Central Michigan University Athletics
Men's Basketball Faces BGSU
1/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2001
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Central Michigan University
Chippewas
(6-3, 0-0 Mid-American)
Head Coach Jay Smith
CMU Record 27-63/4th
Career Record 50-69/5th
versus
Bowling Green State University
Falcons
(5-5, 1-0 Mid-American)
Head Coach Dan Dakich
BGSU Record 55-39/4th
Career Record 55-39/4th
THE GAME: The Chippewas open the MAC season on the road looking to build upon their non-conference success. CMU heads into MAC play with a winning record for the first time since 1991-92.
In fact, its 6-3 record is the best non-conference winning percentage (.667) since the 1980-81 team went 7-3 out of conference.
Central faces a tough task to open the MAC season. CMU begins with two straight road games and five of the first seven are away from Rose Arena. After CMU's first two games, the Chippewas face a four games in eight days stretch.
Playing on the road has been a problem for CMU in the past but the Chippewas are 2-2 in road contests this season. Central Michigan has only won eight road games under head coach Jay Smith with only two of them coming in MAC play. Central won two MAC road games during the 1998-99 season -- 63-62 at Northern Illinois and 79-70 at Buffalo. The Chippewas also won at Akron in the first round of the MAC tournament last season, 75-73.
Central's road record doesn't fare well today with Bowling Green's 20-game home court winning streak, the fifth longest in the nation.
CMU is the only MAC team who has not played a conference game yet this season.
It has been two weeks since CMU last played. Central defeated Tri-State, 92-62, on Thursday, Dec. 21.
THE SERIES: Bowling Green leads the all-time series, 31-23, with the Falcons winning the last four meetings. Bowling Green captured a narrow, 77-74, win in Mount Pleasant last season. Central Michigan has not won in Anderson Arena since posting a 56-55 win during the 1988-89 season, a string of nine straight losses.
THE LAST MEETING: Bowling Green won a close one in Mount Pleasant last season, 77-74, on Jan. 17.
Central Michigan led by one with 53 seconds left but Anthony Stacey hit a three-pointer to give the Falcons a two-point edge. Stacey and Graham Bunn sealed the BG win when each split two attempts from the free throw line.
CMU led by four points with two and a half minutes remaining but Central only managed one point the remainder of the game.
David Webber scored a game-high 22 points with three other Chippewas scoring in double figures -- Dan Schell 15 and Chad Pleiness and Todd Schrotenboer 11 each.
Five Falcons scored in double digits with Keith McLeod posting a team-high 17.
TRI-STATE RECAP: CMU rolled to a 92-62 win over visiting Tri-State on Dec. 21 in Mount Pleasant.
A balanced attack of four Chippewas scoring in double figures led CMU to the win. David Webber had a team-high 20 points, five assists and four rebounds. Chris Kaman came off the bench to add 12 points and six boards. Freshman center Gerrit Brigitha had 11 points and Tim Kisner 10 points and five assists.
The Thunder trimmed the lead to as few as 13 with 6:13 left in the game, but Webber went on a personal 9-0 run to put the game away.
CMU shot .660 from the floor in the game and outrebounded TSU, 40-20.
Tri-State's Chad LaCross scored a game-high 28 points while grabbing seven rebounds.
AT THE HELM: Head coach Jay Smith is in his fourth season at CMU. The Chippewas are 26-63 during Smith's tenure with a 12-42 MAC mark. Smith's teams are 18-23 at home and 8-40 on the road. The Chippewa mentor is assisted by Dave Grube (third season), Mark Montgomery (fourth season) and Jeff Smith (fourth season).
INJURY REPORT: Forward Mike Manciel has been slowed by a sprained ankle the past few days. It is the same foot he injured a year ago which forced him to redshirt the season. Manciel is still expected to play today.
SHARPSHOOTERS: Two of the nation's top free throw shooting teams are competing against each other today. According to ESPN.com, Central Michigan ranks 11th nationally in free throw shooting (.762) through Thursday's games. Bowling Green ranks 17th nationally and second in the MAC with a .752 mark. CMU's Chad Pleiness leads the conference individually with a .923 mark (24-for-26). In addition to free throws, the two teams are also the top two teams in the MAC in field goal percentage. BGSU leads the conference with a .506 mark and Central ranks No. 2 at .478.
OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE: Today's meeting pits the MAC's most potent offense against one of the better defenses. Bowling Green leads the conference in scoring (83.9), field goal percentage (.506) and three-point field goal percentage (.429). BGSU's field goal percentage of .839 ranks 11th nationally through Thursday's games according to ESPN.com. Central Michigan enters the game with the No. 3 defense in the MAC, allowing 66.2 points per game. CMU ranks second in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to a .408 shooting percentage.
SMITH HITS THE BIG FIVE-OH: Jay Smith picked up his 50th victory as a head coach versus Tri-State. He is in his fourth season at CMU after coaching for one year at Grand Valley State.
TAKING A DIP: After shooting their free throws at close to an 80 percent clip in the first seven games of the season, the Chippewas' free throw shooting percentage has taken a dip in the past two games. Central is shooting .762 from the stripe to lead the MAC and rank 11th nationally. CMU was 34-for-52 (.654) from the line in its last two games.
LEADING IT OFF: Central Michigan is 6-4 in its last 10 MAC openers. Central is 2-0 in MAC openers against Bowling Green during the stretch. CMU defeated the Falcons, 83-79, in Mount Pleasant to open the 1996-97 MAC campaign and 78-71 in Mount Pleasant in 1991-92. The Chippewas have lost two straight MAC openers after reeling off three straight wins.
MAC ACTION: Central Michigan is 179-288 all-time in MAC play for a winning percentage of .383. The Chippewas are 12-42 in MAC play under Jay Smith. CMU has not had a winning record in conference action since the 1987-88 season when it went 10-6 in the MAC and finished second.
