2011 MAC Championship: #1 Kent State vs. #6 Akron
The 2011 MAC Tournament Championship was set last night when #1 Kent State topped #4 Ball State and #6 Akron defeated #2 Western Michigan making it an all-Ohio final in Cleveland. To add to the good fortune, the Mid-American Conference office had to be happy that the two teams most geographically close to Cleveland are playing in tonight’s title game.
Kent State comes in the #1 seed at 23-10 (12-4 MAC) and an RPI of #71 while rival Akron is the #6 seed at 22-12 (9-7) with a RPI of #117. The two teams played each other twice in the regular season with Akron winning their home game 65-62 on January 8th and Kent State winning in Kent on March 4th by a score of 79-68. Kent State has had to knock off #8 Buffalo and #4 Ball State to get here while Akron defeated #11 Eastern Michigan, #3 Miami and #2 Western Michigan.
Tonight’s contest tips off at 6 pm ET and will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with a local Cleveland radio broadcast on ESPN 850. Fans can follow @VanDelaySports on Twitter for additional updates on the 2011 MAC Tournament.
The opening tip-off goes to Kent and we are underway. Kent strikes first with a 3-ball by Randal Holt. The refs are letting them play early as Kent State now leads 5-0. Cvetinovic answers before a 3-ball by Porrini. Porrini, my Player of the Tournament, then gets a steal and assist, 10-2. It’s 12-2 as Manns scores again and Akron calls a 30 second timeout. Back from the TO and a Kent block send the ball into the hands of a fan in front of me in the courtside seats and we have reached our first media timeout.
15:54 - Kent starting strong again tonight now leads 14-3. After several empty possessions Sherman picks up a foul and McNees nails a 3-ball shortly thereafter. Then the fans sitting courtside block my view, yet again, and something happened, I just do not know what. Ahh, a Kent 30-second TO with 11:47 to play in the half. McNees another 3-ball and it is 14-9 with 11:02 left.
Media Timeout - Kent’s student section just got loud! The t-shirt cannon came within distance and the fans seemed awake. About time.
11:02 - After 2 Kent FTs from Holt it is 16-9 before Bardo scores for Akron. Akron gets it back and McNees scores and is fouled, but misses the FT. We have a 18-15 Kent lead at the media timeout.
Kent State’s dance team just performed. Compared to the rest of the conference they’re middle of the pack at best. I’ll give them a C, and Cs earn degrees…
Stats - Both teams shooting 6-18 early. 6-6 points in the paint. Porrini has 3-3-3 (pts, reb, ast).
7:44 - McKnight for 3 and it is 22-20 after Kent FTs. Greene with the hook shot and the big man has 4 points. Abreu grabs a loose ball and improvises which results in a bucket and it is 24-22 Kent. A foul on Marshall leads the Kent students to chant “you can’t do that” which is so faint I could barely tell what they were saying. After Akron ties the game Sherman answers, but Marshall knots it at 26 with less than 3 to play in the half. Guyton nails a jumper and Abreu walks but it is not called. However after 3-4 steps and a layup attempt, Marshall touches the rim to wave off a definite hoop. Media timeout is here with Kent leading 28-26.
Akron’s dance team performing now and another uninteresting performance from a dance team tonight. Sorry, Miami already got my “best of the tournament” award on Thursday and these two are nowhere close.
Stats - McNees the top scorer in the game with 8 and Abreu providing an offensive spark for Akron on the past few possessions with 3 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast.
2:22 - Abreu fouled hits 1-2 for a 28-27 game before Guyton nails a 3-ball, but McNees answers with a 3 of his own. Now 31-30 we are inside of a minute in the half. Cvetinovic finds McNees for a heavily-contested 3-ball in the corner in front of us and he drills it for an Akron lead. Kent misses their final shot of the half and it’s 33-31 at the half.
Halftime - Akron 33 - Kent State 31
Halftime Hamster Race - The fans have to slalom through the cheerleaders. Brooke from Kent State is your winner.
Halftime Stats - McNees the high scorer with 14, McKnight with 7 for Akron and Guyton leads Kent with 7. Both teams have 7 players who have scored already. Akron shooting 50% from the field to Kent’s 40.7%. Akron’s bench winning the battle of the benches 15-9.
Halftime Dance Team Performances - Neither team looks good tonight. Slight edge to Kent State.
Crowd - Solid crowd tonight. Jeff @ MACReportOnline.com and I were guessing around 9,000 before the game, but that was a pregame estimate. From panning the crowd I would say something like 7,500 - 8,000, but I hope I am underestimating things…
2nd Half - Porrini ties it at 35 before Greene gets the foul to send Marshall to the line for a 3-point play and he hits. Bodies flying around as the refs are letting them play in the early going of the second half. Manns with a big dunk and Kent has tied it up at 38. Marshall with an awesome block off the glass leading to a fast break and foul on Kent on the other end. free throws when we return from the media timeout.
