CMU Men Eye 4th-Straight Victory

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- An important Mid-American Conference road game is ahead for the Central Michigan men's basketball team on Friday (9 p.m.) when they play at Buffalo.

The Chippewas, winners of three straight games, lead the MAC West at 6-2 and are 13-8 overall. Buffalo, the two-time defending MAC Tournament champion, is 14-9, 5-5.

The Bulls handed CMU an 86-67 loss on Jan. 18 at McGuirk Arena. It was the Chippewas' lone home loss of the season.

"We learn something each game," said CMU senior Dallas Morgan, who scored a career-high 29 points on Tuesday in the Chippewas' 92-82 victory over MAC-leading Bowling Green.

"This week," Morgan said, "we still have to get better, we still have a (long) way to go (before we hit our peak). We know (against Buffalo), it's not going to be easy, it's going to be a dogfight when we get there. Playing through adversity is going to be big for us. We have to go there with the mentality that we can play with anybody. With the stiff competition in the MAC this year, we have to bring it every game."

Where They Stand
The Chippewas sit in first place in the MAC West and are second overall in the MAC standings behind Bowling Green.

CMU is off to its best start in MAC play under eighth-year coach Keno Davis, and it marks the program's best league start since the 2009-10 Chippewas were 6-2. The Chippewas' best start to MAC play came in in 2000-01 when they were 11-1 through 12 games.

Record Watch
CMU senior forward David DiLeo is on the verge of history. He needs one 3-pointer to become the program's career leader in triples, and he needs four to become the all-time leader in the MAC.

DiLeo hit six 3-pointers and scored 26 points in Tuesday's win over Bowling Green. That put his career total at 306 and ties him with Josh Kozinski (2013-18) atop the Chippewa chart. Toledo's Nate Navigato (2015-19) is the MAC career leader with 309.

DiLeo would be the fourth of Davis' players to hold the CMU record. Kozinski, Braylon Rayson and John Simons are the others. Rayson hit 271 3-pointers from 2013-17 and Simons had 256 from 2012-15.

Team Stats
• CMU is second in the country in scoring at 82.9 points per game. They trail Gonzaga (88.6), which is No. 2 in the nation in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls.

• The Chippewas are 10-0 when they score 80 or more points.

• CMU has made a MAC-best 359 free throws in 482 attempts. Its .745 free throw percentage is third best in the MAC.

• Over the last two games, the Chippewas have gone 44 for 49 from the free throw line (89.7 percent). They were 24 for 26 from the charity stripe for a season-best 92.3 percent against Bowling Green.

• Defensively, the Chippewas are allowing 76.3 points and are forcing 16.7 turnovers per game, which is good for second in the MAC, and No. 19 in the country. Of those 16.7 turnovers, 9.3 of them come off steals, also good for second in the MAC and No. 12 in the country.

• The Chippewas are committing 12.3 turnovers per game. Over the last two games, the Chippewas have committed a total of 16 turnovers. CMU's turnover margin of plus-4.38 is the best in the MAC, and No. 15 nationally.

Individual Leaders
Kevin McKay leads CMU in scoring and rebounding with 15.3 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

McKay's .654 shooting percentage is eighth best in the country. The next closest guard to this McKay is Prairie View's Gerard Andrus (.552).

McKay is one of three Chippewas averaging 14 or more points per game. DiLeo is at 14.4 and Dallas Morgan is at 14.2. McKay is 10^th in the MAC scoring, while DiLeo is 14th and Morgan, 15th.

Devontae Lane leads CMU in assists and ranked seventh in the MAC with 3.5 per game. He leads the league with 2.1 steals per game.

Scouting Buffalo
• Buffalo is 14-9, 5-5 after a 66-62 loss to Eastern Michigan on Tuesday. It was the Bulls' second-straight loss.

• Buffalo is second in the MAC to CMU in scoring at 78.6 points per game, and the Bulls are averaging a league-best 42.3 rebounds per.

• Five Bulls average double figures in points, led by guard Jayvon Graves (16.4). Davonta Jordan (11.9), Jeenathan Williams (11.4), Antwain Johnson (10.6) and Josh Mballa (10.6) are the others.

• Mballa is tied for second in the MAC with 9.5 rebounds per game, while Jordan is averaging 5.0 assists per game, good for third in the league.

Next
CMU returns to McGuirk Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 11 (7 p.m.) to face Eastern Michigan in a MAC game. The Eagles, 12-10, 2-7, play at Akron on Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

David DiLeo

Devontae Lane

Kevin McKay

Dallas Morgan