The Wednesday of the MAC basketball tournament is my favorite. It’s a day where the women’s game is featured. In a conference this loaded with talent, there are always plenty of exciting games to watch. Here is a brief rundown of the action. I may sound like a broken record, but lost in this stratospheric rise of the conference is the rebirth of the Eastern Michigan Eagles. The Eagles took an early lead in this game, and took the best shots of the Chippewas and were leading late. However, as she has done many times, Presley Hudson hit a dagger of a three to send it to overtime. The experienced and determined Chippewas then closed out the game against a tired Eagles squad. Hudson finished with 28 points, while her teammate and MAC PotY Reyna Frost also finished with 28 and had 13 rebounds to go with. Four Eastern Michigan Eagles scored in double figures, with Jenna Annecchiarico with 21. Kiara Johnson was the only Eagles starter not in double figures but did have 8 points and 10 rebounds. There are no moral victories, though this Eagles performance was close. Cierra Dillard and company overwhelmed the Golden Flashes, setting up a pivotal match up against Central Michigan in the third round. Megan Carter paced the Golden Flashes with 19 and added 7 rebounds, while Dillard led the Bulls with 22. Ohio Bobcats 72, Northern Illinois Huskies 56 The future is so bright, Bob Boldon has to wear shades. The Bobcats mostly dominated the game, though the Huskies did make a late run. Sophomore Gabby Burris led the Bobcats with 19, while MAC Freshman of the Year Erica Johnson added 18 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore CeCe Hooks added 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, while just turning it over once. Junior Amani Burke also scored in double figures. The Huskies were led by Gabby Nikitinaite. The sophomore from Orpington, UK, had 23 points and 12 rebounds. Mikayla Voigt added 14. Hopefully this was not this brilliant senior’s last game and the Huskies play in the post season. Miami RedHawks 72, Toledo Rockets 54. Savannah Kluesner had a monster first half with 16 points and 5 rebounds, while Miami teammate Leah Purvis wasn’t far behind, adding 11 points. The duo helped Miami build a 35 to 24 lead over the Rockets. Miami continued to impress in the second half, showing the NCAA selection committee they are deserving of a bid. Even though they struggle to score, any women’s college basketball fan knows that Toledo is a tough out. As Toledo fell to 20-11 on the season, they showed what they have shown all season. They can play great basketball, except putting the ball through the hoop. That is the sign of a well coached team, and there is plenty of reason for them to be optimistic for next season.<doc-sep>CLEVELAND, Ohio - The No. 18 Buffalo Bulls are looking for a Cleveland Sweep in the Mid-American Conference Tournament 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Quicken Loans Arena. The Bulls take on Bowling Green with UB looking to match their women’s MAC title earned earlier in the day. Buffalo (30-3), only the second team in MAC history to win 30 games (Kent State, 2002), is looking to be the first to win 31, even with a spot to the NCAA Tournament practically assured. The Bulls, in their fourth MAC final in five years, have won in dominating fashion, 82-46, in the opening game over the Akron Zips, and in a poor-shooting grinder, 71-67, over Central Michigan. Going against the No. 3 seed Falcons, UB faces a team they split with during the regular season with both teams winning on their home court. For Bowling Green (22-11) the key is offense. They topped Buffalo, 92-88, in the regular season, ran roughshod over Ball State, 99-86 in the MAC Tournament opener, then struggled in a poor-shooting second half in a 71-67 victory over Northern Illinois to advance to the title game. If both teams show up in top form and fashion, it could be one of the better conference finals in recent history.<doc-sep>Two really good basketball teams are going to be playing Saturday for the MAC Tournament Championship. Also at stake is an NCAA Tournament birth, although both schools have a serious shot at an at-large bid. ESPN’s Charlie Creme had both teams on the bubble but in the tournament before their semifinal wins. There is still a lot of basketball to be played, but I really like the chances that this is a three bid league this season. Game Details Who: Buffalo Bulls vs. Ohio Bobcats What: For the MAC Tournament Championship When: 11 A.M., Saturday, March 16th, 2019 Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio Why: A stress free selection Sunday Watch: CBS Sports Network Scouting the Bulls The Bulls have one of the best players in the country in Cierra Dillard. They love to put pressure on teams. While they roughly shoot the same as their opponents, they have nearly a +4 turnover margin coupled with roughly the same rebounding margin. Their +9.3 scoring margin comes from out hustling their opponents. Scouting the Bobcats The Bobcats have a star of their own in CeCe Hooks. They also like to create points off of turnovers and run. One area where the Bobcats struggle is rebounding, actually getting about 2 less per contest than their opponents. They