Abreu and Guyton trade 3-balls as Akron leads 44-43 with 11:35 left in the game.
Stats - McNees with 14 the high scorer, Abreu has 9 for Akron. Kent paced by Guyton’s 10 and 8 for Greene.
11:35 - Roberts from the corner for a 47-45 lead for Akron. Roberts scores his first points of the night on only his second shot. Greene scores to tie it and we have a media timeout.
7:47 - Roberts scores two more hoops and Kent is forced to call a timeout with Akron leading 54-48. Kent with 5 straight after the TO and Akron is forced to use a 30 second TO at 54-53.
58-56 Akron leads with 2:10 to play and my All-MAC Tournament team is in place. I’m not in love with my picks at all as Akron’s annual balanced attack once again leads to some tough decisions.
Back to the game, Akron can’t score and Roberts gets the foul on the other end sending Guyton to the line. Clank. Clank. Guyton misses a pair and McKnight gets the rebound and is fouled by Greene. A wasted opportunity by Kent, can Akron capitalize? Nope. McKnight with an air ball on the FT attempt. Greene gets the ball in the post and SWAT! Little Steve McNees swats it out of bounds, but Sherman scores seconds later to tie the game at 58. On Akron’s side of the ball Marshall gets an offensive rebound and with a foul on Greene will head back to the line.
Poor free throw shooting today as Kent is 10-19 and Akron 4-9 prior to Marshall’s trip to the line. Zeke hits 1-2 and it is 59-58 with under a minute to play. Feed in to Greene and McNees gets whistled on a bad call. Green at the line ties it at 59-59 with 42.0 seconds left and has another shot. Greene misses the second and Guyton gets the board in a tied game. Geno Ford wants a timeout.
32.0 seconds - regulation - Here we go. Porrini dribbling out the clock gives it up and Kent takes a terrible shot. Roberts scores his first points of the night on only his second shot. McNees tries to dribble up the court but loses the ball and Kent nearly gets a good look, but time runs out and we have overtime.
End of Regulation - Kent State 59 - Akron 59
Overtime - Fitting that we have OT between these two teams. You know, Kent State and Akron are just 14 miles apart and they do not like each other. So says the TV announcers. Kent grad Steve Urcheck texts in to tell us Greene’s legs are tired. He hasn’t been great tonight, but I think Greene will still have a major impact on this one.
Holt nails a 3-ball to open OT scoring and Kent leads 62-59. Greene whistled for foul #5 as Marshall heads to the line. Greene obviously disappointed. Marshall hits 1 of 2 and is 3-6 at the line tonight. A pass to Manns down low sees Marshall get his 6th block of the night before Manns gets it back and draws the foul and hits 1 of 2. 63-60 Kent leads and Dambrot wants a TO with 3:11 to play in the first OT.
3:11, OT 1 - McKnight with a fade-away jumper and the lead for Kent is one. Sherman takes two 3-point shots from the corner in front of me and looks like a middle school kid shooting. UGLY. Marshall gets a couple of blocks and a rebound and Akron gets the ball back in a 63-62 game with 1:17 to play.
1:17 - Akron ball with Kent up a point, Roberts scores inside and Akron is up 64-63. Geno calls a TO and may be considering a 2 for 1 with 56 seconds left. Guyton with a long jumper is good and Kent is back on top.
34.0 seconds, OT 1 - Kent leads 65-64, Akron ball. The shot clock reads 31 seconds, the game clock 34.0 seconds. Both teams are in the double bonus and neither has a timeout left. McNees loses the ball momentarily and finds McKnight under the hoop who is fouled by Porrini. Great job by the Kent fans on getting loud, but McKnight makes the first for the tie. FT #2 is good with 12.8 seconds left, Kent ball. Kent to the lane and Marshall gets a big block, Kent cannot get a good shot off and Akron is your winner.
Final Score - Akron 66 - Kent State 65 - OT
Official Attendance - 8,926
Tags: 2011 mac tournament, akron zips, kent state golden flashes, kent state golden flashes vs akron zips, kent state vs akron, MAC Basketball Tournament scores, MAC Basketball Tournament updates, mac ncaa tournament, mac tournament
March 12th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Let’s go Flashes!
March 12th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
Let me guess, everyone’s at the game?
March 12th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
I believe they are as the lower decks are pretty full. The top is not open though.
March 12th, 2011 at 6:24 pm
This is one day I wish I didn’t live in a sunny south state.
March 12th, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Yesterday you would not have thought the same way. The weather was terrible and driving conditions Thursday night up here were as bad as anything I have been in over a 5-year stretch.
March 12th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Great game to watch. Lots of emotion. I could live with the loss if it was not the Zits. Make a darn foul shot and we are Dancing.
March 12th, 2011 at 9:01 pm
You’re right. I’m glad I’m not there.