MAC Sports Blog by VanDelay Sports

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 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