Men’s basketball succumbs to DePaul shooting surge
Entering the game against the DePaul Blue Demons, the Central Michigan men’s basketball team had held its oppentents to 28.8% shooting from the 3-point line on the season. That figure was good for best in the Mid-American Conference and 10th in the nation, just ahead of Duke in that category.
That didn’t show in CMU’s matchup against the Blue Demons.
DePaul (16-15) shot 9-of-19 from deep on the way to a 100-86 victory that ended the season for the Chippewas (23-12) on March 20 at Wintrust Arena in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational.
“I don’t know that I saw us take a step backward on the defensive end,” head coach Keno Davis said. “I think moreso, at the 3-point line, you just have to credit DePaul for having the size and for being able to knock down contested shots.”
In particular, Davis’ team struggled to contain DePaul senior guard Max Strus, who erupted for 33 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Strus went 7-for-13 from beyond the arc to catalyze the Blue Demons’ offensive scoring barrage.
“He can get his own shot off, can shoot over you, and can do that with high percentages,” Davis said. “We gave our best effort to try to bother his shot, but that’s why he’s being considered as an NBA-level player.”
Through the opening 12:35 of the first half, DePaul trailed CMU by 12 points and had managed 21 points.
Over the course of the game’s final 27:25, the Blue Demons put on an offensive clinic, scoring 79 points and putting the ball in the basket seemingly at will.
In addition to the 47.4 percent clip from the 3-point line, DePaul was efficient in moving the ball inside and out to create quality shots. Far more often than not, the Chippewas fielded the ball from the bottom of the Blue Demons’ net to begin their offensive possession.
“When you have a team is able to extend you on the defensive end to the 3-point line and is able to go inside, that’ll give anybody a tough matchup when they’re playing at that level,” Davis said.
DePaul was 22-of-33 from the field in the second half.
Davis felt that DePaul’s efficency in scoring was not a result of lazy defense and failure to rotate; rather, the Blue Demons simply knocked down shot after shot over the outstretched arms of Chippewa defenders.
Despite being pleased by his team’s effort, Davis acknowledged that he was disappointed to see the season end with such uncharacteristic statistics on the defensive side.
“That game, especially the second half, was not at all representative of what our team was about,” Davis said.
