MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

We’ve had fun live blogging the games all week, so we’re gonna keep it going for the Championship Game. Hopefully people are enjoying reading this as much as we’re enjoying writing it.

Pregame - The one could probably go either way. Part of me says it’s the MAC, so Kent State is going to win and take the automatic bid, since they’d definitely garner an at large at this point if they lost. On the other hand Akron looked solid winning handily against Western Michigan last night while Kent had to scrap for 40 minutes to pull it out against Miami. It’s definitely a late arriving crowd at the Q. With 15 minutes till game time let’s hope people get in the arena and in their seats soon… I’m starting to back off my 15k prediction. Great seats for the AK rowdies tonight in the lower bowl off the corner of the court behind Akron’s bench. Kent students are still stuck in the 2nd level behind the hoop. Makes me wonder if Akron’s ticket office went to bat for the students and blocked off that section for them. If so, they deserve props… if not, I’d be complaining if I were a Kent student.

Rumor Alert - Word has it that Ohio University is about to accept a bid to play in the new CBI Tournament. Like I said, this is a rumor that I don’t have from a really great source or anything, but there’s definitely some buzz about this. In my opinion it’s a much more likely occurance if Akron wins tonight and the MAC sends two teams to the NCAA Tournament, meaning the NIT would be forced to select Western Michigan or Miami, opening up a possible slot for Ohio.

Judging by pregame intros I think the crowd is about 60/40 Kent, but it’s debatable.

14:19 - 11-8 Akron out to an early lead. The Zips are knocking down their 3’s. Linhart has 2 and Middleton has another. Fisher at the line trying to complete a 3 point play when we get back.

11:46 - Tied at 13. Mike Scott with a dunk. Will be interesting to see if he gets untracked. He was quiet against Miami last night.

10:00 - 15-14 Kent. Are they saying Boo or Q?… They’re saying Q.

7:29 - This has been a really exciting tournament so far with some really exciting games and tonight doesn’t look like it’ll be an exception with both teams tied at 19 as we go into the media timeout.

4:12 - Ball movement was the theme of the last 3 minutes as Kent State opens an 8 point lead. As Rashad Woods hits a 3 to go up 28-20 Akron takes a TO.

3:40 - Still 28-20. Akron missing bunnies and Kent is hitting the defensive glass on everything. Akron has gone cold, only shooting 37% compared to Kent’s 52%. The Zips need to sink some shots. They can’t afford to let this get into double digits before halftime.

Halftime - Kent leads 33-20. I’ll say this, at least if Kent wins and the MAC only gets one bid, it seems like the Flashes will look really good doing it. They’ve looked awfully impressive in the first half and it’s starting to make me wonder where they might get seeded in the NCAA Tournament. I’d rather see them get disrespected by the committee and placed as an 11 or 12 seed than coming in as an 8 or a 9 seed and needing to beat a top team in the 2nd round.

Kent shooting 52% from the field, Akron only shooting 29%. Kent winning the rebounding battle 20-13. Kent winning points in the paint 20-8. Kent getting 14 bench points to Akron’s 1. Akron only 3-9 at the FT line. Just a dominating performance by the Flashes in nearly every facet of the game here tonight.

17:59 - Chris Singletary makes a great shot as he’s fouled and converts the 3-point play. Wood has 3 fouls.

15:33 - More missed Akron free-throws, missed layup on the break by Middleton and Q and Scott play two-man which results in a dunk for Scott. 42-27 KSU lead. They just want it more tonight it seems.

Kent State’s dance team with quite an interesting performance. Weird outfits, kinda odd routine set to some strange music with a tribal beat. I think that performance just confused everyone more than anything. I don’t want to be negative, but wow.

11:59 - Did Akron finally catch a break? They hit 1 of 2 at the line, but Daryl Roberts grabs the rebound, sticks it back, and gets fouled. Akron down 12… Roberts with a FT coming when we come back.

11:43 - Rashad Woods, daggers! Kent back up 14.

8:13 - Linhart with a pretty move, gets it to go and Akron cuts it to 10 as Kent takes a timeout.

7:44 - Scott gets away with a player control foul, gets the hoop. Scott steal, Akron called for an intentional foul as he flies in for a dunk. Kent up 53-41 with shots and the ball coming.

7:25 - Scott hits both, Singletary knocks down a layup while getting fouled. Singletary hits the FT and Kent’s up 17. Linhart drills Singletary going for a rebound and the crowd starts to get a little animated.

6:53 - Akron has been terrible at the foul line tonight. 58-41 Kent.

5:03 - 62-45 Kent. They just look like the much better team out here tonight.

3:44 - 63-48 Kent the only question now is who makes the All-Tournament Team. I’ve got Tyler Dierkers and Joe Reitz even though both of their teams bowed out in the semis. I’m also saying Mike Scott, Q, and Al Fisher on Kent State. I realize this leaves me with no Akron players on my Tournament Team, but it seemed like Wood and Middleton both played themselves out of contention tonight. Middleton shot 1-6 from the field and Wood shot 5-14 at the FT line. I’m sure many others will feel compelled to pick an Akron player since their team was in the Championship Game, and that’s fine, but I’m happy to let them figure out which Zip gets the honor.

3:19 - You’ve gotta wonder how much Wood’s knee is bothering him. He played great on Thursday, but he hasn’t looked good Friday or Saturday. With a leg injury like that it could really explain his lack of explosiveness and some of his free throw troubles.

