And yeah, David DiLeo is still very much a scoring threat.
DiLeo made five of CMU's nine triples on Saturday as the Chippewas won their fourth straight game and improved to 10-2 with an 81-72 nonconference victory over Jackson State at McGuirk Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
DiLeo scored 12 points during a 22-8 CMU run that began with 17 minutes remaining in the game and ended just over five minutes later. DiLeo hit three 3-pointers during the spurt – after which CMU led 62-48 -- and also had an tradition three-point play on a drive and and-one.
DiLeo scored a season-high 21 points.
Jackson State (2-10) played with a double-digit deficit for the vast majority of the remainder of the game, but it crept to within seven points with under a minute remaining. Shawn Roundtree Jr. made all four of his free throw attempts in the final 44 seconds to keep the Tigers at bay.
CMU outscored the Tigers, 46-38, in the second half after leading by just one, 35-34, at halftime.
SEASON HIGH
DiLeo made five of his seven 3-point tries and finished seven for nine from the floor overall. His 21 points marked just the second time in five games that he has scored in double figures. He hit all four of his second-half 3-point tries.
"I think it's just staying confident in my shot," said DiLeo, a 6-foot-7 junior. "Just got to stay ready, stay confident and know that 40 minutes is a long game. Just the way that all my teammates are able to get into the lane and draw the defense in, I know my shots are coming. It's about taking good shots, not rushing it, and setting up and knocking them down."
"It's about getting reps every day before and after practice, just making sure my shot is feeling good so when my time does come I'm ready to step up and knock them down."
ALSO …
Roundtree matched DiLeo for game-high honors with 21 points, just two shy of his season high. He finished nine-for-10 from the free throw line.
Larry Austin Jr. and Kevin McKay added 11 points apiece. Austin finished with seven assists, while McKay had a team-high seven reobunds.
Venjie Wallis and Chris Howell scored 19 points apiece for Jackson State.
COMING TO LIFE
The Chippewas trailed for the vast majority of the first half and were down by as many as 11 points in the first 20 minutes. The game followed a similar pattern to CMU's win – coincidentally by the same 81-72 score – three nights earlier against UMKC.
"Ultimately it came down to energy," Roundtree said. "The first 15 minutes, we didn't have energy. At halftime nobody was down on each other; we just said we have to pick it up. Credit Jackson Sate, they came out and they punched us in the mouth. They played hard. At the end of the day, we stuck together and we played with energy."
The Chippewas bumped their lead to double digits with under 14 minutes to play – a Roundtree 3-pointer put CMU up, 56-44, with 13:40 remaining – and the lead grew to as many as 18 points.
"I don't think there's any question that (Jackson State) wore down," CMU coach Keno Davis said, "but I think that's our hope all year -- that we can wear teams down in the second half with the tempo that we play. It's awfully tough to pay at that speed if you're not used to it."
TAKE WHAT COMES
The Chippewas have knocked down 28 3-pointers in their last three games, the most in any three-game stretch this season.
"It's one of those things that you'll see change from game to game," Davis said. "We might get a lot of threes, we might get very few. It's going to depend a lot on how teams want to play us. If they want to take away our 3-point shooting, hopefully we shoot a lot of free throws. We're a team right now that has to take what the defense gives us and learn from that."
NEXT
The Chippewas put a bow on their four-game December homestand when they entertain NAIA Indiana South Bend on Sunday, Dec. 30 (1 p.m.). The Titans are 5-11.
(Courtesy of CMU Athletics)