The Central Michigan Chippewas play the UT Martin Skyhawks in the first round of the CIT tournament at McGuirk Arena. Action begins at 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Mar. 16.
The Chippewas lost a tough one against Bowling Green 62-59 in the 2 of the Mid-American tournament. Chris Fowler was the team’s leading scorer with 16 points. The Skyhawks, meanwhile, are feeling some disappointment after the 83-73 loss to Austin Peay in the 4 of the Ohio Valley tournament. Twymond Howard had a team-high 24 points.
Howard has upped his play over the last five games for the Skyhawks, averaging 17.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 three-pointers.
The Chippewas may have trouble getting to the line in this one. They’re 307th in the nation in FTA rate (31.5), while UT Martin is among the nation’s least foul-prone squads (yielding a FTA rate of just 29.3, 27th in the country).
The Chippewas enter the game with records of 17-15 Straight Up (SU) and 11-13-2 Against The Spread (ATS). They are 7-3 ATS over their last 10 games. The Chippewas are one of the best in Division I in terms of three-point field goals, making 9.0 shots per game from beyond the arc. Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Central Michigan, which ranks 20th at 1.45.
On the other side, the Skyhawks have 19-14 SU and 15-12 ATS records.
This game will be the first meeting for Central Michigan and UT Martin in recent seasons.
Predictions: SU Winner – CentMi, ATS Winner – CentMi
Notes
“Central Michigan is 6-3 ATS in its last 9 games at home”.
“Central Michigan is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games at home”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Central Michigan’s last 5 games at home”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Central Michigan’s last 5 games “.
The Central Michigan Chippewas rank 41st for their offensive rating of 113.1. The UT Martin Skyhawks have a defensive rating of 105.0 (ranked 100th).
UT Martin has an average field goal percentage of 44.3%. Central Michigan is a poor 5-13 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Central Michigan Chippewas and the UT Martin Skyhawks both rank higher in average effective field goal percentage when compared to their field goal percentages. Central Michigan is 179th and 77th in the nation for FG% and eFG% respectively, while UT Martin is 172nd and 137th in these categories.
The Central Michigan Chippewas rank 20th with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.45, while the UT Martin Skyhawks rank outside the top 100 (221st) with an A/TO of .99.
On average, Central Michigan forces a turnover rate of 16.1%. When UT Martin turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a solid 14-7 record.
