Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Men Look to Bounce Back vs. Surprising Ball State
2/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (13-11, 6-5 MAC) vs. BALL STATE (15-9, 6-5 MAC)
Saturday, February 13 • 4:30 p.m. • McGuirk Arena
Game Notes: Central Michigan | Ball State
Watch: ESPN3
Listen: Central Michigan IMG Sports Network
Live Stats:
Twitter: @CMUMensBball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Home sweet home?
The Central Michigan men's basketball team certainly hopes so.
The Chippewas are coming off back-to-back Mid-American Conference road losses which have left them in a three-way tie atop the West Division with Ball State and Toledo.
CMU plays host to the Cardinals Saturday (4:30 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena, where the Chippewas are 11-1 this season and have won 27 of their last 29. The Chippewas are 13-11 overall, 6-5 league; Ball State is 15-9, 6-5.
In the overall MAC standings, CMU is in a four-way tie for fourth place. The top four teams, regardless of division, earn a trip to Cleveland for a spot in the quarterfinals. Any team finishing below the fourth spot must play an on-campus opening-round game in the tournament.
"As we hit the stretch drive, all of our games are very important because of seeding and our focus is of course the game in front of us," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "But in the back of our minds we know that winning games puts us in a better position to be able to have success in our conference tournament."
All seven of CMU's remaining games are against MAC West opponents, two each against Ball State, Toledo and Western Michigan, and one against Northern Illinois. CMU is 0-3 against West opponents this season.
"With all in-division games left we know each opportunity we have to make sure we take advantage of that and that means playing extremely hard and if we do that we'll feel pretty good about where we end up in the regular season," Davis said.
Ball State is putting together the kind of season that CMU did a year ago, coming out of nowhere to surprise. The Cardinals' win total (15) is more than the combined total of the past two years.
James Whitmore is in his third year as Ball State's coach. The Cardinals were a combined 12-48 in Whitmore's first two years, including 4-32 in the MAC.
The Cardinals, who were picked to finish last in the MAC West, hang their hat on defense, holding opponents to a MAC-best 66.2 points per game. They rank second in the league in 3-point percentage (.384), and 11th in scoring (70.2).
Three Cardinals - Franko House, Ryan Weber and Bo Calhoun - average in double figures, none at more than 12 points per game.
"We see a lot of Ball State in us," Davis said. "I think that both programs a couple years ago were at the bottom with young players and adding players and developing and working extremely hard and now you're seeing it pay off.
"We saw it last year for us and you're seeing it this year for them, a team that has a lot of similarities to us with their ability to shoot the basketball and yet they get the ball inside as well."
The Chippewas are looking to bounce back from a poor shooting performance in Tuesday's 71-56 loss at Eastern Michigan. CMU was held to a season-low 20 percent from 3-point range in losing for the second time this season to the Eagles.
"I think you have to try to understand that you can't let one loss affect you negatively the next night," Davis said. "You've got to make sure that you understand that you get another opportunity each game and for us these games are important.
"If we win them we can't get too high of where we are, and if we lose them we can't get too down. The goal is where we can finish in the post-season tournament at the end of the year and see if we can put ourselves in the best position possible for it."
