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 Last week in the Mid-American Conference…was a light week as most teams completed their non-conference schedules. The Ohio Bobcats are off to their best start in over 70 years as they extended their winning streak to nine games. The Akron Zips saw their four-game winning streak end but rebounded with a big road win at Marshall while Central Michigan has a break before starting conference play this week.
This week the teams get ready for conference play on Saturday with the big games being Ohio traveling to Bowling Green, Kent State heads to Buffalo, Ball State plays host to Western Michigan, and Toledo heads to Central Michigan.
Here is a look back and a look ahead for all 12 MAC Men’s Basketball teams as they begin play in the first week of 2012.
EASTERN DIVISION
AKRON (8-6): The Zips split their two games this week…They saw their four-game winning streak come to an end Thursday night, losing to the Virginia Commonwealth Rams (Colonial Athletic), 76-75, in overtime after letting a 12-point second half lead slip away. Four players scored in double figures, led by fifth-year senior F Nikola Cvetinovic who led all scorers in the game with 21 points along with seven rebounds four assists, a steal, and a blocked shot…Sunday UA headed to Huntington, West Virginia and got back on track as they defeated the Marshall Thundering Herd (Conference USA), 67-51, at the Henderson Center. Cvetinovic led the Zips with 14 points while junior F Chauncey Gilliam added 12, Sophomore G Alex Abreu, F Demetrius Treadwell and junior C Zeke Marshall added 10. Cvetinovic was named MAC East Player of the Week as he averaged 17.5 points-six rebounds and seven assists against VCU and Marshall. (Zeke) Marshall leads the team in scoring at 11.2 per game. Cvetinovic is tops in rebounds at 6.5 and Abreu in assists at 4.0. Akron opens conference play on Saturday at Miami
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BOWLING GREEN (6-7): The Falcons continued their road swing, losing both contests this week. Wednesday night brought a loss to the Duquesne Dukes (Atlantic-10), 86-76. F A’uston Calhoun led the Falcons with 24 points, going 10-of-15 from the field while Scott Thomas added 20. His first points made him the 38th player in Falcons history to score 1000 points in his career…Sunday the Falcons were deep in the heart of Texas as they lost their fourth in the last five games, this one to the Roadrunners of Texas-San Antonio (Southland), 86-79, in overtime. F Torian Oglesby led the Falcons with 20 points and 13 rebounds. He also became part of NCAA history as he was a perfect 10-for-10 against UTSA and had made his last 26 field goals without a miss over a seven-game span, breaking the record set by Ray Voelkel of American University in 1978. He accomplished the feat in a nine-game span. G Jordon Crawford added 16, along with a career high 11 assists, and Calhoun scored 13 -- all in the second half and overtime. Calhoun leads in scoring at 12.9 and rebounds at 6.5 while Crawford leads in assists at 3.8. BGSU returns home Saturday to play the Ohio Bobcats their first ever MAC game at the Stroh Center and their first home tilt since December 7 when they defeated Malone.
BUFFALO (6-4): After losing at Brigham Young, the Bulls traveled all the way to Philadelphia on Wednesday and fell to the Temple Owls, 87-85, as the home team scored the winning basket with 0.3 seconds remaining. Sophomore F Javon McCrea led UB with 28 points (24 coming in the second half) while senior F Mitchell Watt added a career best 22 with nine rebounds and six blocked shots. In the loss, the Bulls shot 55.2 percent from the field. McCrea leads in scoring at 17.8 (third in the MAC) and in rebounds at 8.0 while sophomore G Jerrod Oldham leads in assists at 6.3 (third in the MAC). UB opens conference play Saturday as Kent State comes to Alumni Arena, It is the Bulls first home game since December 10th when they defeated Youngstown State.
KENT STATE (10-3): After going 1-2 at the Athletes In Action Classic in Utah, the Golden Flashes had seven days off before returning to action on Thursday night, defeating the Arkansas State Red Devils (Sun Belt) 69-54 at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro. G Randal Holt led KSU with 17 points and three assists while senior G Carlton Guyton added 11 with seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals. The Flashes shot a sizzling 55.6% from the field in the victory. Holt leads the Flashes in scoring at 12.1 per game. Senior F Justin Greene leads in rebounds at 6.8 and fellow senior G Michael Porrini leads in assists at 3.8. KSU opens MAC play Saturday at Buffalo against the Bulls.
MIAMI (4-7): The RedHawks finished the 2011 portion of their schedule on Thursday night as they defeated the College of William & Mary (Colonial Athlletic), 73-63, at Millett Hall. It was just their second win in the last eight games. The victory, however, was head coach Charlie Coles’ 350th at MU. Josh Sewell scored 18 points, including a three-pointer that sealed the victory. G Quenten Rollins added 18 while Julian Mavunga added 17 and seven rebounds. Mavunga leads the conference in scoring at 19.9 and in rebounds at 10.4 while Rollins leads in assists at 2.8. Brian Sullivan erupted for 18 points, hitting eight treys in a road loss at SEC power Vanderbilt. Miami opens MAC play on Saturday when Akron visits Millett Hall.
