CMU Men Welcome Eastern On Tuesday

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan men's basketball team returns home to entertain in-state Mid-American Conference opponent Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, Feb. 11 (7 p.m.).

Where They Stand
CMU is 13-9, 6-3 MAC after losing at Buffalo 65-60 on Friday. The Chippewas took a brief fourth-quarter lead after trailing by 18 points early in the second half. Buffalo outscored the Chippewas, 13-7, down the stretch to snap CMU's three-game win streak.

The Chippewas are in second place in the MAC West behind Northern Illinois, which is 8-3 in MAC games and is on a six-game win streak. CMU is fourth in the overall MAC standings.

Making History
David DiLeo hit four 3-pointers in the loss at Buffalo, giving him 310 for his career and making him CMU's career leader and the MAC career leader.

DiLeo passed Josh Kozinski as CMU's leader, and he passed Toledo's Nate Navigato in becoming the league's top 3-point shooter. Kozinski made 306 triples as a Chippewa from 2013-18, and Navigato made 309 from 2015-19.

Home Court Advantage
CMU is 11-1 at home (a .916 win percentage) and is tied with Bowling Green for the best home record in the MAC.

Team Stats
CMU enters the game tied for fourth in the country with Wright State in scoring with 81.8 points per game.

The Chippewas have made a total of 363 free throws this season, good for third in the MAC. Its free throw percentage of .745 is the second best in the league behind Akron.

Defensively, the Chippewas are giving up 75.8 points per game.

CMU is forcing 16.8 turnovers per game, which is second in the MAC, and No. 18 in the country. Of those 16.8 turnovers, 9.4 of them come off steals, which is also second in the MAC, and No. 10 in the country.

CMU's turnover margin of plus-4.4 is the best in the MAC and No. 14 in the nation.

Individual Stats
Kevin McKay leads CMU in scoring and rebounding with 15.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He ranks 12^th in the MAC in both categories.
His shooting percentage of 64.9 percent is good for seventh in the nation, and is first among guards.

McKay is one of three Chippewas averaging 14 or more points per game. DiLeo (14.5) and Dallas Morgan (14.0) are the others. DiLeo ranks 14^th and Morgan is 17^th in the league in scoring.

Point guard Devontae Lane, who did not play at Buffalo, leads CMU in assists with 3.5 per game, good for seventh in the MAC. His 2.1 steals per game is the best in the MAC.

Scouting Eastern
Eastern Michigan is 12-11, 2-8 and is coming off a 59-58 loss to Akron on Saturday. The Eagles are in sixth (last) place in the MAC West.

The Eagles rank last in the MAC in points per game (64.6) and are the second-best defensive team in the league, holding opponents to 62.8 points per game.

Eastern has attempted a league-high 535 free throws this season, but has made a league-worst 62.1 percent from the line.

The Eagles force a MAC-best 17.4 turnovers per game, and they lead the nation with 10.8 steals per game. Eastern's turnover margin of plus-2.3 is second in the MAC behind CMU.

Four Eagles score in double figures, led by Ty Groce, a 6-foot-8 junior, who averages 11.4 points per game. Boubacar Toure, a 7-footer from Senegal, averages 10.2 as does 6-5 guard Noah Morgan. Yeikson Montero, a 6-5 guard from the Dominican Republic, averages 10.1.

Toure leads Eastern Michigan in rebounding with 9.1 per game, good for fifth in the MAC.

Next
CMU will be back at home on Friday, Feb. 14 (7 p.m.) to entertain Akron in a MAC game. The Zips, 17-6, 7-3, are in second place in the East. They are scheduled to play host to East-leading Bowling Green on Tuesday.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David DiLeo

Devontae Lane

Kevin McKay

Dallas Morgan