Central Michigan opens conference play against Miami (Ohio)
Plenty of intrigue surrounds the Central Michigan men's basketball team as it heads into Mid-American Conference play.
Likewise, there are plenty of questions around the Chippewas (7-6).
CMU enters MAC play coming off four straight road games against teams that have made the NCAA Tournament in recent years. The Chippewas fell in each of those games against Valparaiso, Texas, Robert Morris and Purdue.
The team's other two losses also came on the road -- Nov. 21 at Minnesota and Nov. 26 against DePaul.
In the games against the Blue Demons and Longhorns, the Chippewas led at halftime -- 18 against DePaul and nine against Texas -- before letting those leads slip away and ultimately falling by double digits on each occasion.
Each of Central's home games resulted in wins and have it a game over .500 heading into conference play.
Following the loss to Purdue on Dec. 28, coach Keno Davis said he was happy with the experience his team was able to take away from the nonconference slate.
Davis also said he thought the games, especially the ones on the road, have prepared the Chippewas for well for MAC play.
"We've gotten good experience with the road games," Davis said. "It's good in-game experience for us, we're trying to be a better team on both the offensive end to make extra passes and share the ball and defensive end to be sound with both our man and zone defenses."
CMU begins its conference season at 2 p.m. Saturday in McGuirk Arena against Miami (Ohio). It will also mark the team's first game at home since defeating Tennessee-Martin on Dec. 6.
Looking at the entire conference, Davis said after the Purdue game he had not been able to scout opponents much outside of scoreboard watching. No matter the case, Davis said he is excited to open the MAC season and confident in his team's chances to compete.
"I think there's not a team we can't match up with and play with," Davis said. "It'll be good to start the conference season and know each game really matters for the seeding in the conference tournament."
Coming into Saturday's game, the RedHawks are also 7-6 on the season but have lost two of their home games and hold a 1-2 record on the road. The team played three games in the Gulf Coast Showcase, finishing with a win and a pair of losses.
As a team, Miami scores 75.7 points per game while allowing just 69.9 per contest. The RedHawks shoot the ball relatively well at 43% from the field and 32% from 3-point range.
Miami moves the ball well and does not make a lot of mistakes as it turns the ball over 11.6 times per game, which ranks third in the conference behind Bowling Green (10.9) and Western Michigan (11.5).
Nike Sibande and Dalonte Brown both average double-digit points per game with 14.0 and 12.7, respectively. Brown also is one of the team's better long-range shooters as he shoots 37% from beyond the arc.
In terms of rebounding, the RedHawks average 37.8 boards per game while opponents average 37.9 in each contest. Brown averages the most rebounds per game with 6.4 as the team distributes the wealth, so to speak, on the boards.
Miami does not take many chances defensively as it only has 69 team steals on the year. For comparison, Central Michigan has 129 so far this season, which is tied for No. 19 in the nation.
Davis has said the conference is always competitive and it is tough to know who will ultimately cut the nets down in Cleveland, Ohio when March rolls around.
After the Purdue game, senior forward David DiLeo had a similar thought to the coach he has played for since he was a freshman.
DiLeo said he wants to see his team continue to improve as the season goes on.
"We know each and every night in the MAC is a dogfight," DiLeo said. "We'll just continue to work hard and improve and hopefully we'll be playing our best ball in March."
