MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

The 2010 Mid-American Conference Tournament continues with #1 seed Kent State facing #9 seed Ohio. Kent State has one of the most impressive bubble resumes out there at 23-8 overall and 13-3 in MAC play while Ohio is 18-14 and went 7-9 in the MAC. Kent State took both meetings over the Bobcats in 2010.

1st thought… Thank God, OU brought their band this year.

Ok, real thoughts. OU needs to turn the pace up to have a good chance in this one. Kent plays good defense and OU should have trouble executing in the half court. If I’m Groce, I play a lot of press in this one to try to get Kent out of their tempo. Kent’s the 1 seed, Kent won the regular season, Vegas has Kent favored by 5 points… Kent should win.

16:53 - 3-2 OU with lots of missed shots early. Tommy Freeman hit a 3, OU has to look to get him the ball more, he’s been unconcious lately.

14:28 - Tied at 8. DJ Cooper in early foul trouble with 2 already for the cats. He’s been averaging in the high 30 minutes late this season. OU already with 5 TO’s Kent with none, when the Flashes start hitting shots, it’s trouble.

13:57 - Still tied at 8. OU turning up the defensive pressure a little like I theorized pregame.

12:05 - Freeman for 3, Bassett for 3. OU’s pressure gets to Kent who turns it over. Bobcats up 14-10.

11:45 - Bassett with a nice 14 footer, OU’s up 16-10 and as the crowd turns up the noise Kent takes a timeout… Looking like Bassett’s really trying to take control of the offense with DJ Cooper on the bench with 2 fouls.

11:35 - Kent now 0-5 at the line.

10:18 - Armon Bassett playing great OU up 23-12 as KVK makes one from just inside the 3pt line. Everything’s falling for the Cats right now.

9:00 - Ohio up 23-14, but not doing themselves any favors with a 6-1 foul differential.

6:59 - Ohio up 25-15… OU fans with a giant mock cheer as Kent is called for a foul on the floor. Now a 7-2 foul differential… Kent better hope the refs don’t close that up. It’s been the Armon Bassett show here so far, he’s 5-7 shooting with 13 points and a couple of assists while Cooper’s been on the bench with two fouls most of the half. For Kent, Singletary has 10 points, but he’s only 2-7 at the line.

5:26 - Devon Washington with a SportsCenter highlight of a dunk. OU fans are going crazy behind us as the Bobcats lead 32-15.

5:15 - Geno takes a TO, and OU commits yet another foul on the other end. 2 problems I can see for the Bobcats on the horizon, 1 if they get into much more foul trouble, they don’t have a deep bench. 2, eventually they’re going to start missing some shots.

4:37 - Singletary with his second foul after Freeman misses an open 3… OU 32-17.

3:59 - OU just looks faster and like they want it more at this point. Kent needs to get to the locker room and try to cut this to 10…. and as we come back from Groce’s TO Devo lays one in. OU by 14.

2:13 - We finally get the last media timeout of the half as Aswon Sayles commits a foul on the floor. OU’s up 36-22, as some Kent fan doesn’t know that Trevor Huffman won player of the tournament in 2001 and 2002.

2:02 - Story of the half, OU shooting 56% Kent only shooting 28%.

:42 - Tommy Freeman ties up the player in the post twice in a row on consecutive possessions… Good D. OU 38-24.

Halftime - OU up 40-24. Bobcats look really good and Kent looks really not so far in this one. Excitement as Freeman heaves one from three-quarters court and juuuust misses as the half runs out. Kent has to hope the half cools off the Cats and that they can collect themselves in the locker room.

Stats have arrived… Kent shot 25% on the half, 1-10 from 3, 7-13 at the line. You’ve gotta think those stats improve. We’ll see if the Bobcats can weather the first 5 minutes of this half, that should tell us a lot.

DJ Cooper played 3 minutes with foul trouble. Bassett 6-9 shooting, 18 points, 2 boards, 5 assists. He’s been the story in this one.

17:59 - The Kent parade to the foul line continues, they’re still missing though, 2-4 this half.

