Chippewa Men Enter Stretch Run With Tuesday Game At Ball State

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan men's basketball team begins the final week of the regular season on Tuesday, March 3 with a Mid-American Conference game at Ball State.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Chippewas won the first meeting, 71-66, on Jan. 25 in Mount Pleasant.

Where They Stand
CMU goes into Tuesday's game 13-16, 6-10 MAC. The Chippewas have lost eight-consecutive games and are tied for fifth in the MAC West and are tied for 10th in the overall in the league standings.

Down the Stretch
The game at Ball State is the second-to-last of the regular season for the Chippewas. They entertain rival Western Michigan in the regular-season finale on Friday, March 6 (7 p.m.) at McGuirk Arena.

Team Stats
CMU leads the league in scoring at 78.9 points per game and is surrendering a league-high 76.4 per game.

The Chippewas are forcing 16.5 turnovers per game, which is No. 18 in the country. Of those 16.5 turnovers, 9.0 of them come off steals, which is No. 10 in the country. Both stats are second in the MAC.

The Chippewas' turnover margin of plus-3.38 is the best in the conference and No. 19 in the country.

Leaders
David DiLeo leads CMU in scoring with 14.8 points per game. His 3-point percentage of .398 is No. 7 in the MAC. Kevin McKay averaged 13.6 points per game and leads CMU in rebounding with 6.6 per game. McKay is also tied for fifth in steals in the MAC at 1.6 per game.

His field goal percentage of .604 is No. 14 in the country and the best among guards.

Scouting
Ball State is 16-13, 9-7 MAC, one game behind Northern Illinois (10-6) in the MAC West. The Cardinals are fifth overall in the league.

Ball State, which is coming off a 69-63 loss to Toledo, averages 68.8 points per game and is allowing 62.6 per. The Cardinals rank 10^th in the MAC in scoring and are second defensively.

The Cardinals are holding their opponents to a field-goal shooting percentage of .403, which is third in the MAC.

Ball State's leading scorer is Tahjai Teague, who averages 14.2 points per game and is fifth in the MAC in rebounding at 9.0 per. The Cardinals' Ishmael El-Amin averages 14.0 points per game and is fourth in the conference with a .410 3-point percentage.

Chippewa Men Enter Stretch Run With Tuesday Game At Ball State

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Players Mentioned

David DiLeo

Kevin McKay