2:19 - Kent is just better. You can feel the excitement of the Flashes fans starting to build as we’re getting closer to seeing Kent put an end to this one. They’re up 70-53.

0:56 - Kent up 72-55. Is Al Fisher your Player of the Tournament? He’s been awesome in big moments, but hasn’t scored a ton of points or anything. Really anyone of Fisher, Scott, Q could get it.

Final - 74-55 final. I say Kent is poised to make a Sweet 16 run this season with the right NCAA draw. Should be an interesting selection Sunday for them seeding wise. They can’t get a much worse draw than Miami did last season when they had to travel all the way out west to play Oregon in their backyard.

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, and we’re running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

Posted this earlier, but seems pertinent before this game… ESPN is calling Kent State a lock for the NCAA Tournament. I’ve gotta agree they’ve got a great profile and they looked awesome against the Toledo Rockets last night.

Pregame - If this was Kent State versus Ohio I’d be calling for a 20 point blowout by the Golden Flashes, but against Miami… I don’t know. Teams typically don’t blowout the RedHawks due to their style of slowing it down, and it’s hard to count out a team on a mission like Miami as they’ve been dedicating their play in this tournament to Coach Coles who underwent a heart procedure earlier this week. Bramos especially has been fantastic in the first two games of this tournament, and Miami has been getting some great contributions from Tyler Dierkers who went off for an unexpected 11 points and 13 rebounds last night against the Bobcats. Miami needs a similar performance tonight as Quaintance and Scott are a handful for anyone to handle in the front-court.

Kent fans are out in droves tonight. If you’re a MAC fan do you root for Kent to lose to Miami tonight so the MAC can get two bids? I think you root for Kent to win so they definitely have an at-large in their grasps, but it’d be realllllly nice to see the MAC get 2 bids for the first time since 1999.

Wally World sighting. He’s sitting in the first row across the court from the Miami bench rooting on his alma mater.

15:12 - Defensive struggle early, tied at 4.

10:30 - Kent up 12-9. It’s Tyler Dierkers so far for Miami. He’s all over the boards and already has 5 points.

7:34 - 14-13 Kent lead. More Dierkers, he’s all over the boards with 8 of them already and he hits another stick back for 7 total points. Chris Singletary with a mean block on a layup attempt last segment too.

3:45 - 21-17 Kent leads. The Golden Flashes are knocking down a ton of crazy shots tonight. Spinning runners, open 3 after open 3. I won’t have shooting percentages until halftime, but I’ve got to imagine that the Flashes are shooting at a pretty good clip right now, it’ll be interesting to see what happens if they cool down.

1:38 - Miami ties it at 21. They’re just out working Kent right now.

Halftime - 25-23 Kent leads. Great half of basketball. Kent shooting 45% Miami shooting 42%. They’re getting their points in different ways. Kent is 3-7 on 3-pointers, Miami is 0-4. Miami leads points in the paint 22-12. Tyler Dierkers has been huge for the RedHawks with 11 points and 9 boards. The Kent State attack has been spread out. Nobody has more than 6 points or 3 rebounds for the Flashes. I’m waiting for Scott, Q, Fisher, Bramos, or Pollitz to really step up in the 2nd half. If somebody wants it this game is there for the taking. We’ve seen all 4 of those guys take over games in the past.

Couldn’t we have just made Western Michigan’s band stay here after the last game and let them provide the music for this one?

15:29 - 31-29, Pollitz is starting to heat up. He’ll be going to the line trying to finish off a 3-point play when we get back. If I’m Kent State I’m a little worried right now. This is what I would call a “Miami game”. Low scoring, slow paced, a lot of scratching and clawing for every loose ball on both ends. The Flashes would love to force a couple of turnovers and get out and run the break. A thunder dunk or two by Scott or Q would quickly start to turn this into a home crowd for Kent. Right now their fans are a little quiet.

11:54 - Back and forth, back and forth, Kent up 35-34. It looked like the Flashes had a chance to seperate there knocking down a 3, and forcing Miami into a bad look on offense, but a long rebound started a fast break for Miami and Kenny Hayes converted a layup. Coach Henderson going with a small lineup of Moosman, Hayes, Pollitz, Pollitz and Bramos.

9:21 - Bramos finally on the board with a tough runner and Miami goes up 38-35 as the Miami faithful erupt. Christian calls a timeout to talk things over.

7:52 - Kent goes on a little run capped off by a Mike Scott steal and an Al Fisher 3-point play. Eric Pollitz hits a tough 18 footer and we’re tied up at 40. The end of this one is gonna be fun.

6:01 - Kenny Hayes is fouled shooting a 3 but only hits 1-3 FTs. Pollitz muscles to the hoop hits the shot and gets fouled… He misses. 3 point Miami lead.

4:38 - Kent cannot convert on the contested fast break opportunities that they’re getting. Miami is having trouble converting in the halfcourt. It’s coming back to defense. 43-42 Miami lead.

4:03 - Crazy sequence with Miami and Kent players toppling over each other. Coach Henderson is very upset with the officials right now, I think for not calling a travel when the Kent player with the ball tripped over Miami players on the floor and fell to the ground with the ball. The play is currently under review. I have no idea why. Kent leads by 1.

3:44 - Tim Pollitz misses another FT (the front end of a 1 and 1) the missed free throws are really starting to hurt the RedHawks… still down 1 to Kent.

