Chippewas Renew Rivalry at Western Michigan Friday

GAME PREVIEW
• Central Michigan (20-10, 9-8 MAC) will finish out its 2018-19 regular season schedule on Friday, March 8 when it travels to Kalamazoo to renew its rivalry with Western Michigan (8-22, 2-15 MAC) in a 7 p.m. MAC West division game at Read Fieldhouse/University Arena.
• CMU will be aiming for the MAC sweep of the state of Michigan, after going 2-0 against Eastern Michigan and winning the first meeting with Western Michigan earlier this season.
• The Chippewas narrowly fell to Northern Illinois, 89-86, on Tuesday while Western Michigan lost a road game at Toledo, 76-57, in its last outing.
• Central Michigan resides in a tie for second place in the MAC West standings with Eastern Michigan and is currently in position to serve as the No. 5 seed for the MAC Tournament and host a first round game.
• Central Michigan owns a 6-5 road record this season, including four wins in MAC play, while Western Michigan is 5-8 at home in 2018-19, with two of those wins coming against conference foes.
• The Chippewas possess a 55-98 record in the all-time series versus Western Michigan and have not won at Read Fieldhouse/University Arena since the 2008-09 season.
• Central Michigan routed Western Michigan, 85-64, in the teams' first meeting earlier this season in Mount Pleasant behind a double-double from Larry Austin Jr. (22 points, 11 rebounds).

CHIPPEWAS TO WATCH
• Senior guard Larry Austin Jr. leads CMU and ranks No. 5 in the MAC in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game, and has scored in double figures in 27 games. The three-time MAC West Player of the Week also ranks first in the MAC in assists (5.7) and second in steals (2.1). He has narrowly missed triple-doubles in two of the last three games.
• Senior guard Shawn Roundtree Jr. leads the Chippewas in scoring in MAC play, posting 17.2 points per game. He is averaging 22.2 points per contest in his last six full games.
• Junior forward David DiLeo leads the Chippewas (T3rd in the MAC) with 78 3-pointers and his .419 3-point shooting percentage ranks tied for second in the conference.
• Junior Kevin McKay leads CMU in rebounding (No. 8 in the MAC, 7.6 rpg) and averages 11.4 points per game. He leads all active Chippewas with 12 career double-doubles.
• Junior Dallas Morgan has averaged 13.7 points per game in his three starts.

TRENDING
• Against NIU, Shawn Roundtree Jr. became the 34th player in CMU program history to eclipse 1,000 career points in just his second season as a Chippewa.
• Versus NIU, Larry Austin Jr. moved into a tie for first place on the Central Michigan single-season record steals list, recording his 63rd. He shares the mark with Dave Grauzer (1978-79).
• Austin also ranks No. 5 on the CMU single-season top 10 assists list with 172. He needs 25 to break the record held by Dave Grauzer (1977-78).
• Kevin McKay, who ranks No. 2 in the MAC in offensive rebounding (3.3 rpg), is one of only three guards in Division I to record 19 or more rebounds in a game this season. He did so at Ball State on Feb. 23.
• Shawn Roundtree Jr., who is shooting 89.7% from the line over the last nine games, currently ranks eighth on the CMU career free throw percentage rankings (81.5%).
• Central Michigan ranks prominently nationally in four major statistical categories -- No. 2 in free throw attempts (805), No. 6 in free throws made (541), No. 15 in 3-point field goal defense (30.0) and No. 18 in scoring offense (82.6).
• Central Michigan has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the mid-1960s (1965-66, 1966-67).
• With the win over Ohio on Feb. 16, the Chippewas' fifth consecutive .500 or better season was guaranteed, the program's longest such streak since the early 1970s (1969-75).

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
• Led by 16-year head coach Steve Hawkins, Western Michigan enters Friday's contest mired in a four-game losing streak, including a 19-point setback at Toledo in its last outing.
• The Broncos' previous three losses came by five points or fewer.
• Western Michigan is led by senior center Seth Dugan, sophomore guard Michael Flowers and senior guard/forward Josh Davis.
• Dugan and Flowers are tied for the team lead in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game.
• Dugan is the Broncos' top rebounder and ranks third in the MAC, averaging 9.5 boards per game.
• Flowers leads WMU in assists (98), 3-pointers (61), free throws made (126) and steals (28).
• Davis also scores in double figures (11.0 ppg) and ranks second in rebounding (5.6 rpg).
Sophomore forward Kawanise Wilkins has started 19 games and averages 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.
• Junior guard Jared Printy and freshman guard William Boyer-Richard, who have each made double-digit starts this season, score 6.1 and 5.2 points per game, respectively. They have combined to make 75 3-pointers.

UP NEXT FOR THE CHIPPEWAS
• The 2019 Mid-American Conference Tournament will begin on Monday, March 11 with the number 5-12 seeds in action on campus sites in first round matchups and then will continue from March 14-16 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
• Presently, Central Michigan holds the No. 5 seed for the MAC Tournament and would host No. 12 Western Michigan in a first round game, however, changes to the seeding could change based on Friday's results.
• CMU can move back into the fourth seed for the MAC Tournament with a win against Western Michigan and a Kent State loss to Akron. With a loss, the Chippewas could be the No. 5, No. 6 or No. 7 seed, depending on the outcomes of other games.
• A year ago, CMU was the No. 8 seed for the MAC Tournament and defeated No. 9 seed Bowling Green, 81-77, in overtime in the first round before falling to No. 1 seed Buffalo, 89-74, in Cleveland.

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Players Mentioned

Larry Austin Jr.

David DiLeo

Kevin McKay

Dallas Morgan

Shawn Roundtree Jr.