|
 The MAC lacks a signature win (again) in non-conference play, but when intra-conference pleasantries are renewed? It's great. We had three overtime games over the weekend, two of them going into multiple OT's. It's fun to follow a conference that has such high potential for dramatic, exciting contests. If you can't enjoy it, well... I don't know what to tell you.
1. Kent State (9-6, 0-1)
I don't think a road loss to their arch-rival that they easily could have won means the Flashes aren't the best team in the conference. Brutal shooting day for both teams at the JAR, but Justin Greene's 4-15 day was the worst. That's back-to-back bad shooting days from an otherwise excellent shooter. Kent can't afford for him to miss that many shots. Akron's size bothered him, but he also had poor shot selection. What was more surprising was Kent losing on the boards; Akron pulled down a higher percentage of defensive and offensive rebound chances.
This week: Bowling Green (Tuesday), @Ohio (Saturday)
2. Akron (10-5, 1-0)
Did everyone enjoy Zeke Marshall's coming out party? He's going to flat-out dominate this conference. He posted a sick .49 efficiency per possession Saturday against Kent State. Overshadowed a bit by Marshall's performance was Brett McKnight, who continues to play some of the best basketball of his career since coming back from suspension. It's a shame Wednesday's Ohio contest isn't on TV; the Zips and the Bobcats are a compelling matchup and produce some of the best games every year.
This week: Ohio (Wednesday), @Buffalo (Sunday)
3. Ball State (9-4, 1-0)
There doesn't seem to be much standing between the Cardinals and West Division domination. They led essentially wire-to-wire at DeKalb and did a fantastic job defending Xavier Silas. Jarrod Jones was unstoppable and Jauwan Scaife is emerging as a reliable backcourt scoring option. The downside is those two are taking the lion's share of shots for BSU and if you stop one, you're probably stopping the Cardinals. Freshman forward Chris Bond is seeing increased minutes, and rightfully so; he's shooting 58.7% from the field and that percentage has actually improved as his number of shots have risen. If he can establish himself as a third scorer, they will take the #1 seed.
This week: Western Michigan (Wednesday), Central Michigan (Saturday)
4. Miami (6-9, 1-0)
Antonio Ballard talked about how the RedHawks came together as a team after their thrilling victory in Athens. If that carries over and Miami uses that win as a catalyst, then I'm not about to count them out of the East race. The counter-argument is that Miami barely emerged from a sloppy game against a mediocre team that they tried to give away. MU had chances to win at the end of regulation and the first and second overtimes and only ran a good play at the end of the second OT. That is completely contrary to their play during the rest of the periods, in which they played smart offense and were rewarded with a free throw parade. They also obliterated Ohio on the glass. I think this is an up-and-down team that is going to drive Charlie Coles and Miami fans crazy (if it hasn't already).
This week: Buffalo (Thursday), @Bowling Green (Saturday)
5. Western Michigan (8-6, 1-0)
In other words, the only team capable of challenging Ball State in the West. Not a pretty win by any means, but the Broncos compensated for a frigid 36% shooting day by getting to the line 17 more times than Central Michigan and outshooting them 71% to 61%. Matt Stainbrook returned from injury to pull down 12 rebounds and did not turn the ball over in 36 minutes, a welcome sign for their inside game. If Nate Hutcheson can find some consistency, WMU will quietly have one of the MAC's better frontcourts.
This week: @Ball State (Wednesday), Eastern Michigan (Sunday)
6. Ohio (7-8, 0-1)
The Bobcats have already lost six times at The Convo, a place where they simply weren't losing before John Groce came to town. Dropping the opener at home to Miami underscores the very real chance Ohio could have three consecutive losing MAC seasons for the first time in 33 years. At the same time, they showed more poise against Miami than they have all season (save perhaps for the Santa Clara game) and Ivo Baltic is starting to show he's a good offensive second banana to do-everything point DJ Cooper. But OU simply must get at least a split this week against teams that swept them in the regular season last year.
This week: @Akron (Wednesday), Kent State (Saturday)
7. Bowling Green (6-9, 1-0)
Four in a row for the Falcons, and they showed you don't actually have to hit free throws on the road to win. Free throws are a funny thing. Players will hit 100 in a row in practice but barely make half in games, and they won't be able to explain why that is. Free throws are overwhelmingly mental. And every team practices them. Every team. But let's talk about what they did well! BG clamped down on the conference's best-shooting team, holding Buffalo to 39% from the field and 32% from three. If this is going to be a consistent defensive performance, they'll be in a lot of games.
This week: @Kent State (Tuesday), Miami (Sunday)
8. Buffalo (8-5, 0-1)
The Bulls continue to be mystified by MAC openers against Bowling Green. What we learned is that the team's success depends on Byron Mulkey and Zach Filzen. They both turned in their worst performances of the year against Youngstown State and BG, both losses. Javon McCrea, though, was awesome and is the frontrunner for Newcomer of the Year by a wide margin. He needs to cut down on the fouls, but when he's in, he's a player. Also, the Bulls only shot 10 free throws at home. That's not going to work.
This week: @Miami (Thursday), Akron (Sunday)
9. Eastern Michigan (4-10, 1-0)
Brandon Bowdry turned in another All-MAC performance against Toledo, about the only notable thing about a game that was out of doubt early in the second half. Let's see how they fare against teams that aren't dragging themselves out of a pit.
This week: Northern Illinois (Tuesday), @Western Michigan (Sunday)
10. Northern Illinois (4-9, 0-1)
Xavier Silas continues to cool off, and if he can't fill it up, the Huskies have no chance. But there was an encouraging performance by freshman Nate Rucker, who attempted 11 free throws (but only made 4) and played a solid all-around game. Sophomore Tony Nixon, Ricardo Patton's most-heralded recruit, has struggled from the start of his career.
This week: @Eastern Michigan (Tuesday), Toledo (Saturday)
11. Central Michigan (3-11, 0-1)
Shooting 7% from three is generally harmful to a team's chances to win. In fairness, the Chippewas' 14 three-point attempts only constituted 20% of their shots, but that's still going to hurt. CMU had a miserable shooting day in all aspects: 31% from the field and 61% at the line, but only turned it over 7 times in 69 possessions and pulled down a higher percentage of rebound opportunities than Western Michigan. So if you're looking for a silver lining in an otherwise ugly game, there it is.
This week: Toledo (Wednesday), @Ball State (Saturday)
12. Toledo (3-12, 0-1)
You have to wonder if Anthony Wright wishes he didn't leave Michigan. There are only two senior Rockets and neither of them are big factors; Wright is getting 19.6 minutes a contest and Justin Anyijong is only playing 12.8. Tod Kowalczyk has clearly decided to press the reset button and let the younger players lead the program for better or worse.
This week: @Central Michigan (Wednesday), @Northern Illinois (Saturday)
J. Scott Fitzwater is a regular contributor to MAC Report Online. You can send him an email at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
and follow him on Twitter @jscottfitzwater.
|
