CMU MBB Preview Preview

 Somewhere, we need the Little Caesar's guy.

So, the MAC schedulers were back at it and BG is no longer going to have on off day Saturday.  Instead, BG will play CMU at the Stroh on Tuesday and in Mt. Pleasant on Saturday.

This is Keno Davis's 9th season at CMU.  He's had one really good year, been above average and below average other than that.  They were 7-11 in the MAC last year and are 1-1 this year.

They lost 4 starters off last year's team, which is probably why they were picked to be 11th in the MAC this year.  All were double figurer scorers.

This year has been rough, with one notable exeception.  But very rough.  First, they lost to UIC by 2 in a game that wasn't that close.  They lost by 20 to FIU, an OK team and then they lost to Flagler by 19 on a neutral floor.

Flagler, you say?  Yes, Flager.  That's a DII team.  This is partly some Karma.  CMU has rivalled EMU is cupcake scheduling of non-D1 teams, and this time they got blown out by one.  It was their first win over a D1 team ever.  

They got back onto the boards, beating Olivet (DIII) and St. Francis of Ill, which is in the NAIA.

Hoo-rah.

They also lost by 15 to WMU, picked to be last in the MAC.

Then, of all things, they beat EMU 87-60 in Ypsi.  

Go figure.

They are 3-3 in D1 games and 2-1 in non-D1 games.

This will be a significant tempo change from the previous game.  Where as NIU plays in rubber cement, CMU plays on ice skates.  They have the 50th fastest possession in the country.  Which, actually, is a pace at which BG should be more comfortable.

Even at a fast pace, CMU is not a great offensive team.  D1 average is 1.01 points per possession, so they are above average on offense and below average on defense.  BG's efficiency is #40 in the country--for you kenpomers, I use raw not adjusted for these.  Anyway, you'd want BG to score on CMU and they should be in reasonable shape.

So, how does CMU end up at 1.04 points per possession.  Their shooting is just slightly better than the D1 average.  They don't take many 3FGs....just 29% of the overall attempts.  The average is 38%.  However, they are very accurate.  They make 38%, which is among the top 10% in the country.  They also take good care of the ball and are decent on the defensive boards and they get to the line.  They make only 66% of their FTs, which is not good.

So, things are pretty evenly matched between the CMU attack and BG defense.  

They are a poor defensive team...easy to shoot against and poor on the defensive boards.  They do force turnovers, which helps.  BG will need to be careful to take good care of the ball.  They are especially poor against the 3FG, which is an opening for BG.

CMU's top four scorers are former JUCO players.  Travon Broadway is one of them...actually in his 2nd year at CMU.  He is 6'5" and is pretty good.  He's shooting 46% overall and 35% from 3FG and 5.4 rebounds per game.  Caleb Huffman--who is in his first year--is scoring 12.4 PPG on 61% and 41% shooting.  He's a 6'4" G.  That's in 22 minutes all off the bench.

Meikel Murrary....a 6'6" G, is scoring 12.1 PPG on 50% shooting, all from 2FG.  He's in his first year in the program.  Their leading assist-maker is Devontae Lane, who is in his second year after a JUCO transfer.

So, this will be two in a row.  BG is going to need to defend effectively against their length.  And they need to keep scoring.  If they do, there's no reason they shouldn't sweep the week.