Paul Reed, DePaul

We preview the CBI Tournament opening round game between the DePaul Blue Demons and the Central Michigan Chippewas at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Lincoln Park on Wednesday night in this report.

Key Information

DePaul Blue Demons (15-15) vs. Central Michigan Chippewas (23-11) – Wednesday, March 20th, 2019, 7:00 p.m. Central – McGrath-Phillips Arena – Chicago, Illinois

How to Watch - Streaming Video

Where to Listen - Radio – WIND AM 560

Follow @WeAreDePaul on Twitter

Gametracker

CMU Basketball

CMU Fans Site

Game Preview

The Blue Demons are back in the postseason for the first time in 12 years and will play in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournament beginning on Wednesday night.

DePaul will open up the 16 team CBI tournament with a matchup against the Central Michigan at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

If they win, the Blue Demons could meet Longwood or Southern Mississippi in the tournament’s quarterfinals on March 25th.

The DePaul seniors, Eli Cain, Femi Olujobi, and Max Strus, expressed a strong desire to play more games this season. They got their wish and will get to continue their playing careers into the postseason.

For the first time in history every Big East team made it to the postseason with four playing in the NCAA tournament and five playing in the NIT, and DePaul in the CBI.

This is the first postseason appearance for the Blue Demons since their NIT tournament in 2007.

That NIT in 2007 was also the last time the Blue Demons played a postseason game on campus.

On that night, the Blue Demons defeated Hofstra in a 83-71 spirited win that had a great college basketball atmosphere.

DePaul hopes to duplicate that in Wednesday’s game on campus.

CMU is 23-11 and finished in second place in the MAC West this season with a 10-8 conference record, despite being picked for last place in the preseason.

The Chippewas are led by former Providence coach Keno Davis. He’s been at CMU in Mount Pleasant, Michigan for seven seasons now. Davis has the Chips playing an uptempo style of ball this season. They lead the MAC in scoring with an average of 82.6 points per game thus far.

DePaul can hold an advantage on the boards over CMU. The Chips rebounding margin on the season was a negative 0.2.

CMU averages 8.6 three pointers made per game, but as a team they shoot 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.

The Chips do force a lot of turnovers which should be a concern for the Blue Demons. CMU forced an average of 14.5 turnovers per game along with 7.6 steals per game.

CMU is 123rd in the nation in Ken Pomeroy’s College Basketball Ratings, as of this writing. Meanwhile DePaul is number 103 at Kenpom.com. In the NCAA’s NET rankings, CMU is ranked 113th, while DePaul is at number 102.

CMU has five players who average in double figures.

Former Vanderbilt and Xavier guard Larry Austin leads the Chips in scoring (17.4 ppg) and assists (5.8 dimes per game). He also pulls down 6.2 rebounds per game. Austin is from Springfield (IL) Lanphier High School.

Senior guard Shawn Roundtree, Jr. is the other half of the Chips backcourt scoring duo. Roundtree averages 16.6 ppg and shoots 42.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Junior forward David DiLeo contributes 11.8 ppg, while junior guard Kevin McKay adds 11.3 ppg. McKay is also the team’s leading rebounder with 7.6 boards per game. Junior forward Rob Montgomery adds 10.7 ppg.

CBI Bracket

See below for a link to the CBI Tournament bracket.

BRACKET

What is the CBI?

The CBI is a 16 team postseason tournament that includes schools that did not receive invitations to compete in the NCAA or NIT tournaments. The CBI first began in 2007 and was created by the Gazelle Group.

All of the games in the CBI are played on home courts. There are no neutral courts in the tournament.

Teams are seeded into four regions.

The CBI begins with opening round games that will be played on March 19th or 20th. The games are played on the home court of the higher seeded school.

The quarterfinal games are played on Monday, March 25th.

Following the quarterfinal round, the remaining teams are re-bracketed.

The semifinal games will be played on March 27th or 28th.

The final two teams compete in a best of three championship series that takes place between April 1st and 5th.

The championship series is televised on ESPN-U. Television coverage for all remaining games is to be determined.

Last season, North Texas defeated San Francisco in three games to win the 2018 CBI tournament. Former Palatine High School guard Roosevelt Smart was named the tournament’s Most Oustanding Player.

The Loyola (of Chicago) Ramblers won the CBI in 2015.

Gambling Info.

The Blue Demons are 15-15 Against the Spread thus far this season.

DePaul is favored by 5 points.

The over/under is 167.5.

The Last Time

On December 5th, 2010 at Allstate Arena, the Blue Demons took down CMU in a 71-62 victory. DePaul freshman Brandon Young scored 31 points while shooting a perfect six for six from beyond the arc. The Blue Demons forced CMU into 28 turnovers. Tony Freeland contributed 14 points and nine rebounds for the Demons.

Jalin Thomas led the way for CMU with 19 points.

CMU Roster

# FULL NAME POS. ACADEMIC YEAR HT. WT. HOMETOWN/PREVIOUS SCHOOL

0 Larry Austin Jr. Guard Sr. 6-2 182 Springfield, Ill. / Vanderbilt

1 Corey Redman Guard R-Jr. 6-6 192 Boyne City, Mich. / Boyne City

2 Shawn Roundtree Jr. Guard Sr. 6-0 185 Edwardsville, Ill. / Mineral Area College

3 PJ Mitchell Guard Fr. 6-1 175 Detroit, Mich. / Detroit Edison

4 Mikhail Myles Guard Sr. 6-3 195 Corunna, Mich. / Corunna

5 Rob Montgomery Forward Jr. 6-6 225 Montgomery Village, Md. / Indian Hills Community College

10 Colten Webber-Mitchell Guard Fr. 6-1 180 Lake Odessa, Mich. / Lakewood

11 Innocent Nwoko Center R-So. 6-11 232 New Haven, Mich. / New Haven

12 Kevin Hamlet Forward Jr. 6-7 209 Scarborough, Ont. / Mineral Area College

14 David DiLeo Forward Jr. 6-7 216 Iowa City, Iowa / New Hampton School (N.H.)

15 Matty Smith Guard Jr. 5-11 180 Elgin, Ill. / South Elgin

20 Kevin McKay Guard Jr. 6-5 222 Warren, Mich. / Warren De La Salle

22 Matt Beachler Guard So. 6-4 192 Lowell, Mich. / Lowell

23 Dallas Morgan Guard Jr. 6-1 190 Peoria, Ill. / Moberly Area Community College

24 Romelo Burrell Forward So. 6-7 195 Chicago, Ill. / John A. Logan College

25 Austin Ervin Forward Jr. 6-5 247 St. Johns, Mich. / St. Johns

31 Michael Kemp Forward So. 6-3 195 Unionville, Mich. / Unionville-Sebewaing