2:21 - Eric Pollitz shows his brother how it’s done. Hits both free throws. Ties it up.

0:33 - Singletary with a 4th effort stick back to go up 2. Kenny Hayes with ridiculous, great, circus layup that somehow falls to tie it back up. Someone’s getting their hearts ripped out tonight.

0:03 - MAC Player of the Year Al Fisher hits a leaning 18 footer to put Kent up 2 with only seconds left. Miami is going to need another miracle shot here like they got from Doug Penno in last year’s Championship Game.

Final - Miami throw two passes that get knocked out of bounds, getting them a little further down court each time. With 2 seconds left it inbounds to Tim Pollitz on the wing who gets all the way to the hoop but leaves his floater inches short. What a game! What an awful heartbreaking way to lose for Miami, but wow, this one was a classic.

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, and we’re running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

ESPN is calling Kent State a lock for the NCAA Tournament. I’ve gotta agree they’ve got a great profile and they looked awesome against the Toledo Rockets last night.

Pregame - Western and Akron both looked really impressive last night. This one should be a close hard fought game, though both teams will have trouble matching what we saw this afternoon in the women’s semifinals. The lady Ohio Bobcats beat the heavily favored Bowling Green Falcons in double overtime. Great, great game as both teams traded shots throughout the end of regulation and both overtimes. The Bobcats will face the RedHawks tomorrow at 1pm to decide the MAC Championship.

15:53 - Akron with some nice early ball movement jumps out to a quick 10-4 lead. They’re doubling Reitz down low on defense and he looks a tiny bit frustrated early.

11:45 - Akron leads 14-11. Western put together a little run at the end of this portion to close in on the Zips. The refs are going pretty easy on the whistles so far. Only 3 total foul calls. I like it.

9:58 - Reitz can’t convert at the line to make it a 3-pt play… Not to be outdone Middleton laces a conventional 3 as a foul is called under the hoop. Akron gets the bucket and the ball.

7:33 - Remember what I said about the refs swallowing their whistles? Nevermind. Suddenly we’ve got 10 fouls combined, and Zips fans are getting restless as 6 of them are on Akron. Akron still leads 21-15.

6:12 - Western with a lot of trouble getting into a groove on offense, 25-15 Zips.

4:56 - Reitz knocks another one down while getting fouled, and hits the FT. Western’s gotta get him more touches. 25-18 Zips.

1:38 - 35-24 Western takes a TO after Middleton nails a long 3 to put the Zips up 11.

Halftime - Not as close as I thought it would be so far. Akron has looked really good and they’re up 37-24. Akron has certainly been using a spread out attack, Chris McKnight and Middleton have been the players of the first half for them. Middleton is 4-4 with 11 points McKnight is 6-8 for 12. Points in the paint are even at 16. Akron is outrebounding the Broncos 16-8, leading to an 8-2 edge in second chance points. Though if you’re looking for the difference in this one check out 3-pt shooting. Akron is 5-9, Western is 0-4. Oddly enough Akron hasn’t attempted a shot at the line while Western is 8-10. That discrepancy hasn’t seemed to matter yet.

15:57 - 44-32 Akron still leads, though it’s not for lack of effort on Western’s part. The next 4 minutes should tell the story here. Western should either start closing the gap, or Akron is going to widen it.

11:56 - Or I guess there’s the third option, both teams trade buckets and it remains an Akron 12 point lead… So, maybe this will be the 4 minutes that tell the story. One way or another Western needs to start making a move here soon.

7:52 - Reitz is starting to heat up, but Akron just keeps knocking in buckets. They’re up 54-40. It’s starting to look like the Zips could just be too much for WMU to handle tonight.

5:58 - Akron shot 57% in the 1st half and they’re doing the same in the 2nd half as they’re still up 13. Tough to beat a team shooting that well.

4:59 - Why’s Akron shooting so well? Check out the assists column. Akron holds a 14-4 edge. They’re leading 61-46.

3:59 - This one’s just about over with Western down 62-49. They’ve been hanging around but have been incapable of making a run. It’s gonna take some kind of run now with only 4 minutes remaining to make up 13 points.

2:21 - Shawntes Gary with a 3-pt play and Akron takes a TO after some trouble trying to inbound the ball. 11-point Akron lead.

1:12 - Western still within striking distance, but again they can’t get close enough. Akron leads 67-59, heading to the line.

Final - 73-62 Akron wins this one comfortably. They’ll advance to the finals against the winner of tonight’s Kent State/Miami game.

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, so since it’s Thursday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

Pregame - OU won handily early in the season in Athens. Miami smoked the Bobcats 10 days ago in Oxford. What’s gonna happen tonight? I have no idea. Ohio cannot settle for jumpers and has to work the ball inside to Leon Williams early and often. On the other hand I think Miami would be smart to run their offense through Tim Pollitz as much as possible to start. If he can make some shots/pick up some fouls on Leon that would be great for the RedHawks, and if not he’s a great passer and the offense usually flows pretty well through his hands.

Wow. OU’s band is good. OU’s band is loud. I like it.

18:35 - Tillman with 5 quick points (FT pending) and the Bobcats are up 7-1. Though Leon Williams already has a foul…

15:43 - Ohio up 10-6 early. Bramos is keeping this one close by himself with 5 early points. A hungry Jerome Tillman is a good Jerome Tillman for OU, and Tillman looks hungry.

