Central Michigan University Athletics
Akron Presents Good Test for CMU Men
1/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes: Central Michigan | Akron
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Central Michigan is the defending Mid-American Conference regular-season men's basketball champion.
Akron has long been one of the league's premier programs.
The Chippewas and Zips will lock horns Tuesday (7 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena in an early season battle of the two teams picked to win their respective divisions - CMU the West, Akron the East.
Akron is 13-2, 2-0 MAC, comes in riding a 10-game win streak, and, at No. 11, is the highest-ranked MAC team in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. CMU is 8-7, 1-1, and coming off a 79-67 victory over Bowling Green.
That win over the Falcons was one the Chippewas sorely needed after dropping their MAC opener to Eastern Michigan 99-80.
"We know what we're capable of," said CMU junior guard Braylon Rayson, who scored 27 points to lead the Chippewas past Bowling Green. "We know we aren't as bad a defensive team as we were against Eastern Michigan. We understood that after the game. We were upset, we took it in, but we told each other, once 12 a.m. hit, let it go. We let it go.
"Bowling Green, we came out and we played defense. That's what's going to win us games this year. We know we're going to score, we know that."
Akron, which has put together 10 consecutive 20-win seasons, has won the last seven meetings with CMU, and 14 of the last 15. The Zips are always among the contenders for the MAC East title and the MAC Tournament championship.
It's the third game of an 18-game MAC regular-season slate. Still, it's an important one for CMU.
"I feel like it's a wakeup call," Rayson said. "We came in, preseason No. 1, all of that, because we won (the league) last year. And as we started losing you feel like everybody doubts you.
"I feel like now it's time to wake everybody up. It's our time to get back where we're supposed to be. It's our defense. If we can lock up and score the ball, we'll be a tough team to beat. We started slow, but we're coming. We're coming."
The Zips' MAC wins have come over defending league-tournament champ Buffalo, 75-71; and Western Michigan, 62-53. Among Akron's other notable victories was an 88-80 win at Arkansas.
They lost to No. 11 Villanova, 75-56. The Wildcats are now 14-2 and ranked sixth.
Akron ranks first in the MAC in 3-point field goal percentage (37.8 percent) and 3-pointers per game (11.1). CMU is fourth (36.6 percent) and second (10.7) in those two categories.
Defensively, the Zips are allowing 63.8 points per game, which ranks second in the league, and are holding teams to a MAC-best 24.1 percent rate from 3-point range.
"I think they look like one of the better teams in the country," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "When you talk about their size, their defense, they're top three, four in the country in shooting from outside.
"You're looking at a team that can compete with anybody. And yet as good as they are, we also know that in our conference that there's a lot of parity from top to bottom."
Six Zips average from nine to 12 points per game, and Akron features a pair of massive post players in 6-foot-11, 245-pound senior Pat Forsythe and Isaiah Johnson, a junior who is listed at 6-10 and 295.
Any number of Zips has proven himself capable from the outside, including 6-6 senior Reggie McAdams, 6-7 senior Jake Kretzer and sophomore guard Noah Robotham.
Last season, in an 82-76 victory over CMU, McAdams was 6-of-9 from 3-point range en route to a career-high 31 points.
"I feel like our program is getting closer to where Akron has been for a long time," Davis said. "I think the measuring stick won't be in one game, it'll be over the next few years.
"Are we able to have a consistent winning team, a consistently competitive team? Building our program to that is what drives us as coaches. The players aren't going to have that kind of longevity so they know that their opportunities are very few to challenge themselves against the top of the league. I know our guys are looking forward to it."
