Chippewa Men Roll, Improve to 4-0

Monday, November 18

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 p.m.

Central Michigan University

4-0,0-0MAC

115

Siena Heights

0-2

Siena Heights

Central Mich.

115

Photo by: Allissa Rusco

11/18/2019 10:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Morgan paces CMU with career-high 27 points

By: Nick Vuylsteke, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Dallas Morgan scored a career-high 27 points to lead six Chippewas in double figures on Monday as the Central Michigan men's basketball team cruised past NAIA Siena Heights, 115-58, in a nonconference game at McGuirk Arena.

It marked the third time this season that CMU (4-0) has scored more than 100 points. The Chippewas entered the game second in the nation in scoring at 106.7 points per game.

"Not only were we able to get the win, but we got better from tonight's game," CMU coach Keno Davis said. "You don't always feel that way when you're playing an opponent that isn't a Division I opponent. But we feel like we got better, and we look forward to our next challenge."

That challenge comes on Thursday, Nov. 21 (8 p.m.) when the Chippewas go to Minnesota.

How It Happened
A Morgan layup with under 9:55 left in the first half put CMU up 19-18 and sparked a 25-2 run during which Morgan and Rob Montgomery combined for 16 points.

CMU led 47-33 at halftime and started the second half with a 19-6 spurt to up their lead to 27, 66-39, with just under 16 minutes to play.

"We started off kind of slow, and had a lot of mental lapses," Morgan said. "In the second half, our guys, especially Montgomery, talked to us and told us we got to pick things up and sharpen up. As a team, we wanted to come out more aggressive and just try to tire them out as best as we can."

"We thought that they came out and played hard, as we expected," Montgomery said. "They were aggressive. They tried to get to their spots and take the shots that they wanted. We did our best to try to take that away from them."

Team Stats
CMU shot 43-for-75 (57.3 percent) from the field including 17-for-32 (53.1 percent) from 3-point range.

Stingy Defense
CMU forced 24 turnovers and scored 46 points off of turnovers.

"Our guys really like to play defense," Davis said. "Some coaches say that, but don't mean it. This group wants to go up and press. They want to be able to work, try to disrupt the other team and steal the ball. You don't always have that because it's hard work to do."

"Dallas Morgan is a great example. He had a great offensive night, but he was first guy defensively to want to go up and pressure that ball. Travon Broadway is the same way. He can score the ball, he can do so many things, but when he gets up there, presses and disrupts teams, it not only improves our defense, it improves our offense to get easier buckets."

Numbers
Morgan, a senior who drew his first start of the season in place of Kevin McKay, made 10 of his 14 field goals including seven of his 11 3-point tries. All of those numbers are career highs.

"(I was) just hitting the open shots," Morgan said. "It's kind of what I work on before the games. Even on off days, or after practice, I'm working on the things that I know how to do. Tonight, (David) DiLeo found me, had me going, hitting me up a couple of times and I was able to knock some shots down."

Next
The Chippewas will take a major step up on competition when they go to Minnesota of the Big Ten on Thursday. The Golden Gophers are 1-3, but have played a rugged schedule to this point, including Oklahoma, Butler and Utah.

CMU will return to McGuirk Arena for a game against Trinity Christian on Saturday, Nov. 23 (2 p.m.). The Trolls are 3-5 and are coming off a loss to St. Francis.