10:19 - Tied at 16. After going down 10-1 early Miami settles down and scores 13 in a row as OU misses some open jumpers and Williams has trouble finishing on a couple of open looks inside. If I’m Tim O’Shea, I’m already considering giving Devon Washington Kenneth Van Kempen’s minutes spelling Williams. KVK looks completely overmatched in every facet of the game right now.

7:01 - Tied at 22, this is a fast paced game for Miami, usually they like to have the score in the 20’s at the half. OU beginning to establish Williams in the post. He’ll be at the line when we come back.

3:03 - 31-30 Miami’s lead. Bubba with a realllllly long 3, Bramos is hitting just about everything that he tosses up. This is a really good game.

0:38 - Miami player touches the ball on the cylinder… refs miss it. RedHawks up 39-35. Can Miami really score 40 in a half? Bramos is coming back in, so if he gets the ball on this possession I’m thinking so…

Halftime - 39-35 Miami leads at the half. Can Miami score 70+ to win this? I said last night that I thought Coach Henderson plays at a slightly quicker pace than Coach Coles, and I think that’s coming true. Bramos was hot early with 12, Winbush surprisingly came up really big for the RedHawks adding 10 points as well. It’s the big guys doing it for OU, Tillman with 11 and Leon with 9. After coming up really short on the boards against Buffalo last night, Miami is leading 20-10 in that category. This game’s going to come down to the wire.

15:37 - OU hits a couple of 3’s before Bramos hits another running 18-footer. Leon splits a pair of FTs and Miami’s up 1, 43-42.

11:26 - Bramos and Williams are carrying their respective teams with Miami up 50-48. Bramos is working really hard on offense and making really difficult shots. Williams has been all over the glass especially on the offensive end where he’s getting the Bobcats some second and third chance points. It’s really early in the tournament, but both these guys are looking good for the All Tourney Team.

7:10 - Miami up 57-53, but what’s crazy is that the RedHawks have committed 7 fouls this half compared to OU’s 1. Two ways to look at this… OU will be in the bonus which could mean free points, or when this foul differential closes up (if it does) it could spell huge trouble for Ohio.

6:06 - Ohio has been working a lot harder on the offensive boards this half and thanks to another 2nd attempt they’ve closed the deficit to two, 57-55, though Kenny Hayes will be going to the line for 3 when we get back.

3:39 - 61-56 Miami, RedHawk ball. I can feel this one slipping away for Ohio. They’re pressing like crazy on offense. They’ve gotta go to Leon here.

2:49 - Miami blows about 5 bunnies in a row but keeps working on the o-glass and eventually gets it to fall. 63-56 lead. Leon Williams hits a beautiful falling layup while being fouled… nope, they’re calling it on the floor, that could have been a momentum swing.

1:07 - Dead man walking. Ohio with an intentional foul, EP hits 1 0f 2 and OU sends Miami back to the line. Miami’s up 8 with a FT coming.

Final - Miami moves on, for the second year in a row getting the better of the Bobcats in the quarterfinals. Gotta hand it to Bramos who went off for the second game in a row. Also, really nice contribution from Tyler Dierkers who was all over the boards for the RedHawks. Should be some interesting games tomorrow night. More to come tomorrow…

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, so since it’s Thursday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

Pregame - Toledo can’t shoot 1-17 from 3 again in this game (can they?), but I still don’t have a lot of faith in this being a very close game, even though the Rockets took it to Kent in Toledo this year. Kent State is a really good team and Jim Christian has shown that he can get his team to kick it into another gear at the Q. I expect Mike Scott and Haminn Quaintance to have their way with Toledo’s undersized front line and to get a bunch of high percentage shots. Toledo’s chances rely on their defense. Al Fisher can be turnover prone, so maybe there’s a chance that UT can turn up the heat and capitalize on turnovers.

15:54 - Quick start for both teams as they’ve traded a couple of 3’s and inside shots and are tied at 7. The Q is getting loud. Akron already advanced earlier. If Kent and Ohio advance tonight we could set an attendance record this weekend.

12:38 - Kent on an 11-2 run. Singletary gets a wide open layup and Joplin takes a TO. Kent up 18-9.

10:13 - Tyrone Kent knocks down a couple of 3’s, though the Golden Flashes answer one of them. KSU still leads 21-15.

7:18 - 25-19 Kent lead. Toledo certainly looks a lot better than they did against BG last night, plus they’ve been hitting some open shots, which helps. Mike Scott with 9 early points, though a lot of those have come from the perimeter, not on the inside like you’d think.

3:47 - Mike Scott is Superman. Anthony Byrd was positioned perfectly between Scott and the rim, but it didn’t matter as Scott lept over Byrd and threw one down, getting fouled in the process. You’re gonna see that play on Sportscenter’s Top 10 tonight. Kent State up 30-26.

3:05 - The refs can’t make up their mind if they want to call a player control or a block so they call a double foul instead. 3rd foul on Tyrone Kent. Not good for Toledo, 34-29 Kent’s lead… Offensive foul on Amos on the next UT possession. 3rd on Amos.

1:29 - Kent player takes a flop under the hoop and a completely awful offensive foul call on Toledo. 36-29 Kent leads.

