Chippewas Host Ball State in West Showdown

GAME PREVIEW
• Central Michigan (14-3, 3-1 MAC) will aim to maintain its grip on first place in the MAC West standings when it hosts division rival Ball State (10-7, 1-3 MAC) on Saturday, Jan. 19 for a 4:30 p.m. game in McGuirk Arena.
• The Chippewas won a second-straight MAC road game, defeating Northern Illinois, 78-69, on Tuesday in DeKalb while Ball State dropped a narrow road loss to Bowling Green, 79-78, in its last outing.
• Central Michigan is tied with NIU for first place in the MAC West, but currently holds the head-to-head tiebreaker, and has a two-game lead over Ball State in the division standings.
• Central Michigan owns an 8-1 record at home this season while Ball State is 4-3 on the road in 2018-19.
• A year ago, the Chippewas split with the Cardinals, falling 82-76 in Muncie before claiming a dominating win in the rematch in Mount Pleasant, 75-51.

CHIPPEWAS TO WATCH
• Senior guard Larry Austin Jr. leads CMU and ranks No. 3 in the MAC in scoring, averaging 17.6 points per game. Austin also ranks first in the MAC in assists (5.6) and second in steals (2.4). He is one of just 12 players in Division I to average 17.0 or more points and 2.0 steals per game.
• Senior guard Shawn Roundtree Jr. ranks second on the team in scoring (16.0 ppg) and assists (54), second in 3-pointers (29) and leads CMU (No. 2 in the MAC) in minutes played per game (33.8).
• Through 17 games, junior forward David DiLeo leads the Chippewas (4th in the MAC) with 47 3-pointers and is tied for third on the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg).
• Junior Kevin McKay is the only guard to be ranked in the top 55 in the NCAA in offensive rebounds (3.06). McKay leads CMU in rebounding (No. 10 in the MAC, 7.3 rpg) and averages 12.8 points per game. He also ranks fourth in the MAC in steals (1.8 spg).
• Junior forward Rob Montgomery leads CMU with 20 blocked shots and ranks tied for third on the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg). He has scored in double figures in four of the last five games, averaging 16.2 per contest.

TRENDING
• Central Michigan has started MAC play 2-0 on the road for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
• Larry Austin Jr. and Shawn Roundtree Jr. comprise the MAC's highest scoring backcourt, averaging 33.6 points per game.
• Central Michigan ranks prominently in six national stat categories:
- No. 2 in free throw attempts (501)
- No. 7 in scoring offense (87.1)
- No. 10 in free throws made (326)
- No. 23 in steals per game (8.6)
- No. 23 in total steals (147)
- No. 25 in win-loss percentage (82.4)
• Larry Austin ranks highly nationally in three stat categories -- No. 20 in free throw attempts (124), No. 22 in total steals (40) and No. 23 in steals per game (2.35).
• Junior forward David DiLeo resides in fifth place on the CMU 3-pointers rankings with 207 for his career. Next up: Robbie Harman with 233.
• DiLeo also recently went over the 900-point plateau for his career and, currently with 919, is on pace to become the 33rd member of the CMU 1,000-point club this season.

SCOUTING BALL STATE
• Led by six-year head coach James Whitford, Ball State enters Saturday's game having dropped three-straight, including a 79-78 road setback to Bowling Green earlier this week.
• The Cardinals opened MAC play with a dominating 79-64 win at Toledo but have since fallen to Eastern Michigan (84-82 OT) and Ohio (70-52) at home and to the Falcons at Bowling Green.
• Ball State is led by senior guard Taylor Persons, junior forward Tahjai Teague and junior guard K.J. Walton.
• Persons, a two-time Second Team All-MAC selection, leads Ball State in scoring (16.9 ppg) and ranks No. 3 in the MAC in assists (4.9 apg).
• Teague, who ranks No. 3 in the MAC in field goal percentage (.620), is second on the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) and tops the Cardinals in rebounding with 7.5 boards per game.
• Walton, a Missouri transfer, shoots .563 from the field and averages 13.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
• Senior center Trey Moses leads Ball State in blocked shots (27) and is second in rebounding (6.8 rpg). He scores 8.8 points per game.
• Junior forward Kyle Mallers is the Cardinals' top 3-point threat, making a team-high 27 triples.
Sophomore forward Zach Gunn (6.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 24 3-pointers), senior guard Austin Nehls (3.3 ppg, .520 FG PCT) and redshirt junior Josh Thompson (2.6 ppg, 27 assists) have also been key contributors during MAC play.
• Ball State ranks No. 16 in the NCAA in field goal percentage (.497) and No. 23 in free throws made (299).

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIPPEWAS
• Central Michigan will begin a two-game conference road swing on Tuesday, Jan. 22 when it visits Akron (10-7, 2-2 MAC) for a 7 p.m. contest at the Zips' Rhodes Arena.
• The game will be a rematch of the January 8 overtime thriller in Mount Pleasant won by the Chippewas, 88-86, on a last-second layup by Larry Austin Jr.
• A year ago, CMU fell to the Zips, 69-63, in Akron.
• Akron halted a two-game MAC losing streak on January 15, downing Eastern Michigan, 51-49, at home.
• Akron is led by the trio of junior forward Daniel Utomi (15.1 ppg, 6.2 rpg), senior guard Jimond Ivey (13.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and redshirt sophomore guard Loren Christian Jackson (12.9 ppg, 60 assists).

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Players Mentioned

Larry Austin Jr.

David DiLeo

Kevin McKay

Rob Montgomery

Shawn Roundtree Jr.