Men’s basketball prepared for Central Michigan

By Brian Earle

After seeing its three-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, men’s basketball will look to recover against Central Michigan 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center.

The Huskies (10-12, 4-6 MAC) fought all the way back from a 16-point deficit against Western Michigan but came up short, falling by three points.

“It shows that this team is resilient,” said coach Mark Montgomery. “They don’t get shaken when we get behind; they stay the course. I think they even grind or lock in even more on the defensive end when we are behind.”

In the Huskies’ loss to Western Michigan they faced the leading scorer in the MAC, guard David Brown, who lit them up for 26 points. In the upcoming matchup with the Chippewas (8-14, 1-9 MAC), guard Chris Fowler comes in as the leading scorer in MAC play, averaging 19.5 points per game.

“Well, I think it gets everybody’s attention because in MAC games, Fowler is the leading scorer,” Montgomery said. “And they got a taste of the other overall leading scorer in Brown, so we will pay close attention [to him], but they have a different kind of a game, too. Fowler is more of a point guard: get to the basket, very good in transition, capable 3-point shooter, but not like Brown where they are going to run him off screens. Fowler has the ball in his hands a lot more.”

To go along with Fowler, the Chippewas have two of the better 3-point shooters in the MAC: forwards Blake Hibbitts and John Simons. Hibbitts has knocked down 45 shots from behind the arc while Simons has hit 42 3-pointers.

“They’re an extremely dangerous team because they shoot the 3 so well and they shoot a lot of them,” Montgomery said. “So you don’t want a team like Central to come in here and get hot, and now you’re playing from behind against a younger team. You want to control the tempo. You want to get out and be ahead and put the pressure on them.”

Offensively, the Huskies posted 71 points against Western Michigan, which is their largest point total since scoring 71 on Dec. 22 in a win over UC Riverside. They have been sharing the ball well and are led in conference play by guard Travon Baker, who averages 11.1 points per game, and forward Aksel Bolin, who averages 9.6 in MAC games.

“I think it’s just been good ball movement,” said guard Aaron Armstead. “We’ve been moving the ball well, swinging the ball around, and the guys have been knocking down shots and making plays.”