Thursday, March 14
Cleveland, Ohio
Approx. 2:00 p.m. ET
Central Michigan University
23-10 (10-8MAC)
89
vs
81
Kent State
22-10 (11-7MAC)
1
2
F
Central Michigan
42
47
89
Kent State
34
47
81
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Chippewa Men Advance, Face Top-Seeded Buffalo On Friday Night
3/14/2019 8:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Austin, Roundtree combine for 43 points in victory over Kent State
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Energy and intensity, CMU men's basketball coach Keno Davis said, were critical to his Chippewas' chances in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
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Doesn't hurt to shoot it well, either.
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The Chippewas went on a 20-2 run midway through the second half on Thursday in downing Kent State, 89-81, in a Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal at Quicken Loans Arena.
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CMU (23-10), the fifth seed, will play top-seeded Buffalo (29-3) on Friday in a semifinal game at 6:30 p.m. Buffalo rolled past Akron, 82-46, in a quarterfinal on Thursday.
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Larry Austin Jr. scored 23 points and Shawn Roundtree Jr. added 20 for the Chippewas, who made nine of their 21 3-pointers, five of which came from Roundtree.
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"You work all year to get to this point," Roundtree said. "So for us to come down here, handle business the first game, that's what we work for. It's a great win."
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The Chippewas led 42-34 at halftime and were up 10, 47-37, early in the second half. The Golden Flashes surged and took a 52-51 lead, their only lead of the second half, with 13:45 to play.
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Austin made two free throws with under 13 minutes remaining, igniting CMU's game-breaking 20-2 run, after which the Chippewas led, 73-54, with under 7 minutes left.
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It was the Chippewas' poise, particularly that of the senior backcourt of Austin and Roundtree, that helped CMU weather the storm and then regain the momentum.
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"They don't leave me a whole lot of time to talk in the timeouts," CMU coach Keno Davis said of Roundtree and Austin. "They're leading the team. They're talking about what the team needs to do defensively, they're talking about the rebounding, they're talking about the execution.
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"They're not pointing the finger at somebody else, they're talking about what we
need to do as a group. I think when you have your seniors have that kind of understanding and being able to execute it, I think it says a lot about them. It says a lot about the experience that they've gone through and now it was their opportunity as seniors to step up."
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Dallas Morgan came off the bench to add 16 points for CMU, and Kevin McKay had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Morgan hit 4 of his 7 3-point attempts.
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The Chippewas held Kent State to 40.3 percent shooting from the floor. The Golden Flashes made just nine of their 35 3-point tries. Jaylin Walker, the MAC's leading scorer at 21.9 points per game, finished with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting.
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The Chippewas lost the lone regular-season meeting to Buffalo, the defending tournament champion, 90-76, in Buffalo. CMU will have to match the Bulls' intensity and physicality.
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"I think we match up really well," Roundtree said. "We've kind of been preparing for this game for a long time, mentally, just because of how things went down at their place early in the season. I know (Davis) is going to do a good job of giving us a scouting report and we're going to try our best to digest it and we'll be ready to play tomorrow."
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Doesn't hurt to shoot it well, either.
Â
The Chippewas went on a 20-2 run midway through the second half on Thursday in downing Kent State, 89-81, in a Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal at Quicken Loans Arena.
Â
CMU (23-10), the fifth seed, will play top-seeded Buffalo (29-3) on Friday in a semifinal game at 6:30 p.m. Buffalo rolled past Akron, 82-46, in a quarterfinal on Thursday.
Â
Larry Austin Jr. scored 23 points and Shawn Roundtree Jr. added 20 for the Chippewas, who made nine of their 21 3-pointers, five of which came from Roundtree.
Â
"You work all year to get to this point," Roundtree said. "So for us to come down here, handle business the first game, that's what we work for. It's a great win."
Â
The Chippewas led 42-34 at halftime and were up 10, 47-37, early in the second half. The Golden Flashes surged and took a 52-51 lead, their only lead of the second half, with 13:45 to play.
Â
Austin made two free throws with under 13 minutes remaining, igniting CMU's game-breaking 20-2 run, after which the Chippewas led, 73-54, with under 7 minutes left.
Â
It was the Chippewas' poise, particularly that of the senior backcourt of Austin and Roundtree, that helped CMU weather the storm and then regain the momentum.
Â
"They don't leave me a whole lot of time to talk in the timeouts," CMU coach Keno Davis said of Roundtree and Austin. "They're leading the team. They're talking about what the team needs to do defensively, they're talking about the rebounding, they're talking about the execution.
Â
"They're not pointing the finger at somebody else, they're talking about what we
need to do as a group. I think when you have your seniors have that kind of understanding and being able to execute it, I think it says a lot about them. It says a lot about the experience that they've gone through and now it was their opportunity as seniors to step up."
Â
Dallas Morgan came off the bench to add 16 points for CMU, and Kevin McKay had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Morgan hit 4 of his 7 3-point attempts.
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The Chippewas held Kent State to 40.3 percent shooting from the floor. The Golden Flashes made just nine of their 35 3-point tries. Jaylin Walker, the MAC's leading scorer at 21.9 points per game, finished with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting.
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The Chippewas lost the lone regular-season meeting to Buffalo, the defending tournament champion, 90-76, in Buffalo. CMU will have to match the Bulls' intensity and physicality.
Â
"I think we match up really well," Roundtree said. "We've kind of been preparing for this game for a long time, mentally, just because of how things went down at their place early in the season. I know (Davis) is going to do a good job of giving us a scouting report and we're going to try our best to digest it and we'll be ready to play tomorrow."
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Team Stats
CMU
KSU
FG%
.475
.403
3FG%
.429
.257
FT%
.774
.714
RB
40
42
TO
9
6
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
5
FTM
5
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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