Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Miami (Oh)
Keene Dazzles, Chippewas Bounce Miami
1/21/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Add another chapter to the Marcus Keene legend.
Keene poured in an awe-inspiring 50 points Saturday in leading the Central Michigan men's basketball team to an emotional 101-92 Mid-American Conference victory over Miami (Ohio) before 2,708 at McGuirk Arena.
"This was big for me, for us as a team," said Keene, a 5-foot-9 junior guard who entered the game averaging an NCAA-leading 28.7 points per game. "To score 50 points in a college basketball game, that's anybody's dream who's a scorer and I accomplished it. It feels good."
Keene's performance -- it is the highest point total in an NCAA Division I game this season -- will rightfully garner plenty of national attention, but just as importantly, the victory, and how it played out, could prove to give the Chippewas (12-7, 2-4 MAC) a major boost.
CMU coach Keno Davis was ejected after he was assessed his second technical foul of the game with 13:22 remaining and CMU trailing, 54-53.
Davis, who is in his fifth year at CMU, left the court to a standing ovation, and that turn of events may have galvanized the Chippewas.
"That right there, when he got thrown out, that could have been the turning point in our season," said senior guard Braylon Rayson, who finished with 21 points. "That brought everybody together. People that don't usually talk, talked today."
Keene broke the McGuirk Arena record of 43 points set 10 days ago by Presley Hudson of the CMU women's team. Keene's total was the third-highest in CMU men's history, behind the 53 scored by Tommie Johnson in a 1987 game against Wright State and the 51 that David Webber totaled against Ball State in 2000.
"I was just hot today and my teammates kept finding me," Keene said.
Keene, who scored 39 of his points in the second half, finished 15-of-23 from the field including 10-of-15 from 3-point range, and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. His 10 triples tied the program record set by Johnson in that 53-point effort 29 years ago.
Keene scored an amazing 26 consecutive points, beginning with a 3-pointer with 6:43 remaining that put the Chippewas in front for good, 76-74. He closed his personal outburst with two free throws with 1:20 left.
Keene made five 3-pointers and was 7-for-7 from the line during his personal onslaught, which left the Chippewas up 99-87 and the crowd chanting "MVP."
"They were cheering for me, giving me confidence, so I wanted to give them something to cheer about," he said. "The shots kept going in."
Keene's performance was made all the more remarkable considering that he injured an ankle eight days ago in a win over Toledo. On Wednesay, he scored 29 points in a loss at Ball State.
"It's still sore, there's still pain," he said. "I've been doing a lot of treatment in those days in between. I've just got to play through it. It's conference play. I didn't want to let my team down against Ball State or today."
Said Davis: "The kind of game that he put up tonight it was something. I feel like every time I'm watching Marcus I'm seeing something that's a career night. Hopefully we'll continue to see more of it."
Rayson made four triples on eight attempts as the Chippewas tied the program record with 20 3-pointers (on 33 attempts). CMU set season-highs in making 54.4 percent of their field goal attempts, 60.6 percent of their triple tries, and 90.5 percent of their free throw attempts.
Brothers Michael and Marcus Weathers scored 24 and 19 points, respectively, to lead the RedHawks (8-11, 1-5).
The Chippewas, who are 8-1 at home, play host to Bowling Green (8-11, 2-4) on Tuesday (7 p.m.) at McGuirk.
While Keene's performance will go down as one of the all-time best in program history, an immediate dividend may result from Davis' ejection, and his team's response to it.
"It makes you incredibly proud, it's what you hope happens in a situation like that," Davis said. "When you face some adversity, you either come together or you split apart. Obviously our guys came together in that situation.
"Didn't mean it was going to be enough to pull out the game, but hopefully we'll be able to look back at this win and say we took a step forward. Not just getting the win, but maybe we learned some things about our team and how we can play."