Halftime - Superman Scott throws down an alleyoop on a fastbreak with about 30 seconds left and Toledo continues to self-destruct with offensive fouls. Then with 0.3 seconds left Jonathan Amos crazily contests a 3 pointer by Jordan Mincy, fouls him for his 4th, but Mincy goes on to miss all 3 free-throws. I’m not gonna say that the refs are jobbing Toledo here, but if I were Stan Joplin right now I would not be happy with the amount of foul calls–especially offensive foul calls–on Toledo in the first half. Kent leads at the half 39-29 and suddenly looks in control of this one. What’s even more troubling for Toledo is with all the foul trouble that they’re in, it’s going to be really hard for them to take chances going for steals in the second half.

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19:18 - Kent with 4 quick points, Toledo with a timeout. Interesting, a lot like the Central earlier Toledo looked like they came in a little warmed up from yesterday’s game and hit some early shots to make it a really tight game, but like with Akron, once Kent got a feel for the game around the 8 minute mark they started to pull away. Let’s see if the trend continues.

15:38 - Toledo cuts it to an 11-point game, and if I’m Joplin I’m considering bringing Amos back (with explicit directions about playing smart). This has been the Q and Scott show in the second half. Superman Scott already has 17 points.

13:49 - Kent leads 52-35, Scott with 20 points.

11:19 - Kent looks like they’re in control of this one up 57-39.

The smart guy award goes to Jim Christian in the second half of this one. He’s been letting Q, Scott, and Fisher sit for long stretches. Good idea with the prospect of playing 3 in 3 days and the possibility that whoever wins the Miami/OU game who Kent will be facing tomorrow could need to do it via a 40-minute slugfest.

8:44 - Tyrone Kent fouls out. Kent State up 21.

7:35 - Kent by 19. OK, I’m bored with this one and ready for OU/Miami now.

3:54 - 71-52 Kent. I’m done until this one’s a final.

Final - Kent wins 77-57. Superman Scott with 23 points in just 28 minutes of play. The Flashes looked really strong, and it’ll be interesting to see if the winner of Bobcats/RedHawks might give them a better game tomorrow. In my opinion win or lose tomorrow Kent State is a tournament team, no doubt about it.

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the MAC Basketball Tournament this week, so since it’s Thursday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

Preview - Based on yesterday’s game I feel like Central Michigan needs to play much, much better to have any chance of hanging with Akron here today. Yesterday’s game against NIU definitely won the ugly award for the hardest game of the day to watch, but maybe they’ll come out and surprise me.

> Find a newly-expanded selection of Akron Zips merchandise and buy CMU apparel & clothing online through the VanDelay Sports team shops!

17:02 - “Told you so” alert… Akron opens up the game with 7 unanswered points. CMU with a timeout to try to right the ship before this one gets away from them.

15:13 - CMU comes out of the TO and hits two three-pointers to cut it to 7-6. Jeremiah Wood is all business early with 4 points and 2 boards.

11:19 - CMU leading 12-10. All 12 of their points are on 3’s. If those stop falling, or Jeremiah Wood keeps blocking them like he did to Chris Kellermann consecutively on the last possession, the Chips could be in trouble.

6:40 - Central is playing much better than they were yesterday and they’re up 22-17 on the strength of some sweet outside shooting, going 6-14 from behind the arc so far. This is reminiscent of some of John Beilein’s old WVU teams who could beat teams by shooting primarily from behind the arc.

3:45 - 24-23 Central leads. Jeremiah Wood is the guy really keeping this one close as he’s been doing a little bit of everything out on the court in the first half. Just like last year in the Q, Wood seems to turn his intensity up a notch for these tournament games. So far he has 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, and assists. Akron’s keeping this close with their inside game as they’re out scoring CMU 16-4 in the paint.

0:17 - Central has gone kind of cold from the floor but 2nd chance points are keeping them afloat. Akron leads 32-29.

Halftime - Linhart hits a floating 8 footer as time expires and Akron goes to the half up 34-29. With how well CMU played in the first half, they’re still down 5. If this were a boxing match I wonder if Akron just took the best couple of punches that Central had to throw at them, yet stayed on their feet. The first 8 minutes of the 2nd half should tell the story. At this point Akron is winning thanks to Jeremiah Wood and their play in the paint, outscoring CMU in the paint 24-8.

16:34 - Akron opens it up to a 10 point lead, 41-31. Central is reeling and they call a timeout.

11:23 - Akron seems to be pulling away in this one up 51-38. When Central cooled down from 3 towards the end of the 1st half is when this one began slipping away from them… in fact CMU has only attempted one three-pointer in the 2nd half. If you’re looking for a difference in the game look at FG% with Akron shooting 53% and CMU only shooting 36%.

10:07 - Akron with another quick 5 and they go up 56-38. This one’s quickly becoming a laugher.

Bold prediction alert - Jeremiah Wood is gonna be on the All-Tournament Team (probably not that bold of a prediction).

7:58 - 61-39 Akron, these updates are going to become less frequent for the rest of this game unless CMU starts gunning themselves back into this game somehow.

2:24 - Akron in control 73-49 and it looks like they’re bringing in their mopup guys to finish this one off. Wood with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Linhart has looked great too with 16 points, 6 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Forgettable final game for Giordan Watson with 11 points on 3-11 shooting, 3 assists and 3 turnovers.

Final - 81-60 Akron. After starting out really slowly the Zips looked strong in this one. Should be a really good game with Akron and WMU playing tomorrow night.

Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the next four days, so since it’s Wednesday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

Preview - Miami doesn’t typically play a style that lends itself to blowouts (save 10 days ago versus Ohio), but I expect them to beat Buffalo fairly comfortably unless Andy Robinson goes absolutely nuts. Also I claim that Jermaine Henderson plays a (slightly) faster tempo than Coach Coles, so it’ll be interesting to see what the RedHawks look like with Henderson at the helm.

Miami’s band is here, I’m not impressed. Though a couple of guys in the UB band are decked out in top hats and shades, so… I don’t even know what joke to make here.

15:21 - Miami out to an early 8-4 lead. If some of their big men could finish off on nice feeds from the Pollitz brothers this would be an even bigger lead.

13:30 - If John Boyer isn’t Amish he pulls off the look really well with that shaved head and scraggly beard.

11:30 - Tied up at 12. We’re sitting right behind OU Assistant Coach Kevin Kuwick and I’m pretty sure he’s rooting for a 3 overtime thriller in this one. Early misses from the 5 foot range are plaguing Miami. Dierkers and Fletcher have blown a couple easy tries from in close.

9:16 - 20-14 UB with the lead. Boy is my blowout call looking dumb (but to be fair I was pretty much spot on with the earlier 3 games, so… yeah.)

7:46 - 22-16 UB is still up. Bramos with a thunderous block of a Buffalo 3-pt attempt sending us to a timeout on the floor. If I’m Miami here I’m working the ball to Tim Pollitz on the next few trips. Main difference so far is UB winning the rebounding battle 15-7.

5:17 - Miami with two quick hoops closing the deficit to 26-20 and Reggie Witherspoon responds with a quick time out.

2:50 - Buffalo up 6, 29-23. Both teams are shooting 42% from the field, both teams have 3 3’s and 2 FTs. The difference is that UB is out rebounding Miami 19-10 and they’re beating them in the paint 14-10.

1:39 - Bramos with a 4-pt play. Miami on a 7-0 run.

Halftime - Buffalo up 1, 30-29 at the half. Who’s more excited about Buffalo being up at the half, UB fans or OU fans? I’m gonna say OU fans, but it’s probably a close one. It looks like Michael Bramos might be getting untracked, which spells trouble for UB. Bramos started out slow, but ended the half with 11 points. Both teams are shooting pretty evenly, but Buffalo is demolishing Miami on the boards 24-9, 10-0 on the offensive boards. Is it scary that Buffalo is outrebounding Miami by 15 and they’re still only up 1? Probably.

My Second Half Prediction - Miami closes the -15 rebounding deficit a bit and pulls out to about a 7 point lead 8 to 10 minutes into the half. Buffalo starts chucking up 3’s to get back close. They knock ‘em down and this turns into a wild finish. They clank them and Pollitz and Bramos impose their will and pull out a close one (but not a nailbiter).

19:06 - Let’s Go REDHAWKS!!!!… That wasn’t me, it was the guy behind me. He screamed it in my ear so loudly that it just typed into my keyboard somehow.

17:42 - Miami’s not messing around coming out of the half. They’ve already built a 5 point lead… make it 6 as Pollitz adds a FT.

16:18 - Bramos tries to step into an airborne UB defender, the officials don’t call it (it was a good no-call), UB grabs the board runs down and laces a 3 to go up by 1. Henderson was working Referee Terry Wymer hard during the timeout and it actually looked like both might dance for a second (not slang, really dance) as both had their hands on each other’s hips, but the Miami band must not have any good slow dance songs in their repertoire.

14:33 - UB up 44-40 with 2 Miami free throws coming. Momentum keeps swinging back and forth in the 2nd half of this one.

12:11 - Boyer with a 3, Buffalo up 9, Miami with a time out. Chaos!

11:39 - Shocker alert here. 51-42 Buffalo up. Bramos or Pollitz or somebody has to takeover here. It actually looks like Pollitz has been trying, but nothing around the hoop has been falling for the RedHawks. The rebound differential has not tightened up either, it’s 38-16.

10:37 - Bramos quickly cuts it to 51-46 and UB spends a 30.

7:32 - 53-49 Miami’s inching closer. This is the run right now that UB needs to withstand. If they knock down a couple of shots and build the lead back to 9 or so they’re looking great. If they trade shots with Miami they’re in trouble. Maybe I’m over-analyzing a little bit with Coach Coles out, but it just kind of looks like Miami is out of sorts and not quite as smooth on offense as they usually are.

4:32 - Miami takes the lead back going up 58-57. This could be a wild finish.

3:30 - Buffalo up 1, Miami with good ball movement, but if I’m a RedHawk I want to die with Pollitz or Bramos here, not Moosman taking long jumpers.

2:25 - 60-59 RedHawks thanks to a nice runner by Kenny Hayes. Buffalo runs down the shot clock and then makes a mistake and gets called for up-and-down.

2:25 - Bramos can’t get the ball inbounded and calls a TO. Miami only has one left. This could be big later.

1:54 - Tim Pollitz, absolutely beautiful job breaking down his defender with about 100 pivots. Miami up 3.

0:58 - Andy Robinson airballs an incredibly ill-advised 3. Turns out it was tipped by Miami. Inbound right to Alford who lays it in for 2. Kenny Hayes with an awful runner (why are they not getting the ball to Bramos/Pollitz here) Dierkers with an O-board, gets fouled, will get 2 freebies.

0:35 - Miami up 3, Bramos going to the line. Looks like they’re about to dodge a majjjjjor bullet.

