Chippewa Men Face Akron In Friday Night Battle

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan men's basketball team faces a critical Mid-American Conference game on Friday, Feb. 14 (7 p.m.) when the Chippewas entertain Akron.

Where They Stand
CMU has lost its last two starts and stands 13-10, 6-4 MAC. The Chippewas are third in the MAC West, one game behind first-place Northern Illinois. CMU is fifth overall in the MAC.

Team Stats
CMU is ranked seventh in the nation in scoring at 81.3 points per game and is the lone MAC team averaging more than 80 points per game.

The Chippewas have made 375 free throws on the season, good for third in the MAC, and has a free throw percentage of .741, which is second in the MAC.

Defensively, CMU is allowing 75.7 points per game which last in the league. They are forcing 16.8 turnovers per game, good for second in the MAC and No. 18 in the country. Of those 16.8 turnovers, 9.5 come off of steals. The Chippewas rank 10^th nationally in steals per game.

CMU's turnover margin of 4.22 is the best in the MAC and No. 15 in the country.

Leaders
David DiLeo leads the Chippewas in scoring with 14.9 points per game. He is shooting 39.9 percent from 3-point range on the season and has gone 16 for 31 (51.6 percent) from long distance over the last three games.

DiLeo became the career 3-point leader both at CMU and in the MAC in the Chippewas' 65-60 loss a week ago at Buffalo. He stands at 316 for his career.

Behind DiLeo is Kevin McKay with 14.8 points per game. His shooting percentage of .664 is seventh overall nationally and is the best among guards. McKay also leads CMU in rebounds with 6.7 per game.

Devontae Lane, who has missed CMU's last two games with an injury, leads the Chippewas in assists with 3.5 per game. His 2.1 steals her game is the best in the MAC.

Scouting Akron
Akron is 18-6, 8-3 after defeating Bowling Green, 74-59, on Tuesday. The Zips are second in the conference overall and in the MAC East, one half-game behind Bowling Green.

The Zips are the MAC's third-best scoring team at 76.0 points per game and are making 37.9 percent of their 3-point attempts and 77.8 percent of their free throw tries. They lead the league in both categories.

Akron is holding opponents to 65.4 points per game, which is fourth in the MAC. Zips' opponents are shooting .400 from the field overall and .305 from 3-point range. Both numbers are second best in the league.

Loren Cristian Jackson, a 5-foot-8 guard, leads Akron and ranks third in the MAC in scoring at 18.9 points per game. He ranks second in the MAC in 3-point shooting at 44.9 percent. He also leads Akron in assists with 4.8 per game.

Three other Zips, Tyler Cheese (16.0), 6-9 Xeyrius Williams (14.1), and Channel Banks (10.8), average in double figures in scoring. Williams leads Akron and ranks second in the MAC with 9.5 rebounds per game. Banks' 3-point percentage of .440 percent is the third best in the MAC.

Next
CMU is scheduled to play at Ohio in a MAC game on Tuesday, Feb. 18 (7 p.m.). The Bobcats, 12-12, 4-7, are scheduled to play at Kent State on Saturday.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David DiLeo

Devontae Lane

Kevin McKay