OHIO (12-1): The Bobcats ran their winning streak to nine games on Friday night, defeating the Kennesaw State Owls, 71-63 at the Convocation Center. The 12-1 start matched the best opening in school history accomplished two other times in 1939-40 and 1920-21. Forward Ivo Baltic led the Cats with 15 points and nine rebounds while G D.J. Copper added 14 with seven assists, and G Nick Kellogg also scored 14. It was Ohio’s 13th consecutive win at home. Cooper leads the Cats in scoring at 14.1 and in assists at 6.8 (second in the MAC). Baltic paces the squad in rebounds at 5.5. Ohio finished non-conference play Monday night when Robert Morris (Northeast) pulled out a 70-67 win. The Bobcats open MAC play on Saturday at Bowling Green.
WESTERN DIVISION
BALL STATE (7-4): The Cardinals emphatically ended their two-game losing streak with an 86-58 win over the Chicago State Cougars (Independent) at Worthen Arena as they shot 51.9% from the field. Senior F Jarrod Jones led five BSU players in double figures with 17 points. Jones was named MAC West Player of the Week for the third time this season and leads BSU in scoring at 18.1 and rebounds at 8.2 (both second in the MAC to Miami’s Julian Mavunga). Senior G Randy Davis leads the conference in assists at 7.1. The Cards play three of the next four at home beginning Wednesday night against Florida A&M (MEAC) before opening MAC play Saturday against Western Michigan
CENTRAL MICHIGAN (5-8): The Chippewas were off this past week as they head into MAC play this week, losers of three straight and six of their last seven. G Trey Ziegler leads the squad in three key categories: scoring (16.5), rebounds (6.6) and assists (2.7) CMU begins MAC play at home Saturday against Toledo.
EASTERN MICHIGAN (5-9): The Eagles traveled to the Bay Area of Northern California for the Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara University. In their first game Thursday night, they lost to the host Broncos (West Coast), 75-55, as Darnell Lampley led EMU with 14 points. Sophomore J. R. Smith added 10. In the consolation game Friday, they managed just 37 points in a loss to the Falcons of Air Force (Mountain West), 42-37, as Anton Green had nine points and eight rebounds and Jamell Harris added nine with nine boards. Lampley leads the Eagles in scoring at 14.3 per game while Harris leads in rebounds at 6.3. EMU opens MAC play on Saturday heading to Northern Illinois to battle the Huskies.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (0-11): The Huskies were off last week and have not played since December 20 when they lost at home to Valparaiso (Horizon)m 59-49. Senior F Tim Toler leads in scoring at 11.0 ppg. NIU picked up its first win of the campaign Tuesday night , cruising past Roosevelt 72-46. Antone Christian led the way with 14 points and the Huskies limited Roosevelt to eight second half points after the Lakers led by five at the break. Tim Toler added 12 and Abdel Nader chipped in 11 for NIU, which opens
MAC play at home Saturday when Eastern Michigan comes to DeKalb.
TOLEDO (7-6): The Rockets failed to hold a halftime lead and dropped their fifth in the last six games as they fell to the Cleveland State Vikings (Horizon), 72-64, Wednesday night at Savage Arena. Junior G Curtis Dennis led UT with 14 points and six rebounds while sophomore F Matt Smith scored 13 and fellow soph Reese Holliday added 12. Pierson leads in scoring at 15.8 and in rebounds at 8.1 (third in the MAC) while Julius Brown leads in assists at 5.1 dimes per game. UT closed the non-conference portion of the schedule with a 107-43 drubbing of Indiana-Northwest Tuesday. The Rockets MAC play on Saturday as they head to Mount Pleasant to battle Central Michigan.
WESTERN MICHIGAN (5-8): The Broncos three game winning streak ended abruptly Friday night as they went to Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. and were routed by the Duke Blue Devils 110-74. WMU played gamely despite not having three key players who were out with injuries. Matt Stainbrook paced the Broncos with 18 points and five rebounds. He leads the Broncos in scoring at 12.8 and in rebounds at 6.7 while senior G Mike Douglas leads in assists at 4.3. WMU completes its non-conference schedule on Tuesday night as the Bronocs battle the Milwaukee Panthers (Horizon) in Kalamazoo before heading to Muncie to open MAC play Saturday against Ball State.
There you have it, the calendar has turned to January and ‘The Road to Cleveland’ and the 2012 FirstEnergy MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament begins in earnest on Saturday.
Find your seat and get ready for tipoff.
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