0:30 - Bramos hits both. UB timeout. This is going to take a miracle.

0:04 - UB hits a 2 on their 3rd chance, not much time hopes are slim but Buffalo’s still got a ray of hope here. UB needs to hope for a miss and a 1/2 court make.

0:02 - Pollitz ices both. Unless Drew Gooden is on the court going for a block this one is O-V-E-R.

0:00 - Pierce ices a 35 footer as time runs out. No contact though, Miami wins 69-68.

Final - Bramos is your player of the game with 23 points and 3 blocks. Tim Pollitz did a nice job too with 20 points even though a lot of stuff around the hoop wasn’t really falling for him. I say play of the game was with about 2 minutes left when Miami was up by 1 and Kenny Hayes missed an ugly runner. Tyler Dierkers muscled down a rebound between two Bulls and got fouled in the process. From there he went to the line and knocked down the pair. Gutsy effort from Miami tonight, though I still question not repeatedly going to Tim Pollitz and Bramos down the stretch.

Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the next four days, so since it’s Wednesday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

Pregame - This game should come down to BG’s size (rebounds and second chance points) versus Toledo’s speed (steals, fast break points, and points of turnovers). If Toledo can shoot 45% they’ve probably got a pretty good chance in this game, should be interesting to see what wins out.

14:14 - Toledo out to an early 10-3 lead.

10:58 - 14-9 Toledo leading. BG keeping it close early despite shooting only 4-17 from the floor.

7:48 - 16-9 Toledo. BG only shooting 20%, but you’ve gotta figure sooner or later they’re going to get some shots to start falling. This game has just looked a lot better than the last contest. A lot more movement on offense, better looks at the basket, less dumb turnovers. Also, attendance has picked up quite a bit in the night session. When everything’s said and done we’ll probably be at 7,000+ for the day.

3:08 - 18-15 Toledo leads. If I’m Louis Orr, I’m telling my team to dial it down a notch. Twice in a row they had a fast break opportunity, but made an awful pass giving it back to Toledo. If BG slows it down and keeps working it inside they’ve got a chance in this one, as Toledo looks happy to camp out around the 3-pt line and fire away, going 1-11 from 3-pt range so far. The shooting percentages are evening out a little bit at 29% and 28% respectively for BG and UT.

Halftime - Toledo’s up 23-21 at the half, but if they keep firing away from 3 (1-11) I’m not sure that they’ll hold off the Falcons. The Rockets don’t have a lot of size, but Stan Joplin has to be imploring his guys to work it inside more where they’ve come close to matching BG so far (points in the paint 10 to 14 respectively). Both teams have been a little sloppy with the ball, BG with 7 turnovers, UT with 8, and neither team has taken advantage on fast break or 2nd chance points.

14:46 - 31-28 Toledo with BG going to the line after this timeout on the floor. Jonathan Amos is really carrying UT in this game, scoring 8 points so far this half, bringing his total to 11 so far.

11:52 - BG takes their first lead of the game going up 33-31 and Stan Joplin calls a quick 30. Toledo is a mess on offense right now.

11:08 - Toledo with a nice alley-oop play (though there was a moving pick to open up Kent for his run to the hoop on the play) to tie it back up at 33. The last 11 minutes of this one are going to be interesting. Toledo only shooting 32% compared to BG’s 39.5%. Toledo also still cold from 3, shooting 1-14.

7:39 - Still a close one with UT up 40-37. Toledo still clanking away from 3, now shooting 1-16 from beyond the arc.

2:27 - We’ve gone a long time with little scoring and UT’s still up 43-39 with Amos heading to the line when we get back from the timeout on the floor. BG’s going to need to make a run pronto if they have any hopes in this one. Neither team can hit a shot from 3, combined they’re 1-23.

1:34 - Amos misses the first of a one in bonus, Polk knocks down two FTs and Young answers with a pretty reverse that a BG player even got a piece of. It’s still a 4-pt game, but BG’s not going away.

0:31 - Jakubowski hits 2 quick layups as BG trades points with Toledo. Tyrone Kent only hits 1-2 at the line, but BG misses a 3 and can’t hit a stickback before sending Byrd to the line for Toledo up 5.

Final - 52-48 Toledo holds off BG. The shooting in this game was atrocious as both teams combined to shoot 2-25 for 3, and neither team cracked the 40% shooting mark from the field. Toledo’s defense really kept them in this one with 11 steals, forcing 17 turnovers. This is another match-up (Toledo vs Kent State) that I’m really not expecting to be incredibly close tomorrow.

Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the next four days, so since it’s Wednesday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

Pregame - You know who has a good band? Northern Illinois (though they do carry music, so -10 points for that). It’s a shame that they’ll probably be gone after this game (Central is favored by 7).

17:03 - 11-4 CMU lead early on the strength of a couple of Ben Watson 3’s.

Crazy Q update: There’s a flock of maybe 5 birds flying around near the top of the arena, between the rafters and top of the scoreboard and stuff. When we came back in from a food break earlier the people sitting next to us had bird poop on their laptop. I tried to tell them that’s considered good luck and they shouldn’t wash it off. They weren’t buying it.

11:14 - 21-13, CMU has continued to open up their lead against the Huskies on the strength of some early 3 point shooting (5-8). If NIU can cool the Chippewas off from out there they’ve got a chance, as they’ve been dominating them (10-2) in the paint.

