Marcus Keene’s magical season is running out of time

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Down nine points with 1:25 left to play against Western Michigan, Marcus Keene fell to the floor. His cross-court pass had just been tipped and recovered by Western Michigan, which called a timeout. The 5’9 point guard got up slowly beneath the hoop, raised his hands to his head in frustration, and bent at the waist, then dropped his arms in lifeless exhaustion.

With the game out of reach, the nation’s leading scorer stayed in the regular season finale and scored eight more points the final 1:22 of the 88-80 loss to bring his total to 37 for the game and his average to 29.6.

Sometime around late December — after scoring 44 points in a close win over Montana State and 30 or more points in nine of the season’s first 12 games — intrigue around Keene’s ability to keep his average over the 30-point clip began. It hadn’t happened since LIU’s Charles Jones in 1997. Only Jones (following up in ’98) and VMI’s Jason Conley in 2002 have averaged over 29 points per game since. So Keene has spent this season chasing recent history.

The MAC tournament kicks off today with CMU taking on Kent State. Keene needs 42 points to nudge his average up to 30 again.

Keene is like college basketball’s version of the Boston Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas, scoring most of his 918 points with a captivating mix of swagger, creativity, and fearlessness. None of these have come in a nationally televised game. This isn’t lost on Keene, a natural performer.

“I wanna do something special,” Keene told SB Nation. “I wanna see if I can lead us to four straight wins and, next thing you know, we’re playing on national TV.

“I just wanna play in that national spotlight one time,” he said in February.

CMU is a long shot to win the MAC tournament. So, it would take four straight wins for an NCAA tournament berth. If Keene and Central Michigan pull off the improbable, one of college basketball’s most dynamic players would finally get his chance to play against the country’s best on college basketball’s biggest stage.

But they’ve lost seven in a row to fall to 16-15, and Keene’s magical season is running out of time.

Keene was a star at Warren High School in San Antonio and played two years at Youngstown State before transferring to Central Michigan. After sitting out for a year due to NCAA rules, the junior is excelling in Mount Pleasant.

Central Michigan’s games haven’t been on national TV, but Keene has been in the spotlight, appearing on Sportscenter and the CBS Evening News, among others. And for good reason: The Wooden Award Finalist hung 50 on Miami (OH) in January and scored 40 or more five other times this season. Plus, he does so with gusto — Keene burst onto the scene thanks to a twirling, behind-the-back, pull-up 25-footer in a 40-point outburst against Green Bay in December.

Highlights are just part of Keene’s game, though. Watching him play for a full 40 minutes is a lesson in endurance, toughness, and skill. Keene has no quit in him

The basic premise of Central Michigan’s offense is simple. Keene or his backcourt mate and fellow 5’9 guard Braylon Rayson — who is averaging 20.9 points per game this season — bring the ball down the court, and they create, almost exclusively off the dribble although sometimes with the help of a pick.

Central Michigan coach Keno Davis believes it’s his best chance at success. He trusts Keene and Rayson with the offense, even during a seven-game skid. Keene’s dream of regaling a national audience for 40 minutes can happen if he catches lightning in a bottle — he’s done it before.

“With guys like Keene and with Rayson you’ve got a chance every time you step on the court,” Davis told SB Nation. “With those guys, we can score with anyone in the conference.”

The Chippewas live and die by the backcourt’s ability to hit shots or find a teammate whose defender has slacked off to help — and in most games, this season, Keene and Rayson have gotten theirs. Keene takes 32.2 percent of the team’s shots and Rayson takes 25.5. It’s not the ball movement of the Golden State Warriors, but Central Michigan does play with urgency and speed.

Keene glides into his jump shots, flies to the rim with a type of controlled recklessness, and isn’t afraid to shimmy after a make. He’s must-see entertainment.

“I’ve never seen anything like him,” Davis said. “It doesn’t mean he’s the best player I’ve ever seen, but in trying to compare to other players that I’ve seen, it’s hard to do.”

If Keene plays like he did in the season finale, it likely won’t be enough to get into the big dance. He didn’t make his first field goal until six minutes into the game, and he couldn’t get anything to drop from deep — going 0 for 6 from three in the first 20 minutes. Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder covered Keene valiantly (Wilder scored 27 points on the night to lead Western Michigan to its eighth win in a row).

With his shot off, Keene deferred to the hot hand throughout several runs, frequently feeding the ball to Rayson. It would be easy to label Keene a ballhog, but he’s doing what he and his team think gives them the best chance to win — and that’s all Keene wants.

Twice against Western Michigan, Keene urged David DiLeo to shoot open threes, shouting “Knock it down!” at the tentative freshman. (He made both shots.)

After a lopsided home loss to Eastern Michigan on senior night in which Keene broke the single-season MAC scoring record, he told Central Michigan’s student paper that the record “means something from an individual standpoint because this is the work that I put in. But at the same time, we have lost six straight and I’m looking for a win.”

Now in the conference tournament, Keene isn’t just looking for one win — he’s looking for four.

“We’re tired right now,” Davis said after Friday’s loss.

It makes sense. Keene has been carrying the offensive load all season, and the magic appears to be running out. During the season-closing losing skid — while Keene has still averaged 26 points — he’s missing some shots he was hitting earlier this season.

But they remain resolute. Rayson says, “We don’t have to change our game.” While Keene assures, “We always got confidence.”

Keene will need that confidence in the MAC tournament. The odds are stacked against them, but if Central Michigan captures the swagger that had them at 16-8 and 6-5 in the conference earlier this season, there’s a sliver of hope for a tournament bid.

Then, Keene would have more chances to boost his average to 30; but almost surely more importantly to him, he’d get his wish of playing in the national spotlight and the country would discover what is likely college’s best player you haven’t seen.