http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog/ryan_molnar en-US http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_game_of_the_work_week31167 Toledo has been on a run lately and they get arguably their toughest test this week as they travel to Athens, Ohio to meet up with the Ohio Bobcats. These two teams are seemingly going in different directions right now. Toledo is currently undefeated in MAC play and is looking like a lock to get the first round bye in the MAC tournament. Ohio plays well at home but is another team all together when it goes on the road. The good news for Ohio is this game is on the road. First of all before getting any further it is important to look at two things. First of all, Toledo plays in the very watered down MAC West division. It isn’t hard to go undefeated when your opponents are the directional Michigan schools and Northern Illinois. However, Toledo has shown some strength when they went on the road and beat Buffalo in New York. They just got done taking care of Miami at home this weekend as well. Ohio has been playing very well so far this year at home and that’s what really makes this game so interesting. If this game were in Toledo there would probably be no chance of a Bobcat upset. Ohio has been a completely different team thus far from the friendly confines of the Convo. Ohio is also a team that has been in the midst of three different shake ups. The first came when senior forward Ken Ottrix was suspended from the university for a DUI in September. Next up was when head coach Tim O’Shea dismissed senior forward Johnnie Jackson from the team right before conference season was to begin. Then, right before the Kent State game the team lost it’s only true point guard in junior Antonio Chatman. The Bobcats are now down to 9 players who began the season on the team. They have added a few walk-ons but the case remains that this is a very thin team. It will be interesting to see what each team tries to do. Will Toledo try and push the ball and get it into more of an up and down tempo to speed up Ohio? Will Ohio step it up on the perimeter defensive end and shut down Justin Ingram? This game is crucial for Ohio if it wants one of the first four spots in the conference tournament. If they get one of those coveted four spots then it will have a first round bye. The keys for Ohio will be to force it down low to their talented big men Leon Williams and Jerome Tillman. For Toledo it will be to use it’s depth to it’s advantage and to try and wear the Bobcats out. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_game_of_the_work_week31167#comments Ohio Toledo Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:23:41 -0500 Ryan Molnar 31167 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/one_bid_league23692 The last chance for a possible at-large bid for any team not to win the MAC championship all but vanished Wednesday night when the Ohio Bobcats surrendered a 14 point, second-half lead to Marshall University. The Bobcats lost 70-60 and head into conference play at 9-4. The Bobcats had probably the best chance to get an at-large bid, should they play well in the conference portion of their schedule. Well they theorhetically could still end up with an at-large bid, the loss to Marshall sure didn’t help anything. The Bobcats were on a roll of a 3-game win streak which included a neutral court win over Cincinnati last Saturday night. Their other three losses were to Davidson, Louisville, and Samford. Ohio will have a shot to get their MAC schedule off to a good start as they host league favorite, Akron on Saturday night. It is by far the early season game of the year in the MAC. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/one_bid_league23692#comments Akron MAC Ohio Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:50:51 -0500 Ryan Molnar 23692 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_189814 The MAC had four teams in action yesterday and last night with all but one team winning. Kent State picked up a good win at home over Detroit. Marquette handed it to Eastern Michigan. Toledo took care of Middle Tennessee State in overtime, and Buffalo came away with an impressive win over Miami (FL). Kent State had a balanced attack lead them to a 61-48 victory over the University of Detroit Mercy at the MAC Center yesterday afternoon. Kent State held Detroit to just 38 percent shooting and withstood a hot start from behind the 3-point line from the Titans. Detroit hit its first three triples, but then proceeded to only shoot three-of-16 the rest of the game. Freshmen guard Rodriguez Sherman led Kent State with 14 points in his first colleigate start. Due to many suspensions of players he was thrust into the lineup and did not commit one turnover in 31 minutes of play. Senior Armon Gates scored 12 points and brought down a career high 8 rebounds. He is known more for his 3 point shooting ability but in this game he was only able to make two three pointers. Kent State returns to action on Tuesday when they host Temple University. Eastern Michigan fell hard to #17 Marquette University 95-62. The Eagles were led by freshmen Devon Dumes who was the only player on Eastern in double figures as he scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field