make up for it by having a lot of scoring from a lot of different places. Five Bobcats average over 10 points per game. Three of those players hit over 38% of their threes, which is a perfect compliment to Hooks’ driving style. Players to Watch Cierra Dillard, Buffalo: As of yesterday, Dillard was second in the country in scoring average, putting up 25.2 points per game. She scored 30 and dished 7 dimes in her game against Central Michigan. Summer Hemphill, Buffalo: One of my favorite players to watch, she has great fundamentals and hustle, averaging 14.3 points and 10.2 rebounds on the season. Against Central Michigan, she scored 24 and grabbed 9 boards. CeCe Hooks, Ohio: The dynamic guard slashes to the basket as well as anyone in the country, and converts over 50% of her shots because of it. She averages over 4 assists and 3 steals per game. Erica Johnson, Ohio: The RS freshman is averaging over 14 points per contest, and 6 rebounds. Prediction These two teams split their regular season games, with Ohio shocking the Bulls on their home court in overtime, only to be obliterated in their rematch. I think that is going to be a key in this game. Buffalo was out for revenge and handled them easily. Ohio did not help themselves by shooting terribly and making 18 turnovers. This game, I expect Ohio to be a little fresher, as they handled Miami easily in their semifinal, while Buffalo was in a battle with battle tested Central Michigan. The emotion was apparent when Cierra Dillard screamed several times at the conclusion something about the M.V.P. A motivated Buffalo team is exceptionally hard to beat. I know a MAC Championship is on the line, but just a day removed from such an emotional win, we may not see Buffalo’s best game. This game is difficult to predict. Will Buffalo be flat? Will the young Bobcats squad be overwhelmed by the moment? Will we see a great effort by both teams playing their best? I hope so, because this has the makings for a fantastic game. The only reason I am predicting a slight Bobcats win is because it is tough to play three games in three days, and Ohio had a much easier road.<doc-sep>It wouldn’t be the MAC Tournament or March Madness without an upset, right? The seventh-seed Northern Illinois Huskies did just that on Thursday night, stunning the second-seed Toledo Rockets, by a final of 80-76 in their quarterfinal game in Cleveland. The Rockets had won the previous two meetings vs. the Huskies in the regular season. Eugene German had a monster game for the Huskies with 27 points on 11-of-15 from the floor and seven rebounds. Dante Thorpe had 18 points and Levi Bradley had 13, including several big pressure free throws in the game’s waning seconds to seal the win. Toledo had five players with double figure point totals, led by Marreon Jackson and Luke Knapke (17 apiece,) Nate Navigato (15) and Jaelan Sanford (13). Knapke hit two big three pointers down the stretch, including one that tied the game at 68-68 with 2:50 left to play. But then, consecutive baskets by German and late free throws from Bradley delivered the upset win for Northern Illinois. The Huskies are now 17-16 on the season and advance to the semifinals tomorrow evening against the winner of the Bowling Green/Ball State quarterfinal game, which tips off at approximately 9:00 p.m. EST Thursday evening. The Rockets finish the year 25-7 and will await word on postseason invitations.<doc-sep>
Every team on the NCAA bubble breathed a huge sigh of relief as the #18 nationally ranked Buffalo Bulls outlasted the Central Michigan Chippewas, 85-81 in Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal action in Cleveland on Friday night. MAC Player-of-the-Year, C.J. Massinburg provided the spark for the Bulls as he hit a big basket and six pressure free throws late to secure the 3oth victory of the year for Buffalo. Massinburg finished with 21 points but was quite for much of the game…until it counted. He had only four points at halftime on 1 of 7 shooting from the field. Massinburg also led the Bulls with nine rebounds in the game. The game was a tight contest from the beginning. Central Michigan held a 42-37 lead at halftime and throughout much of the second half. Buffalo finally took the lead back, 72-70 on a Jeremy Harris three pointer with 7:46 to play in the game. Central Michigan fought back to tie the game several times, but the Bulls never trailed from that point on. Davonta Jordan finished with 16 points for Buffalo, while Nick Perkins had 14 points and nine rebounds. Harris finished with 12 and Dontay Caruthers with 11 as the others who scored in double figures for the Bulls. Central Michigan had five players score in double figures: Rob Montgomery (17), Larry Austin (16), Shaun Roundtree (16), Kevin McKay (14), and David DiLeo (10). The Chippewas were 10 of 26 from the 3-point line but struggled at the free throw line making only 7 of 15 (46%). Buffalo out-rebounded Central Michigan 47-30 and made 17 of 24 free throws in the game. Those two stats were probably the difference in the game. #1 seeded Buffalo is now 30-3 on the year and advances to the MAC Championship Game tomorrow night. Central Michigan is now 23-12 and will await to find out where it will be playing postseason basketball.