Chippewas Travel to Texas for Two

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan men's basketball team will plays its first two true road games of the season this week when it heads to Texas to take on Sam Houston State on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) and then TCU on Friday (7:30 p.m.).

The Chippewas, 5-1 following Sunday's 103-75 victory over Siena Heights, went 2-1 a week ago in the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, Bahamas.

"Whenever you go on the road you're going to be challenged," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "You're looking at a Sam Houston State team with 20-plus wins last year, probably better this year than they were last year. For us to be able to go in and get a win were going to have to play extremely hard and extremely well."

CMU defeated Sam Houston State, 71-60, last season at the Great Alaska Shootout.

TCU spent the first two weeks of the season in the Associated Press Top 25, but dropped out after a 73-64 loss to Lipscomb on Nov. 20.

The Horned Frogs (4-1) were projected to finish in fourth place in the Big 12 Conference preseason poll. TCU defeated Eastern Michigan in Fort Worth, 87-69, Nov. 26.

"To stay down there and play a top-25 team in TCU will give us everything we want at this time of year to try to get us experience and to improve as a team," Davis said.

LEADERS
Senior Larry Austin Jr. and junior Kevin McKay lead CMU with 18.3 points per game, with McKay also leading the Chippewas in rebounding with 7.2 rebounds per contest.

Senior Shawn Roundtree Jr. is averaging 13.7 points per game with a team-high .774 free throw percentage (minimum 10 free throws attempted), while Junior David DiLeo is averaging 10.5 points and is leading the Chippewas in 3-point shooting, making 39.5 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.

SCOUTING
The Bearkats enter Wednesday's contest 3-4 with all four losses coming on the road to Louisiana Tech, No. 19 Clemson, Georgia, and East Tennessee State. Sam Houston State returns seven members from last year's team which finished 21-15, falling to Southeastern Louisiana 89-79 in the second round of the Southland Conference Tournament.

Cameron Delany leads Sam Houston State with 11.6 points per contest, while Kai Mitchell averages 11 a game and a team-leading 7.6 rebounds. The Bearkats are allowing 68.9 points per game with opponents shooting 29.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The Horned Frogs finished 21-12 last season, falling 57-52 to Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. TCU is holding opponents to 66.8 points a game. Their opponents are shooting 40 percent from the floor and 30 percent from 3-point range.

Junior Desmond Band and senior Alex Robinson are averaging 14.8 and 14 points respectively, while Kevin Samuel leads TCU with 7.4 rebounds per contest. TCU is coached by Jamie Dixon, currently in third season in Fort Worth after spending the previous 13 seasons as head coach at Pittsburgh.

NEXT
The Chippewas are scheduled to play their third consecutive road game on Dec. 4 (7 p.m.) at Youngstown State.

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Players Mentioned

Larry Austin Jr.

David DiLeo

Kevin McKay

Shawn Roundtree Jr.