Tomorrow, Tuesday November 15^th, the Charlotte 49ers will travel to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan to face the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-0 overall, 0-0 MAC).  Older Niner fans, along with the die-hards might remember the Chippewas as the first round opponent dispatched by Charlotte on their run to the 1977 Final Four.  For those of you not around then, or not of green-blooded nature, allow GTG.net to drop a little knowledge on you.  Central Michigan is the fourth largest public university in Michigan behind the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University (stick with me, this is going somewhere).  They have an enrollment of over 28,000 students with roughly 7,000 students being enrolled in online courses.  Continuing with the trajectory I am taking that I am sure you are not quite yet following, Central Michigan will be opening a College of Medicine in 2013.  I’m just pointing this out because it all seems awfully familiar, minus starting a school of medicine (are you listening Dubois?).  Not to mention, I’m sure Central Michigan does not get shafted on monetary support from the state with a nickname like the Chippewas.  It would be too much like Manifest Destiny taking something away they feel is rightfully theirs.  Maybe we should switch our school’s mascot to the Cherokees?

Now on to the actual basketball game on Tuesday.  The Chippewas battled Ferris State on Friday, emerging with a five-point win, 65-60.  If you’re not familiar with Ferris State, they’re another public university in Michigan, albeit a Division II one.  Hey, we can’t all schedule the #8 team in the NAIA poll for our first game.  Central Michigan held a 13-point lead at the half but went cold in the second half allowing the Bulldogs to creep back into the game late.

The Chippewas are led by Trey “Daddy’s Boy” Ziegler, a 6’-5” sophomore guard, who was the MAC freshman of the year, and if you could not tell by the nickname he is the coach’s son.  Ziegler was a top 100 recruit out of high school, but spurned larger, and honestly, more competitive schools to play for good old pops.  He averaged 16.5 PPG, but his percentages are not overly impressive.  He shot 39% from the field, to go with 32% from the three-point line, and 56% from the free throw line.  With percentages like that you would think dear old dad would make him shoot 100 jumpers and 100 free throws after every practice, but I guess we can’t all be the “World’s Greatest Dad”.  My point with Zeigler is that while he is a good player, and can be very dangerous, he’s also a streaky shooter and with the right amount of defensive pressure, he can be had.  To go along with those percentages he averaged 3.3 turnovers a game last season, and had four versus Ferris State on Friday.  One would expect DeMario Mayfield to get the primary nod at guarding Zeigler with multiple other defenders being thrown his direction.  While the coach’s son may get his points, the mission is to make him shoot poorly to do so.

Besides Zeigler, the Chippewas seems to have a fairly competent long-range shooter in Austin Keel who hit four of his seven three pointers (4-4 3FG in the first half) versus Ferris State.  Keel, however, is a freshman, so who knows if he is a one hit wonder or will be a consistent force as he was in high school.  The only returning deep threat that shot better then 35% from deep (with more than 10 attempts) is Andre Coimbra (37.9% 3FG).  Coimbra is also the Chippewas biggest player at 6’-9” and averaged 4.5 RPG last season which is second amongst returning players, behind Ziegler’s 5.4 RPG.  Unlike North Carolina Central, Central Michigan has more size to throw at Chris Braswell in the Brazilian Coimbra, Chadian Olivier Mbaigoto (6’-7”), and presumed white Protestant Zach Saylor (6’-8”).  So Braswell is going to have to work harder this time out for his points and rebounds.

Keys to the Game:

• We will start with the obvious; minimize the turnovers.  While Central Michigan does not seem to be an explosive offensive team, there is no reason to give a potential scoring threat in Ziegler any more opportunities.
• Central Michigan is atrocious from the free throw line.  They shot 62% from the free throw line last season, and lost their best free throw shooter to graduation, and opened the season shooting 55% from the line.  If a foul is necessary, make sure it is hard and make them earn it.
• Defensive pressure should be the top priority.  As mentioned before, Ziegler is a volume shooter.  Agitate him, make him shoot poorly, and minimize second chance points.