Preview: Chippewas welcome Toledo looking to gain advantage in tournament seeding
Kevin McKay is fouled in Central Michigan's game against Miami (Ohio) on Jan. 4 in McGuirk Arena.
As it stands with five games remaining, Central Michigan would host Eastern Michigan in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
The matchup could drastically change in a hurry, however, as the teams in fourth and seventh place in the conference are separated by just two games.
Central Michigan (13-13, 6-7 MAC) welcomes in Toledo (13-14, 5-9 MAC) to McGuirk Arena looking to bolster its advantage over the Rockets in the overall conference standings to three games with three to play.
Currently, the Chippewas sit in seventh place and the Rockets ninth. With a win, the Chippewas can move one step closer to home-court advantage and keep their hopes of a first-round bye alive.
With a Chippewa loss, Toledo cuts the margin of separation down to just a single game. Ohio, which sits in eighth place, holds the tiebreaker over the Chippewas thanks to a 77-69 victory on Feb. 18.
A loss to Toledo also all but crushes the hopes for a first-round bye and also extends CMU's losing streak to six games.
Central Michigan took the first matchup between these two teams back on Jan. 14 behind 22 points from senior guard Dallas Morgan and holding the Rockets to 26 second-half points en route to a 74-67 victory.
The win was the first on the road for CMU.
The Rockets are led by guard Marreon Jackson, who averages 19.1 points per game, and center Luke Knapke who scores 15.7 points per game. Last time these teams met, Jackson scored 15 and Knapke had 14.
The Chippewas have seen consistent production from senior forward David DiLeo all season. The forward is averaging a team-high 14.8 points per game on 45-percent shooting. Senior guard Kevin McKay is second with 14.2 points per game, shooting at a 61-percent clip. McKay is also the team's leading rebounder with 6.8 boards per game.
To come out on top, the Chippewas will have to exploit the Rockets' struggles in transition. According to Synergy, a scouting service, Toledo ranks poor in transition defense and below average in transition offense.
However, the Rockets rank in the "good" category in half-court defense and rank within the "excellent" category in the half-court offense.
For comparison, the Chippewas rank good in transition defense and average in transition offense. Being able to take advantage of the opportunities in the fast break offensively and causing turnovers defensively will do wonders for the Chippewas' hopes.
