Balanced Effort Earns Chippewas Key MAC Win

Tuesday, February 19

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7:00 p.m. ET

Central Michigan University

Kent State

Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf

2/19/2019 11:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Shawn Roundtree Jr. scores a game-high 20 points; Larry Austin Jr. notches his 6th career double-double

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan men's basketball team received key contributions from a variety of sources, as the Chippewas earned a hard-fought 84-74 MAC win over Kent State Tuesday night in McGuirk Arena.

The Chippewas improve to 18-8 overall and 7-6 in the MAC. The win was CMU's fourth-straight at home and upped its record this season in McGuirk Arena to 12-2. The Golden Flashes fall to 19-7 overall, 8-5 in the MAC.

"Our players and staff know that when you beat Kent State you've done something; they're a tough matchup for everybody in the (MAC)," said CMU head coach Keno Davis. "It's nice to able to win games with our toughness and being able to also have composure to be able to make free throws, big plays and big rebounds at the end of games."

Tuesday's win over the Golden Flashes coupled with a 76-69 Eastern Michigan victory over Toledo pulls the Chippewas within one game of the Rockets for first place in the MAC West.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Golden Flashes appeared to be in the driver's seat after overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit to take a 64-59 lead with 8:33 remaining. However, a Larry Austin Jr. layup soon thereafter would spark a 12-3 Chippewa run aided by a clutch 3-pointer from Shawn Roundtree Jr. that provided CMU with some breathing room at 69-65.

Kent State managed to pull within two points at 73-71 with 3:50 remaining but a heavily contested 15-foot jump shot from Rob Montgomery gave the Chippewas a four-point advantage and turned momentum in their favor.

CMU would fashion an 11-3 run to finish the game, primarily on the strength of clutch free throw shooting from David DiLeo and Roundtree, to secure the victory.

LEADERS
Roundtree lead all scorers with 20 points. He is averaging a team-high 17.5 points per game versus MAC opponents.

Montgomery added 19 points, on 7-of-10 shooting, and eight rebounds. Austin earned his sixth career double-double, finishing with 17 points and 11 assists.

Junior Kevin McKay was active on both ends of the court, recording 12 points, a game-high nine rebounds and a career-high four blocks.

CONTAINING WALKER
Kent State guard Jaylin Walker entered Tuesday's game averaging a conference best 22.0 points per contest but was limited to 14 points on 2-of-16 shooting from the floor, scoring his first field goal with 13:10 remaining in the game.

Davis credited a team effort in slowing down the MAC's leading scorer.

"Every time it looked like (Walker) went by us we had other guys there to be able to make sure that he wasn't getting to the basket," Davis said. "Although we fouled him on some of those plays, we made him work for every point that he was going to get."

ROUNDTREE STAYS HOT, NEARING 1,000 CAREER POINTS
With his 20 points Tuesday, Roundtree has eclipsed the 20 point total in four consecutive games. The only aspect of his game that he feels changed throughout the season is his confidence level and his ability to stay aggressive, thanks to the play of his teammates.

"I don't think anything has changed or anything is different (the past four games)," Roundtree said. "I feel like I've always been this type of player. I just need to stay consistent."

Roundtree needs 39 points to become the 34th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.

NEXT UP FOR THE CHIPPEWAS
The Chippewas start a two-game road trip Saturday in Muncie, Ind., facing Ball State at 2 p.m. at Worthen Arena. The Cardinals defeated CMU, 83-72, Jan. 19 in McGuirk Arena.