while hitting 4-of-7 from behind the arc. EMU stayed with Marquette for much of the first half but could not withstand Marquette’s hot shooting from the field along with its stingy defense. The Golden Eagles connected on 48% of it’s three point attempts while Eastern hit just 38% of theirs. Marquette had five players in double figures and were led by sophomore guard Dominic James who had 17 points. EMU will take on Detroit on Wednesday, November 29th. Toledo got their first win of the year last night but it wasn’t easy. Playing against Middle Tennessee State in the Virgin Islands as part of the Paradise Jam Tournament, Toledo fell down by as much as 18 points at the half but battled back to win it 75-69 in overtime. Senior guard Justin Ingram came up big for the Rockets scoring a career-high 32 points. He also hit the three that forced overtime. Senior forward Keonta Howell came up with 21 points and 6 rebounds and overcame a 20 point deficit with a 22-2 surge late in the second half. Ingram hit the game-tying three with only 0.9 seconds left on the clock. Middle Tennessee State rode their 72.7 percent shooting to a 18 point halftime lead. Toledo will play VCU on Monday afternoon in their last game at the Paradise Jam Tournament. The Buffalo Bulls win over the Miami Hurricanes was the school’s first win over a school from the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Bulls defeated the Hurricanes 60-57 in the America’s Youth Classic in Evansville, Indiana last night. Yassin Idbihi hit the game-winning jumper with 3.7 seconds remaining to carry the Bulls to their third win of the season. The senior forward led Buffalo with 22 points and a career high 14 rebounds. Buffalo only shot 36.5 percent but played solid defense and came up big on the boards. Buffalo was able to out-rebound Miami 43-35, including 16 offensive boards. Buffalo will take on Evansville in the final game of the tournament today. Today’s games feature Ball State hosting Prairie View A&M, Bowling Green hosting Furman, Akron hosting Tiffin, Ohio hosting Yale, Buffalo on the road at Evansville, and Central Michigan hosting UMKC. Here are my predictions: Ball State, Akron, Ohio, and Central Michigan all win, while Bowling Green and Buffalo both lose. Yesterday: 1-3. Overall: 6-4. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_189814#comments Akron Ball State Bowling Green Buffalo Central Michigan Eastern Michigan Kent St Ohio Toledo Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:55:38 -0500 Ryan Molnar 9814 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_179519 The MAC had three teams in action and while they went 2-1 none of the two teams that won had very impressive wins. Toledo was in action against Iowa in the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam Tournament, Miami won big over Florida A&M, and Buffalo won a close one at home over Cleveland State. On to the recaps: Toledo fought hard against Iowa but came up short 78-65 in the opening round of the Paradise Jam Tournament. The seniors held the Rocket’s in this game though. Senior guard Justin Ingram paced the Rockets with 22 points, 4 steals and 4 rebounds and was a point shy of his career scoring high. Senior forward Keonta Howell chipped in 16 points and six rebounds and senior forward Florentino Valencia scored 12 points and came down with a team high 8 rebounds. Freshmen forward Tyler Smith scored a game high 28 points for the Hawkeyes. The Rockets were able to shut down Iowa’s leading scorer, Adam Haluska, limiting him to only 10 points. However, that opened the door for Smith’s big night. Iowa also destroyed Toledo on the boards with a 51-30 rebounding edge. Toledo will face Middle Tennessee State tonight as the Blue Raiders dropped their game last night against 10th ranked Alabama. Miami dominated their game against Florida A&M coming away with a 52-33 win. Junior forward Tim Pollitz scored 16 points and came down with 11 rebounds. The 33 points were the fewest opponents points since Miami gave up 32 points to Wright State back in 1947. The RedHawks also only gave up 11 points in the first half, which tied a school record. Miami returns to action by playing at home again on Tuesday and hosting the University of Illinois-Chicago. The other MAC team in action last night was the Buffalo Bulls and they picked up a good 77-73 win over Cleveland State. It was the opening game of the America’s Youth Classic in Evansville, Indiana last night. For the second straight game, senior Parnell Smith posted a career high in scoring, this time with 24 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. It wasn’t an easy win for the Bulls as they fell behind early and were trailing 35-28 at the half. However, they quickly responded to open the second half as they outscored the Vikings 36-14 in the first 12 minutes. The Bulls ran the lead all the way up to 13 points before Cleveland State battled back to make it a close game at the end. Following two missed free throws by Buffalo, the Vikings had a shot at the win. However, Vadim Fedotov drew a charge with six seconds remaining for the Bulls and Eric Monroe drilled a pair of free throws to give the victory to Buffalo. Buffalo takes on Miami (FL) tonight in the second round of the America’s Youth Classic. Tonight’s game matches Kent State hosting Detroit, Eastern Michigan on the road at Marquette, Toledo playing Middle Tennessee State in the Virgin Islands, and Buffalo playing Miami (FL) in Evansville, Indiana. I’m predicting that Toledo will be the only team that will win out of the MAC tonight. Last night’s record: 3-0. Overall record: 5-1. