on in the past?
He grinned with a look of relief.
"Coach keeps saying to us, some teams have a disappointing loss and at practice the next day you get really focused, we're focused everyday," DiLeo said. "We don't get too high or too low with wins or losses, we're just always ready to compete even if we get down.
"After this win, we will be ready for Saturday"
For the first time since the Iowa City, Iowa native arrived on campus prior to the 2016-17 campaign, Saturday has a chance to give his team full control of at least a share of a Mid-American Conference West Division title in March.
Right now, the next game has everything at stake.
The Chippewas (20-8, 9-6 MAC) welcome Toledo (22-6, 10-5) for a MAC West showdown at 4:30 p.m. on March 2 to McGuirk Arena. If the Rockets are victorious, they will clinch the MAC West championship outright. If CMU wins, they will be tied for first place with two games remaining for both squads.
For the first time since the 2015-16 season, CMU head coach Keno Davis has a shot at the MAC West regular season crown. It's safe to say this game means a little more.
"Everyone was picking us last but I felt like we had a team that could compete at the top like in past seasons," Davis quipped. "It's nice to be able to prove some of the preseason predictions wrong, but it will be even nicer to finish out the season strong."
Outside of Saturday's battle with UT, the Chippewas have a home game with Northern Illinois (13-15, 6-9) on March 5 and round out the regular season with a road trip to Kalamazoo against Western Michigan (8-20, 2-13). The Rockets will finish up with the other two Michigan MAC schools in WMU and Eastern Michigan (13-15, 7-8).
UT currently holds the tiebreaker over CMU following its 76-72 victory on Jan. 26 in Ohio. The two teams both tallied 42 points in the second half but the Rockets 34-30 halftime lead proved to be enough for the win which is now essential to this race.
It was after that contest that CMU had dropped three consecutive games and it appeared its season was beginning to plummet. Following a pair of wins against EMU and WMU, the Chippewas would go on a road trip to take on the MAC East Division leaders — Buffalo and Bowling Green.
CMU would build two large first half leads including a 21-point advantage over the Bulls, but the end result was the same in both — a loss the team felt they gave away. The margin for error grew very slim for CMU's league title hopes. UT held a three-game lead over CMU with seven games remaining.
This is where DiLeo's point of this team being focused comes into play. Instead of backing down, the Chippewas have showed enough "grit" as they call it to grind out four consecutive victories since those losses.
The Rockets, meanwhile, fell to UB and EMU which made the window for CMU's title chances go from cracked to nearly wide open.
UT has bounced back from those losses with a pair of wins. The Rockets continue to do so with defense, a staple of Tod Kowalczyk's group this year. They are second in the MAC by holding opponents to 68.4 points per game. The Chippewas will counter with Davis' second ranked scoring offense in the league at 83 points per game.
While one of CMU's top-10 scorers in the MAC — senior guard Larry Austin Jr. at sixth with 16.7 points per game — will be active, it is unclear if its other in senior Shawn Roundtree Jr. (ninth, 16 points per game) will be.
The Edwardsville native suffered a head injury against Ball State on Feb. 23 and did not play on Feb. 26 against EMU. CMU started junior guard Dallas Morgan in his place who scored 12 key points in the victory.
Austin quietly nearly added a triple-double with nine points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. For himself and Roundtree, the matchup with UT will also be Senior Day.
Both players transferred here for a shot to get significant playing time at the Division I level and to lead a program for the goal of a MAC title they've had since the 2018-19 season started. This weekend, they have a chance to make a major jump in that area.
"It's a big game for a lot of different reasons, with it being senior night and because (UT) beat us at their place," Austin said. "We have to come out with a lot of energy from start to finish.
"We've worked all year for one like this."
