Central Michigan University
Little Rock
Chippewas Fall in Lone Star Finale
11/23/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
AUSTIN, Texas - Central Michigan men's basketball coach Keno Davis wasn't necessarily satisfied with his team's 1-2 finish in the Lone Star Showcase.
But as is typical of the fifth-year CMU coach, he took a long-term view of his team after it closed the event with a 91-79 loss to Little Rock on Wednesday night at H-E-B Center.
"When a team can be physical on the perimeter and inside, when they can make shots going to the basket, from mid-range, and the 3-point shot, that's how you get in the NCAA (Tournament) and we saw two of them on this trip," Davis said after the loss, which came on the heals of a 102-71 defeat on Tuesday to St. Bonaventure.
"St. Bonaventure and Little Rock, don't be shocked that they're going to be just as good as a lot of the high-major teams," said Davis, whose team opened the event with an 11-point victory over Pepperdine on Monday. "We had our hands full with both teams. We won't see teams better than that in our conference. We'll see some teams that are similar, but that's the top level and now we've got to try to get there ourselves."
More to the point, the Chippewas will look to bounce back when they play at Green Bay (3-2) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
"We knew that with our youth there were going to be tough nights," Davis said. "Now how are we going to be able to respond to it."
Marcus Keene continued the torrid start to his Central Michigan career, scoring 32 points to lead the Chippewas. It was the fourth time in six games this season that Keene has topped the 30-point mark.
He finished 10-for-21 from the floor and made all six of his free throw attempts.
Just one other Chippewa, however, scored in double figures. Freshman David DiLeo scored 11 points.
Jalen Jackson scored 24 points to lead four Trojans in double figures.
CMU won the rebounding battle, 35-34, and committed just eight turnovers to Little Rock's 14. But the Trojans made 66 percent of their field goal attempts while the Chippewas finished at 35.2 percent.
"When they shoot 66 percent and the game comes down to the last few minutes, you wonder how," Daivs said. "That's what we're talking about. We found a way to stay in the game. And when some of those numbers go against you it's just not going to be enough.
"You've got to be able to knock down shots, you've got to be able to get stops. I think we'll come out of this tournament feeling it was good for us. It exposed some weaknesses and now it's about getting to the practice court and trying to improve on those."
The game was tight throughout and the Chippewas trailed by just two points, 81-79, with under two minutes to play. Little Rock (4-2), which finished 30-5 last season and upset Purdue in its NCAA Tournament opener, closed the game with a 10-0 run.