17:03 - Kent cutting into the 16 pt deficit… as I say that Devo with a steal, runout, windmill jam. Sportscenter. He’s had 2 tonight that could be on there. OU could have put it back to 16 on a Freeman missed 3, Kent gets to the hoop and it’s an 11 point game.

15:54 - 46-35 OU leads. Kent’s cutting into it, their shooting has been much improved this half (much improved on 25% so take that for what it’s worth). OU will have ball when we get back from break.

14:42 - Kent cuts it to 9, OU getting sloopy and looking confused on offense. Kent had an open 14-footer to cut it to 7 but missed.

14:09 - Bassett can’t finish a pretty take. Greene nails 2 at the line, he’s killing the Cats on the boards with 9 of Kent’s 21.

13:17 - Chris Singletary commits his 4th foul, 48-39 OU leads with the ball.

12:32 - Holt with a 3, 6 point game. Bassett tries to answer, not good. Kent gets it inside, but can’t finish. Bodies on the floor at the OU end, no call.

11:46 - Kent puts it in on a runout, 4 point game. Now the Kent fans (finally) are getting into it and Groce needs a timeout. After scoring 40 points in the first half, the Bobcats have only managed 8 in the first 8 minutes of this one, looking more like the normal Kent defense out there now.

11:15 - Keely draws a foul on his move to the hoop and we get our media TO. Still a 4 point game. Bobcats need a score on this possession, they’re reeling. So much for my Tommy Freeman needs to shoot more rant… 2-8 so far.

10:20 - Kent putting Keely on the line, it’s a good strategy as he’s split 2 sets in about the last minute. Bobcats still by 4.

9:16 - Bassett hits a pair at the line, gets a steal and is now back at the line… Hits another pair, 54-46 OU.

8:58 - Cooper pokes it free, Bassett to Cooper, back to Bassett on the break… Layup… AND 1. OU crowd loves it, Bobcats with 10 and Bassett going to the line where he’s currently 7-7 (I think those stats are old)

SWISH

8:24 - Kent makes a layup and Bassett’s about to go to the line again after a foul. Singletary accidentally knocks Bassett down after the foul, the OU section doesn’t like it, but it was an obvious accident.

6:55 - 62-50 OU’s offense has come back as we head to a timeout on the floor. Armon Bassett still coming up absolutely huge in this one… 8-14 from the field, 12-12 at the line for 32 points… he has 5 assists too.

In the second half OU shooting 39% to Kent’s 50%, the difference is at the line where OU has gotten 11 free points to Kent’s 4.

5:46 - Kent shooting terribly from the FT stripe. OU up 11.

4:41 - KVK takes a charge…nope, refs call it a block… and 1. That’s the 3rd charge in a row that they’ve called a block. Not good. 6 point game again.

4:17 - Bassett with a take to the hoop, can’t finish, Devo fouled on the follow. Cats up 8 after he hits both.

3:59 - OU up 68-60 and getting the ball back after a Kent travel. If OU holds on, you’ve gotta hope Miami wins at 9… OU and Miami playing in Cleveland is right up there with death and taxes.

Kent likely has one more run left in them. OU needs to close out on the shooters, and avoid dry spells at the offensive end.

3:31 - If I were Kent I wouldn’t put Armon Bassett at the line any more… he’s 14 of 14.

2:49 - Singletary fouls out and the OU fans LOVE it… They have some history… Bassett going back to the line up 10. Makes ‘em both.

1:49 - Not seeing the imminent Kent run. OU up 12 with the ball. It’s looking like they’ve put this one away.

OU 81 - Kent 64. Great effort from the Bobcats tonight. Kent tested them and cut it to 4 a couple of times in the 2nd half, but Ohio stayed tough and closed this one out. Armon Bassett with a ridiculous game. 38 points, 7 assists, perfect on 16 from the FT line. I said it on Twitter, but Ohio vs Miami in Cleveland is a little like death, taxes. Gotta pull for Miami over Buffallo tonight just for tradition’s sake.

Tags: 2010 mac basketball tournament, 2010 mac tournament, MAC Basketball Tournament, mac tournament, mac tournament kent state vs ohio

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 6:59 pm and is filed under MAC Basketball, MAC Basketball Tournament. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.