Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Three games in to the season, Central Michigan men's basketball coach Keno Davis has seen enough from his team to believe that the Chippewas have the potential to be very good.
David DiLeo scored a career-high 28 points to lead five Chippweas in double figures on Saturday as CMU rolled past Division III Eureka, 103-68, at McGuirk Arena.
The win lifted . . .
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Three games in to the season, Central Michigan men's basketball coach Keno Davis has seen enough from his team to believe that the Chippewas have the potential to be very good.
David DiLeo scored a career-high 28 points to lead five Chippweas in double figures on Saturday as CMU rolled past Division III Eureka, 103-68, at McGuirk Arena.
The win lifted . . .
. . . the Chippewas to 2-1, and followed a blowout victory over NAIA Siena Heights, as well as a “plenty-to-build-on” seven-point loss at Michigan.
"For us, we know what our team makeup is, and now we're just looking for consistency from the depth that we have," Davis said. "The only way we get that is by experience and by playing games.
"For us, we know what our team makeup is, and now we're just looking for consistency from the depth that we have," Davis said. "The only way we get that is by experience and by playing games.
"I think it's important to be patient and understanding as a coach we're going to have some good plays, some bad plays, some good games, some bad games. But if we keep playing this hard, we're only going to get better as we go through the year."
Cecil Williams and Gavin Peppers scored 17 points apiece, Josh Kozinski had 12, and Luke Meyer added 11 for the Chippewas. Williams finished with a game-high 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Meyer had nine boards as CMU finished with a 55-38 edge on the glass.
Three different players have led the Chippewas in scoring in their three games this season. Kevin McKay scored 22 in the opener against Siena Heights, and Shawn Roundtree paced CMU with 21 against Michigan.
"We talk about the talent and the depth and that it can be a different player each and every game and I think you've seen that already," Davis said. "Today David DiLeo was able to get his shot off. It's going to be Cecil Williams, it's going to be Kevin McKay, it's going to be a lot of guys."
DiLeo, a sophomore, made eight of his 17 3-point attempts on Saturday and finished 9-of-19 from the field overall while playing 28 minutes. He also had eight rebounds.
"Shot just felt good," DiLeo said. "My teammates were able to penetrate, draw the defense in and kick, find me wide open, that helped. Saw the first couple go in, felt good, and my teammates just kept finding me."
Kozinski's 12 points were a season high as he finished 4-of-9 from the field, all from behind the arc. The senior guard and veteran leader has battled a wrist injury.
"Taking some getting used to and it's repetition, but it's kind of hard to get reps with my wrist (injury)," he said. "I try not to think about it too much and just stay locked in. It's more of a mental thing with being able to make shots."
The Chippewas will next go to the Great Alaska Shootout where they will play three games, beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 22 against Sam Houston State.
"I think we're ahead of the game and I think we're doing a lot better than people thought we would outside of our team," Kozinski said. "As a team, we've been really optimistic. We know we have a good team. We worked really hard this summer, we're deep and coach has harped on that quite a bit.
"That's going to be a huge factor in Alaska and later in the season. We've got a lot of hungry guys and we work hard."
The Chippewas made 38.5 percent (20-of-52) of their 3-point attempts. They never trailed and led by 19, 52-33, at halftime. CMU's largest lead, 41, came with under four minutes to play when freshman Matt Beachler hit a 3-pointer to up the lead to 101-60.
It marked the second time this season that the Chippewas have surpassed the century mark, and the 16th time in Davis' six years as CMU's head coach.
Hank Thomas scored 21 points and Shea Feehan added 20 for Eureka (1-1).
Cecil Williams and Gavin Peppers scored 17 points apiece, Josh Kozinski had 12, and Luke Meyer added 11 for the Chippewas. Williams finished with a game-high 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Meyer had nine boards as CMU finished with a 55-38 edge on the glass.
Three different players have led the Chippewas in scoring in their three games this season. Kevin McKay scored 22 in the opener against Siena Heights, and Shawn Roundtree paced CMU with 21 against Michigan.
"We talk about the talent and the depth and that it can be a different player each and every game and I think you've seen that already," Davis said. "Today David DiLeo was able to get his shot off. It's going to be Cecil Williams, it's going to be Kevin McKay, it's going to be a lot of guys."
DiLeo, a sophomore, made eight of his 17 3-point attempts on Saturday and finished 9-of-19 from the field overall while playing 28 minutes. He also had eight rebounds.
"Shot just felt good," DiLeo said. "My teammates were able to penetrate, draw the defense in and kick, find me wide open, that helped. Saw the first couple go in, felt good, and my teammates just kept finding me."
Kozinski's 12 points were a season high as he finished 4-of-9 from the field, all from behind the arc. The senior guard and veteran leader has battled a wrist injury.
"Taking some getting used to and it's repetition, but it's kind of hard to get reps with my wrist (injury)," he said. "I try not to think about it too much and just stay locked in. It's more of a mental thing with being able to make shots."
The Chippewas will next go to the Great Alaska Shootout where they will play three games, beginning on Wednesday, Nov. 22 against Sam Houston State.
"I think we're ahead of the game and I think we're doing a lot better than people thought we would outside of our team," Kozinski said. "As a team, we've been really optimistic. We know we have a good team. We worked really hard this summer, we're deep and coach has harped on that quite a bit.
"That's going to be a huge factor in Alaska and later in the season. We've got a lot of hungry guys and we work hard."
The Chippewas made 38.5 percent (20-of-52) of their 3-point attempts. They never trailed and led by 19, 52-33, at halftime. CMU's largest lead, 41, came with under four minutes to play when freshman Matt Beachler hit a 3-pointer to up the lead to 101-60.
It marked the second time this season that the Chippewas have surpassed the century mark, and the 16th time in Davis' six years as CMU's head coach.
Hank Thomas scored 21 points and Shea Feehan added 20 for Eureka (1-1).
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