 There will be plenty on the line Sunday afternoon as the MAC hoops regular season comes to a conclusion with six games involving all twelve squads. Four teams currently are tied for the top spot in the East while there is a two-way battle atop the West for the number two seed heading into the conference tournament in Cleveland. Get the lowdown on the matchups and the tie breaker possibilities with a preview here.
Akron (19-11, 10-4 MAC) at Kent State (16-11, 9-5 MAC)
Noon (FS Ohio) • Kent State leads series 65-61
• Kent State closes out the regular season against rival Akron. This is the fourth straight year the two teams have squared off in the final game of the regular season....Since the last meeting with the Zips, the Golden Flashes have won nine of the last 11 following a 77-71 overtime win over Buffalo on Thursday night... A win today would give Kent State 10 conference wins for the 11th consecutive year. Kansas, Gonzaga and Creighton are the only other teams in the nation that have won at least 10 conference games every year during the last 11 seasons...Akron has won three of its last four conference games after a 60-51 win at home over Ohio on Thursday. Coming off the bench Brett McKnight leads the team with 11.2 points per game and had a career high 29 in the last meeting with KSU.... Akron looks to achieve its fourth-straight 20-win season (23-10 in 2005-06, 26-7 in 2006-07, 24-11 in 2007-08). The Zips’ 19 wins are the most by a MAC squad this season (Buffalo is 18-10).
Ohio (14-15, 7-8 MAC) at Bowling Green (17-12, 10-5 MAC)
2 p.m. (BCSN) • Ohio leads series 30-27
•Bowling Green is currently tied with Buffalo, Miami and Akron at the top of the conference standings with Kent State sitting one game behind. With a victory and a Buffalo win over Miami, the Falcons would carry the No. 1 seed into the MAC Tournament. With a Miami win over Buffalo, Bowling Green would clinch a bye through Tuesday’s first round regardless of how the Falcons do against Ohio... Since Jan. 31, Nate Miller is almost averaging a double-double with 14.4 points and 9.7 rebounds in 10 games. Miller has shot 49 percent during that stretch... Ohio, leads the MAC in field goal percentage, three-point percentage and assists, while ranking second in free-throw percentage and three-pointers made per game.
Miami (17-11, 10-5 MAC) at Buffalo (18-10, 10-5 MAC)
2 p.m. • Miami leads series 17-5
• Miami plays its final game of the regular season when the RedHawks travel to Buffalo, N.Y. for a 2 p.m. game on Sunday... Miami is coming off a 50-45 overtime win over Bowling Green on Thursday... In his 19th season as a head coach, all with Mid-American Conference programs, Miami head coach Charlie Coles owns the third-most overall wins of any coach in MAC history and the second-most league wins all time. Coles boasts a 316-250 overall record and a 193-132 all-time MAC mark. He is just one MAC wins away from tying Bob Nichols’ league record for career conference wins of 194...Buffalo will close out the regular season against Miami at Alumni Arena on Sunday with an eye on the MAC regular season title. The Bulls are coming off a 77-71 overtime loss at Kent State on Thursday... With a win against Miami, the Bulls would earn their first ever first-round bye in the MAC Tournament.
Central Michigan (10-18, 6-9 MAC) at Western Michigan (10-19, 7-8 MAC)
2 p.m. • Western Michigan leads series 77-43
• Central Michigan travels to Kalamazoo on Sunday, March 8, to face rival Western Michigan. Tipoff in University Arena is set for 2 p.m...It is the regular season finale and a Chippewa win, along with a Ball State loss, would give the Chippewas a share of the West Division title along with WMU and BSU...CMU hasn’t won in Kalamazoo since the 2003 MAC championship season...WMU can clinch at least a share of the MAC West with a win and the outright crown with a win and Ball State loss...The Broncos have already clinched the outright Michigan MAC Men’s Basketball Championship, but it is still looking for perfection against its in-state rivals. WMU is trying to go 4-0 against EMU and CMU for the first time since 2005-06 and just the third time this decade (2003-04).
Northern Illinois (10-18, 5-10 MAC) at Toledo (6-24, 4-11 MAC)
2 p.m. • Toledo leads series 37-18
• Northern Illinois men’s basketball team will look to end the regular season with its first Mid-American Conference road victory, when the Huskies take on host Toledo at John F. Savage Arena Sunday afternoon... NIU is coming off Wednesday’s 75-61 loss at Eastern Michigan, moving into a tie with the Eagles for fourth-place in the MAC-West. Darion “Jake” Anderson bolstered his first-team All-MAC candidacy by pouring in a game-high 24 points...Toledo has won its last two MAC home games, and is 5-7 at Savage Arena this season. The Rockets are led by preseason All-MAC West selection Tyrone Kent, who is averaging 14.9 points per game.
Eastern Michigan (7-23, 5-10 MAC) at Ball State (13-15, 7-8 MAC)
2 p.m. (BSSN/FS Detroit) • Ball State leads series 53-33
•Ball State hosts Eastern Michigan in the 2008-09 regular season finale Sunday with its eyes on a Mid-American Conference West Division title and the ensuing number two seed in next week’s MAC Tournament...BSU has dropped two straight games by a combined three points...Eastern Michigan enters the game with a 7-23 overall record and a 5-10 mark in conference play ... The Eagles have won three straight and four of their last six games...Redshirt sophomore Brandon Bowdry turned in his fifth double-double of the season Wednesday, March 4, when he scored 19 points with 12 rebounds in a 75-61 win over a visiting Northern Illinois University team. |