WINS = LAST SEASON: CMU's six wins this season already matches the win total from all of last season. The Chippewas have only had one double digit win season in the last eight years -- 10-16 in 1998-99.
MAC POLL REVISITED: The Chippewas were picked to finish third in the West Division according to the MAC News Media Association preseason poll. Central was picked anywhere from second to sixth by other national publications. Guard David Webber was a preseason All-MAC selection. Marshall and Toledo were the division favorites.
20-20 VISION: David Webber leads the team in scoring with 17.2 points per game. He scored 20 in Central's last game against Tri-State for his fourth 20-point game this season and the 20th of his career. He has hit 13 three-pointers this season and needs four more threes to reach 100 for his career. Webber needs 62 points to reach the 1,000-career point plateau. He has been held to single digits only twice this season, in back-to-back games against Illinois State and Loyola-Chicago. He's also averaging 4.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
COMING ON STRONG: Freshman Chis Kaman is starting to put everything together for the Chippewas. He's averaging 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks over CMU's last three games. His season averages are 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game while coming off the bench in all nine contests. He's shooting .760 (19-for-25) from the floor in the last three games and .604 on the season. After posting a double-double in each of the exhibition games this season, Kaman has yet to hit double figures in the rebounding department. He's pulled down nine boards on two occasions.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: Forward Mike Manciel leads the team in rebounding with 5.2 caroms per game. He's also averaging 11.3 points per game, but has been held to single digits in two straight games against Detroit and Tri-State. Manciel was also held under 10 points one other time this season. During his MAC "Freshman of the Year" campaign two seasons ago, Manciel was held to single digits only twice all season. The forward has hit a team-high 14 three-pointers this season.
MAC FREE THROW LEADER: Sophomore Chad Pleiness did not start against Tri-State to mark the first time this season CMU has used a different starting lineup. Senior Todd Schrotenboer got the nod in place of the sophomore. Pleiness is averaging 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He is the MAC's leading free throw shooter with a .923 mark (24-for-26). One of his misses came at Purdue and the other at Drake. Pleiness has scored eight points in each of the last two games after reeling off two straight double figure games.
ON POINT: Guard Tim Kisner continues to pen his name in the Chippewa record books. The senior is tied for third in career three-pointers made with 130. He also ranks fifth in career assists (348) and needs 16 more steals to add his name to that category. Kisner is averaging 7.7 points and 4.8 assists per game. He needs 131 more points to add his name to CMU's list of 1,000 point scorers.
FROSH STARTER: Freshman center Gerrit Brigitha has started all of CMU's games this season and is averaging 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Brigitha had 11 points and four boards against Tri-State to mark his fourth double figure game this season. He had a season-high 20 in the loss to Illinois State. He's shooting .581 from the floor.
CAREER FIRSTS: Freshman Adam Dentlinger recorded the first points of his career against Tri-State. He was 2-for-2 from the floor with four points and a block.
SENIOR GETS START: Todd Schrotenboer got the 11th start of his career and his first of the season against Tri-State. He's averaging 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Schrotenboer has been in double figures once this season when he scored 11 points, including the game-winning layup to beat Purdue.
UP NEXT: Central Michigan travels to Oxford, Ohio, to take on former CMU head coach Charlie Coles on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Tipoff in Millett Hall is 7 p.m.
The RedHawks are coming off a 76-62 road loss at West Division favorite Toledo on Wednesday. Miami hosts East Division favorite Marshall this afternoon.
Alex Shorts leads the team with 13.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. Jason Grunkemeyer adds 10.2 points and 3.4 boards per contest.
WHITE LEAVES PROGRAM: Freshman walk-on Andrew White (South Bend, Ind.) left the CMU basketball program following the holiday break. He was redshirting the season.
TWO TO SIT OUT SEASON: Freshmen Tony Bowne (rhymes with down) and Tom Pantlind will redshirt this season. The two true freshmen will still have four seasons of eligibility remaining. Bowne is a scholarship player while Pantlind is a walk-on.
ROSTER ADDITION: Freshman Dan Quinn (Grand Rapids/Catholic Central HS) has made the squad as a walk-on. The 6-5, 240-pound forward will wear No. 55.
CMU SIGNS RECRUIT, ANNOUNCES TRANSFER: Jay Smith announced the signing of 6-3 guard Herb Goliday Jr. (Ferndale/Ferndale HS) to a national letter-of-intent during the early signing period and the transfer of Whitney Robinson (Detroit/Notre Dame HS) from Eastern Kentucky University.
"We're pleased with the addition of these two young men to our program," Smith said. "They are both exciting players to watch."
Goliday averaged 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists during his junior season at Ferndale High School. He was a first team All-Oakland County, all-metro and all-suburban pick. The standout also earned honorable mention all-state honors.
"Herb is a tremendous young man," Smith said. "He's a scorer and a gifted athlete. Herb will have a bright future in our program."
Robinson is sitting out the 2000-01 season because of transfer requirements but will have junior eligibility for the 2001-02 season.
"We originally recruited Whitney coming out of high school and we are fortunate to have him back in the state," Smith said. "He will be a tremendous asset with his wealth of experience. He's a force on both ends of the floor."
Robinson was an AAU teammate of current Chippewas David Webber and Mike Manciel. He was a high school teammate of current All-MAC forward, Greg Stempin of Toledo.
Robinson averaged 17.8 points as a freshman and 11.7 as a sophomore at EKU. Robinson was an honorable mention All-Ohio Valley Conference selection in 1998-99 and was named to the all-newcomer team. He was third in the conference in scoring and three-pointers made that season, in addition to being the nation's fifth-leading freshman scorer.
