Marcus Keene: Best Player You've Never Heard Of

Marcus Keene plays for Central Michigan, but he also leads the nation in scoring

Central Michigan is by no stretch of the imagination a national powerhouse this year. The Chippewas, who are 12-7 on the year and 2-4 in conference play, would be a mere afterthought for everyone outside of the Mid-American Conference if it wasn’t for Marcus Keene.

On Saturday afternoon, Keene poured in 50 points on 15-of-23 shooting and 10-of-15 from three to help Central Michigan beat Miami (OH) 101-92 in one of the least anticipated games of the afternoon.

Keene topped Malik Monk‘s 47 points from earlier in the year and became the first player since South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters in 2013 to score 50 or more points in a single game.

Granted, Monk scored 47 points against North Carolina and Keene scored his against Miami (OH) in the McGuirk Arena, a stadium few have probably heard of before yesterday, but Keene did something even Jimmer Fredette only did once in his career.

It only happened in front of 2,708 people instead of 19,298 people and millions more watching Malik Monk go off at home, but 50 points against any Division-I school is noteworthy and impressive. It’s something that’s only happened six times since 2010-11, and MarShon Brooks‘ 52 points for Providence against Notre Dame is the only one against a Power conference school.

Keene’s 50 points on incredible efficiency only scratches the surface of what he has done this year after transferring from Youngstown State. The 5-11, 160-pound guard, who draws comparisons to Boston Celtics’ guard Isaiah Thomas and Cleveland Cavaliers’ guard Kay Felder, has gone from a good scorer to leading the nation this season.

On 20.6 shot attempts per game, Keene leads the nation in scoring at a ridiculous 29.8 per game — 5.9 more than second place Alec Peters averages. If he maintains this pace, Keene would average the most points per game since 1996-97 when Charles Jones of Long Island averaged 30.1 points per game.

Jones also averaged 4.4 more shots per game than Keene and shot two percent worse from the field and 5.4 percent worse from three. This season, Keene is shooting a respectable 47.1 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from three.

It’s telling of how efficient Keene has been this season rather than his high-scoring games resulting from taking a ridiculous amount of shots.

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In the three games he’s scored at least 40 points in, which leads the nation, Keene is shooting 54.8 percent from the field and 52.5 percent from three. In the 11 games he’s scored at least 30 points in, which also leads the nation, Keene is shooting 53.5 percent from the field and 46.9 percent from three.

His high percentages can be credited towards him knowing how to use his small stature, as well as smart shot selection in a high-tempo offense.

Central Michigan attempts the 32nd most shots per game in the nation and third most threes per game, which has led to them being fifth in scoring at 85.2 per game. Therefore, Keene is given the green light at all times, but he still acts a facilitator.

Starting shooting guard Braylon Rayson attempts 16.6 shots per game and benefits from an unselfish Keene. He averages 5.3 assists per game, tied for 44th in the nation, but is just five assists shy from being tied for 32nd in the nation. It’s a testament to his basketball IQ that he kicks it out to Rayson instead of taking a contested layup and searching for more points.

His unselfish style of play is evident when watching him. He recorded the first 40 point, 11 assist game in the nation since 2010 earlier this year against Green Bay.

In fact, Keene averages an astounding seven assists per game when he scores 40-plus points and 5.7 per game when scoring at least 30 points. In comparison, out of 95 games in which a player scores at least 35 points in, only 16 outside of Keene’s four had the same player record at least five assists.

Marcus Keene’s eight games of at least 30 points and five assists is easily the most in the nation, too. Only Washington’s Markelle Fultz and North Florida’s Dallas Moore, who each have three, are the only players with more than two this season.

Playing in a high-tempo offense where points are abundant can lead to point guards forgetting about passing. That said, it has helped Keene develop as a passer even when scoring at a ridiculous rate, which says a lot about his development this season.

Aside from his scoring, he went to mostly playing shooting guard at Youngstown State for two seasons to being a starting point guard who plays 35.5 minutes per game.

His 4.3 turnovers per game needs to improve, especially since he has eight games with five-plus turnovers, but it’s easier to forgive his brutal turnover rate when he produces 29 points per game, according to SportsReference, which is five points more than any other player in the nation.

Besides, only he, Josh Hart and Lonzo Ball rank top five in the nation in offensive win shares and top 10 in offensive plus/minus this season.

Also, Keene’s questionable defense, which has led to him owning the second worst defensive rating on the team at 111.3, is mostly due to his size and Central Michigan simply not being a good defensive team. Only 11 teams in the nation give up more points per game than the Chippewas this season.

Still, Keene’s 0.9 steals per game leaves a lot to be desired. Other short guards like Isaiah Thomas, Kay Felder and Nate Robinson made up for their lack of size by being scrappy on-ball defenders. As a result, Thomas, Felder and Robinson averaged 1.2, 1.6 and 1.6 steals per game, respectively, in their college careers.

This is only his junior season, though, so he should continue to improve on both sides of the ball and could be the first player since VMI’s Reggie Williams in 2006-07 and 2007-08 to lead the nation in scoring two years in a row.

Marcus Keene has gone from Youngstown State’s shooting guard to the best scorer in the nation on Central Michigan very quickly. Despite being 5-11, he’s a great finisher and has one of the quickest first steps in the nation with amazing bounce in his step, not to mention his never-ending range from three.

He has his flaws, but it’d be a tragedy if we don’t see him in the NCAA Tournament this year or next. Although that would take almost a miracle since Central Michigan hasn’t gone since 2002-03.