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_179519#comments Buffalo Eastern Michigan Kent St Miami OH Toledo Sat, 18 Nov 2006 11:30:39 -0500 Ryan Molnar 9519 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_169210 With only one game last night it was all up to Bowling Green to help keep the MAC afloat as one of the premier conferences in the nation. They were unable to do this last night as they lost to previously winless Arkansas State. They didn’t help themselves by falling down by as many as 20 points. The one bright spot for the Falcons was that they were able to force 29 turnovers. Martin Samarco finished with a team high 16 points and seven rebounds. The Falcons return home to face Furman at 2 PM Sunday. Three MAC games tonight as Toledo travels to Iowa, Miami hosts Florida A & M, and Buffalo hosts Cleveland State. I’m taking Iowa to beat Toledo, but then Miami and Buffalo will pick up wins tonight. Overall: 2-1 http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_169210#comments Bowling Green Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:37:55 -0500 Ryan Molnar 9210 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_158902 Once again there were only two MAC teams in action tonight but they both faired a little better than their counterparts did a night ago. Miami took on Kentucky in Rupp arena and was looking to get back on track after a tough home loss to Wright State to open the season. Northern Illinois was looking to open the season on a good note by opening at home against a Division-III team. On to the recaps. Miami got out to a surprisingly good start against the 22nd ranked Wildcats, leading by as much as 10 in the first half. Kentucky pulled back with the RedHawks with a 22-3 run in the second half. Kentucky eventually won the game 57-46. The final score was not indicative of how close a game this really was. Miami stayed tough on the glass against a taller Kentucky squad as the Wildcats finished with only a 32-30 edge in rebounding. The RedHawks were paced by their big senior in the middle, Nathan Peavy. He finished with 17 points and six rebounds. The loss moves Miami’s record to 0-2 but they hope to change that to 1-2 when they take on Florida A & M on Friday at 8:30. The other MAC game of the night pitted Northern Illinois against St. Mary’s (MN) a Division III school. The Huskies shot almost 60 percent from the field on route to a 84-69 in their home opener. Mike McKinney led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field while James Hughes and Zach Pancratz both added 17 points. The only thing that NIU really wasn’t impressed with in this game was their defense. They allowed St. Mary’s to hit 11-of-20 three pointers and to hit 46.6 percent overall from the field. Northern Illinois has a couple of days off until they play Duquesne in Pittsburgh on Monday. Tonight has only one MAC team in action with Bowling Green at 1-0 travels to Arkansas State who is 0-3. Look for the Falcons to continue to stay unbeaten in their unimpressive non-conference schedule thus far. Predicting Power on the season: 2-0 http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_158902#comments Bowling Green Miami OH Northern Illinois Thu, 16 Nov 2006 09:52:44 -0500 Ryan Molnar 8902 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_148617 Last night there were only two games in the MAC as Akron was pitted against Gardner-Webb in the consolation game of the College Basketball Experience Classic and Western Michigan was on the road against Indiana State. Akron beat Gardner-Webb to start the season 1-1 while Western Michigan lost a tough one to the Sycamores. On to the recaps. The story of the game in Akron’s big win over Gardner-Webb, 89-61, was the play of its two forwards, Romeo Travis and Jeremiah Woods. They combined for 15-of-23 shooting and 35 points as the Zips bounced back from a tough loss to Arkansas-Little Rock the night before. Wood also nabbed 12 boards on route to his seventh career double-double. The Zips also used defense to hold off the Bulldogs, as Gardner-Webb managed to shoot just 36 percent. Akron finished the night shooting 51% from the field. They will be back in action on Sunday for their home opener against Tiffin. The only other game involving a MAC team was a rematch of one of last year’s BracketBuster games. Western Michigan went on the road and lost 73-71 to Indiana State. This was an especially bad loss for the MAC in general because Indiana State is picked to finish near the end of the Missouri Valley Conference while the Broncos are expected to finish near the top of the MAC. Junior center Joe Reitz recorded his 10th career double-double finishing with 16 points and 12 boards. Western Michigan shot 46% from behind the arc but only shot 33% overall from the field with contributed to their loss. Tonight in the MAC the game of the night is undoubtedly Miami on the road against Kentucky. After losing to Wright State in their first game I’m not sure that Miami will be able to pull it together on the road and beat Kentucky. In the other game tonight St. Mary’s (MN) takes on Northern Illinois in DeKalb. NIU should be able to pick up their first win of the year. