Men's basketball team battles for first place in MAC West
The CMU men’s basketball team should have a familiar feeling when it plays Ball State at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind.
The Chippewas and Cardinals will battle for the Mid-American Conference West Division lead, much like the scenario from last year, where CMU came into the matchup 5-7 in the MAC and Ball State 6-6.
“It’s going to be a huge game,” said coach Ernie Zeigler. “I think each one of these divisional games are going to be huge for all of us ... everyone that’s fighting to try to put themselves in a position to win the division.”
Ball State won the game 53-44 last year, and the two teams tied at the end of the season with Western Michigan for a share of the MAC West title.
“Hopefully, for us, we can have a different outcome for ourselves (this year),” Zeigler said. The teams — each with a 7-5 conference record — are tied for the final bye spot in the MAC Tournament, along with Buffalo.
CMU won the first matchup of the season, defeating BSU 53-38 on Jan. 13 at Rose Arena. The Chippewas held the Cardinals to 24.4 percent shooting and allowed the lowest point total CMU has given up in conference play since joining the MAC in 1972.
Seniors Jordan Bitzer, Robbie Harman and Chris Kellermann all finished with double-digit points, scoring 12, 12 and 14 respectively.
However, the Cardinals have improved since that game. They are 5-2 in their last seven and have gained two games on CMU during that stretch.
“We got them here at home,” Harman said. “We played pretty well that game ... We just need to play our game and not play to them.”
BSU has been led by a balanced attack in conference play. It has four players averaging 9.7 points per game or more.
“It’s going to be huge test for us to go in there and try to impose our will and do the things that we want to do defensively,” Zeigler said.
Scorers
Leading BSU in scoring through conference play is sophomore guard Randy Davis (5-foot-11), who averages 11.2 points per game. Sophomore forward Jarrod Jones (6-foot-9) averages 10.6 and freshman guard Jauwan Scaife (6-foot-2) and senior forward Terrence Watson (6-foot-5) average 9.7 each.
Ball State (13-11, 7-5 MAC) beat Northern Illinois 71-66 Saturday in DeKalb, Ill., avenging a loss from earlier in the season.
CMU (12-12, 7-5 MAC) comes off a 63-46 win against Toledo Sunday at Rose Arena — CMU held UT to 35.7 percent shooting — that snapped a three-game losing streak.
