It will be a battle between Mid-American opponents when the Western Michigan Broncos (10-16) welcome the Central Michigan Chippewas (14-12) to University Arena in Read Fieldhouse. Action gets underway at 2:00 pm ET on Saturday, Feb. 20 and can be seen on ES3.
The Broncos fell to Kent State 85-78 on Tuesday. Thomas Wilder was the team’s high scorer with 24 points. The Chippewas are coming off a 77-69 win against Toledo on Tuesday. Braylon Rayson was the game’s top scorer, posting 26 points on 8-for-16 shooting.
The Chippewas will look to keep miscues at a minimum in this matchup. They’re ranked fourth in the nation at avoiding mistakes (TO% of 14.3%). Conversely, Western Michigan forces the 69th-fewest errors in the nation, with just 17.0% of opponents’ possessions resulting in a turnover.
The Broncos have gone 10-16 Straight Up (SU) and 10-11 Against The Spread (ATS).
On the other side, the Chippewas have 14-12 SU and 8-10-2 ATS records. Central Michigan is one of the top three-point shooting teams in the nation, connecting on 9.0 shots from three-point range per game. The Chippewas rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the 30th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country at 1.41.
Western Michigan and Central Michigan will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, Western Michigan came out on top, bringing its SU record to 8-2 over Central Michigan in their most recent games. The Broncos also hold the advantage ATS with a record of 5-4-1. When it comes to field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers, Western Michigan held the edge in all three of these categories two times in the last five meetings. Central Michigan never did so in those games.
Predictions: SU Winner – CentMi, ATS Winner – CentMi
Notes
“Western Michigan is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games “.
“The total has gone OVER in 6 of Western Michigan’s last 8 games “.
“Western Michigan is 15-8 SU in its last 23 games at home”.
“The total has gone OVER in 4 of Western Michigan’s last 5 games at home”.
“Western Michigan is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Central Michigan”.
“Western Michigan is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Central Michigan”.
“Western Michigan is 1-3-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Central Michigan”.
“Western Michigan is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Central Michigan”.
Central Michigan averages 76.1 points per game (ranked 89th). Western Michigan, on the other hand, allows 73.7 points per game (ranked 180th).
Ranked 42nd, the Central Michigan Chippewas have an offensive rating of 113.2. The Western Michigan Broncos rank 234th with a defensive rating of just 105.9.
Western Michigan has an average field goal percentage of 43.2%. Central Michigan is an underachieving 5-11 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Western Michigan Broncos average 18.0 three point attempts per game, while the Central Michigan Chippewas attempt 27.0. When attempting 20 or more three pointers in a game, both teams have split records; Western Michigan is 5-5 and Central Michigan is 12-12.
The Central Michigan Chippewas average 4.9 steals per game. When giving up 4 or more steals, the Western Michigan Broncos are an even 9-9 this season.