7:38 - 24-17 Central still leading as both teams have cooled down on offense considerably over the past 4 minutes. NIU with only one team assist so far, could explain the lack of offensive production.

3:50 - 27-20 Central leading. This game has been really, really ugly so far. Not a lot of movement on offense on either end, dumb fouls, lazy turnovers. In fact there are already 16 combined turnovers and neither team is over the 40% shooting mark. I’m already calling for a 20-point Akron win tomorrow over the winner of this game.

Halftime - Ugly half with Central leading 37-30. They’re certainly letting NIU hang around… finally I have 1st half stats. The story in this one so far is CMU’s 3 shooting as they’ve gone 8-15 behind the arc so far. NIU has a big edge on the inside, up 18-6 on points in the paint and +7 in rebounds, but they’re only 1-5 from 3, which pretty much explains the point differential, or “The Diff” as they call it on the scoreboards here at the Q.

Living on a Prayer Count - 2… yet I’ve still heard nothing that rivals this.

18:07 - CMU with a quick couple of buckets to push it to 41-30 and force NIU to call a quick timeout.

15:51 - 48-34 Central starting to open up a comfortable lead. For those wondering about CMU’s second leading scorer, Nate Minnoy’s absence, word on press row is that he’s been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. He’s definitely done for the tournament, not sure beyond that.

13:22 - NIU still hanging around enough to make this thing interesting. Michael Patton laces a 3, cutting it to an 8 point deficit and the Chips are forced to take a time out.

11:59 - CMU answers back and has built the lead back to 12, with a 54-42 score. NIU has been having a lot of trouble getting good looks, and then converting on them. It took me nearly 3/4’s of the game to realize this, but Central Michigan didn’t bring a band for some reason… I guess I just thought they were really quiet.

7:51 - 67-47, CMU is putting this one away.

2:58 - 75-61 Central, I’ll post more when this one is over and I’ve got the final stats.

1:01 - I still think it’s too little too late, but NIU has put on a nice little run to close it to a 9-point game with the ball, 77-68.

Final - Central closes out a comfortable 12-point win and Watson is named Player of the Game with 20 points and 4 assists. Like we mentioned at the half, 3 point shooting was the difference in this one. While the Huskies did hit a couple of shots, ending 4-10 from behind the line Central was on fire from 3, shooting 12-23. They’re going to need to keep lighting it up from the outside to have a chance at keeping it competitive with Akron, especially minus Minnoy.

Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com

VanDelay Sports is sitting on press row for the next four days, so since it’s Wednesday and most people are stuck in work we’ll be running live diaries during the games. We’ll be updating this at most of the media time outs. Hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining and informative for those who care.

20:00 - Not counting the media, bands, and teams I’m guessing there are about 500 people here for the start of this one. Of course neither Ball State nor Eastern Michigan or expected to make it to the semis and both campuses aren’t exactly close to Cleveland, so there you go.

15:11 - 9 to 5 Ball State with an early lead. Looks like both teams are still waking up.

11:31 - Anthony Newell on fire for 10 points already, though Ball State is only up 15-14 as Eastern Michigan has been finding the open man on the offensive end.

9:09 - I really like these refs so far, they’re letting a lot of contact go and really letting both teams play. Far better than the free throw contests that sometimes happy with more whistle happy crews.

7:55 - Newell with 12 points now, but nobody else on the Cardinals is doing a whole lot, though they’ve still got a 17-16 lead over the Eagles.

Halftime - Ball State leading 30 to 26 over Eastern Michigan at the half. Newell started out strong for Ball State, but they started looking even better towards the end of the half when they spread the scoring throughout the rest of their lineup. Eastern has looked solid so far too, getting 10 points from Travis Lewis and having the rest of their lineup pitch in for point. This one looks like it could be a fairly exciting game in the 2nd half.

7:42 - This game has stayed close, Eastern Michigan with a 1-point lead, 41-40. Newell has 15 points, but also 4 fouls. The Cardinals really need him to stay on the floor if they’re going to have much of a chance as this game winds down. Dobbins has been killing the Cardinals here in the second half, he’s got 19 points on the game.

4:34 - Jesse Bunkley hits his first field goal, a 3, and Ball State takes an immediate time out. Could Eastern be pulling away? They’re up 6, and Ball State has been having trouble scoring over the past 4 minutes.

3:37 - Eastern still up 6, going to the line with a timeout on the floor. Have I mentioned how much I like Dobbins, Medlock, and Bunkley? Oh yeah, I did. Dobbins is only a sophomore too. He could be a major player in this conference if Ramsey continues to build a good team around him.

1:47 - Dobbins gets tackled on his way to the hoop, still makes the layup, but comes up limping. Ball State quickly runs it down, gets fouled, hits two freebies. 53-49 Eastern.

0:24 - Eastern hits two free throws and Ball State knocks down a 3 on their 3rd chance in that possession. It’s a 5 point game, but it’s Eastern Michigan’s ball and this one looks like theirs to lose.

0:21 - Dear Eastern Michigan Trumpet Player, the next time the Director calls for Living on a Prayer just don’t play if you can’t hit any of the notes.

0:04 - Ball State with another 3, but they’re down 4 with 4 seconds left. EMU with the ball, this one’s all but over.

Final - 59-55 Eastern Michigan wins. Justin Dobbins leads all scorers with 21 points and is named player of the game as he tacked on 6 rebounds and 3 assists as well. We’ll be back for the CMU/NIU game starting at 3:30.

Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com