Chippewa Men Face Solid Test In DePaul

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan men's basketball team travels to Chicago on Tuesday for a nonconference game with unbeaten DePaul on Tuesday, Nov. 26 (8 p.m.).

Last Week
CMU is 5-1 on the season and is coming off a week in which it lost its first game, falling to Big Ten opponent Minnesota, 82-57, on the road.

The Chippewas rebounded for a nonconference win over Trinity Christian, 106-60, on Saturday. It was career win No. 200 for CMU coach Keno Davis.

The Chippewas have scored at least 100 points four times this season. They opened with 102 points against UM-Dearborn, scored a program-record 134 against Mississippi Valley State, and scored 115 against Sienna Heights a week ago.

Team Stats
CMU ranks No. 1 in the nation in scoring at 99.7 points per game. The Chippewas are making 48.3 percent of their field goal attempts and 34.9 percent from 3-point range.

Richmond, which averages 92.5 points per game, is No. 2.

CMU is holding opponents to 69.5 points per game and 42.4 percent shooting from the field and 32.5 percent from long range.

Defensively, CMU is forcing 21.3 turnovers per game with 13 of those turnovers coming off of steals. The Chippewas are committing an average of 9.7 turnovers a game.

Individual Stats
CMU's leading scorers are senior guard Dallas Morgan, who is averaging 16.3 points per game, and senior forward David DiLeo, who is averaging 16.0.

Morgan has made 47.8 percent of his field goal attempts overall, while DiLeo is shooting 50.7 percent. Both are 18 for 45 (40 percent) from 3-point range.

Devontae Lane leads CMU in assists at 4.0 per game; Romelo Burrell tops the Chippewas in rebounds per game at 6.7 per, while Kevin McKay and Rob Montgomery are averaging 5.0.

Scouting
DePaul comes into Tuesday's game 6-0 after winning at Boston College, 72-67, on Saturday. The Blue Demons defeated Iowa, 93-78, in Iowa City, Iowa earlier this season.

DePaul is averaging 77.7 points per game and is holding opponents to 61.2 points per.

Defensively, DePaul is forcing opponents to 17 turnovers a game with 9.3 of those turnovers coming off of steals.

Junior guard Charlie Moore leads DePaul in points (16.3) and assists (4.6) per game, while 6-foot-9 forward Paul Reed is averaging 14.7 points per game while making 67.3 percent of his field goal attempts. Reed is the Blue Demons' leading rebounder with 10.8 per game.

Last Meeting
The Chippewas fell to the Blue Demons, 100-86, last season in a Roman College Basketball Invitational game. DePaul went on to finish runner-up in the tournament, falling the best-of-three championship series to South Florida.

Learning Experience
The loss Minnesota can help the Chippewas in the long run, CMU coach Keno Davis said, beginning with Tuesday's game against DePaul.

"You're looking at a team that has won at Iowa, has won at Boston College, and we played them in the post season at their place," he said. "It's another opportunity to play on a bigger stage. To say it's just another game that would be a coach thing to say; I know that it means more to those guys.

"At the end of the year it probably is just another game but, in the moment, it's important for these guys. They want to win, but it's more important that we're able to play at a level every time we step on the court. For some of the game against Minnesota, we weren't able to do that.

"We need to stop coming out (of the gate) with slow starts, especially when you're playing eight teams like (Minnesota, DePaul). Coming out to a low start can be the difference between winning and losing a game."

Next
CMU will be back at home on Saturday, Nov. 30 (4:30 p.m.) against Youngstown State.

The Penguins are 3-3 and are coming off a win over USC Upstate last Saturday. They are scheduled to play Westminster on Wednesday, Nov. 27.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Romelo Burrell

David DiLeo

Devontae Lane

Kevin McKay

Rob Montgomery

Dallas Morgan

Central Michigan University Athletics