Chippewa Men Host West Rival Toledo Tuesday

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan men's basketball team will look to end a five-game losing streak when it entertains Toledo on Tuesday, Feb. 25 (7 p.m.) in a Mid-American Conference game at McGuirk Arena.

The game will mark the first of three games this week for the Chippewas.

CMU head to Oxford, Ohio on Thursday, Feb. 27 (7 p.m.) to play Miami (Ohio). The game was postponed on Jan. 28 due to a coronavirus threat in Oxford, Ohio.

CMU will then travel to Ypsilanti for a game against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 29 (noon).

Last Matchup
The Chippewas defeated the Rockets 74-67 on Jan. 14. It was the Chippewas' first road win of the season.

Where They Stand
CMU is 13-13, 6-7 MAC after losing an 82-81 heartbreaker in overtime to Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Chippewas are in third place in the MAC West, 2 ½ games behind the first-place Huskies.

The Chippewas are seventh in the overall MAC standings. The top four teams in the final standings receive a bye to the quarterfinal round of the league tournament in Cleveland.

Those teams seeded fifth-12^th play first-round games on campus sites on Monday, March 9.

Team Stats
The Chippewas are averaging a conference best 80.3 points per game. They are the only team in the MAC averaging 80 or more points per game.

Defensively, the Chippewas are giving up 76.2 points per game, which is 12^th in the MAC.

They are forcing 16.4 turnovers per game on defense, which is second in the conference and No. 23 in the country. Of those 16.4 turnovers, 9.1 of them are coming off steals, second in the MAC and No. 12 in the country.

CMU's turnover margin of plus 3.62 is the best in the MAC and No. 17 in the nation.

Player Stats
David DiLeo leads CMU in scoring with 14.8 points per game, good for No. 12 in the MAC. He is eighth in the MAC in 3-point field goal percentage at .389.

Kevin McKay is CMU's second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game and its top rebounder at 6.8 per. His shooting percentage of 61.9 percent is No. 14 in the country.

Dallas Morgan and Rob Montgomery also average double figure points per game at 13.6 and 11.0 per game.

Devontae Lane leads CMU in assists with 3.4 per game. He is tied for second in the MAC in steals per game (1.9).

Scouting
Toledo is 13-14, 5-9 after a 68-59 win over Western Michigan on Saturday.

Toledo ranks sixth in the MAC in scoring at 74.8 points per game and is seventh defensively, allowing 70.3 points per. The Rockets' 3-point percentage of .362 is the second best in the conference.

Junior guard Marreon Jackson leads Toledo in scoring (19.1 points) and assists (5.7) per game. Both marks are good for second in the MAC.

Luke Knapke, a 6-foot-11 senior, is second to Jackson in scoring at 15.7 points per game. He's also averaging 8.0 rebounds and leads the MAC with 2.0 blocks per game.

The Rockets' Willie Jackson, a 6-6 senior, leads the MAC in rebounds at 11.9 per game. He also averages 12.1 points per game, and is the only player in the MAC averaging a double-double. He is tied for eighth in the nation with 15 double-doubles this season.

Free Throw Leaders
Tuesday's game features two of the best free-throw shooting teams in the MAC. The Chippewas have made a league-best 425 charity tosses, while the Rockets rank second with 420.

Toledo ranks third in the conference with a .736 free throw percentage; the Chippewas are fourth at .734.

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Players Mentioned

David DiLeo

Devontae Lane

Kevin McKay

Rob Montgomery

Dallas Morgan