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_148617#comments Akron Miami OH Northern Illinois Western Michigan Wed, 15 Nov 2006 15:47:36 -0500 Ryan Molnar 8617 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_138212 Last night was not a good chance for the MAC’s chances of having more than one team in the Big Dance come March. Every single MAC team in action lost last night along with the team that is supposed to carry the league, Akron. When your best team is losing to Arkansas Little-Rock with a chance to play Texas Tech on national television looming, you have the feeling that this could be a long year. Last night for some reason was upset special all around the country with Boston College losing to Vermont at home, Notre Dame losing to Butler at home and Indiana almost losing to Layfeytte in the preseason NIT. Akron shot 51 percent from the floor but could not get rebounds when it mattered the most. The Trojans outscored the Zips 21-11 on second-chance points and also outrebounded them 36-24. That just goes to show that you can’t just win games with talent, you have to actually go out there and perform and Akron didn’t do that last night. They’ll have another chance tonight to pick up what appears to be an easy W over Gardner-Webb at 7 PM tonight. Buffalo traveled down to play South Florida last night in a match up with the only other school with a Bull as a mascot and they left their shooting touch back home as well. Add 40% shooting with 25 turnovers and you’ll lose almost every game. In this case the final was 77-61 and this years Bulls team does not look very well at well coming out of the gate. Their other game of the year was against Canisius and was a 3 point squeaker. The Bulls are off again until Friday. Toledo had a shot to get a very big non conference win for themselves and for the MAC against Missouri State and they came up short. The Rockets outscored the Bears 34-26 in the paint but they committed 22 turnovers which translated into 24 Missouri State points. Toledo now travels to the Virgin Islands to take part in the Paradise Jam tournament which is gaining strength as one of the better season tournaments in the nation. They’ll face the Iowa Hawkeye’s on Friday afternoon. The only other MAC game tonight besides the Akron game will be the Western Michigan Broncos taking on the Indiana State Sycamores in a rematch of last year’s BracketBuster game. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/mac_recap_11_138212#comments Buffalo Game Recaps MAC Toledo Mid-Majors Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:56:04 -0500 Ryan Molnar 8212 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/central_michigan_picks_up_first_win_of_season6634 A night after getting blown out by Youngstown State, the Central Michigan Chippewas responded with a 71-58 win over Brown in the consolation game of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. It was also the first win for head coach Ernie Ziegler while at CMU. The previous day Brown had slowed the tempo and controlled possessions as they held Michigan State to only 45 points but still losing by 11. Ziegler wanted to push the tempo against Brown and got his first win. CMU shot 50 percent from the floor, got 11 steals and 12 offensive rebounds. Sefton Barrett scored a game high 14 points. Giordan Watson came off the bench to score 13 points and add six assists. Eddie Spencer also added 12 points and 6 rebounds. CMU pushed the lead to as many as 21 points before Brown added a late rally to close the game to the final deficit of 13 points. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/central_michigan_picks_up_first_win_of_season6634#comments Brown Central Michigan Game Recaps MAC Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:34:37 -0500 Ryan Molnar 6634 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/akron_zips_sign_three6633 University of Akron head men's basketball coach Keith Dambrot announced on Thursday that Brett McKnight, Steve Sweich and Ronnie Steward have signed national letters of intent to play at the school starting in the 2007-08 season. All three are currently in their senior season of high school. McKnight, a 6-foot-6, 245-pound forward from Lancaster, Ohio, attends Lancaster High. McKnight averaged 12 points and six rebounds in leading Lancaster HS to a 25-2 record last season. He has been named as the fourth-best wing/forward in the state by PrepSpotlight. Steward, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound guard from Columbus, Ohio, attends Eastmoor Academy. He averaged 18 points and six assists last season, and is on pace to be the first player at Eastmoor to score 1,000 career points. Last season he earned honorable mention all-state recognition and is a two-time first-team all-city pick and was twice named to the second-team all-district squad. Steward is the No. 2-ranked point guard in the state according to PrepSpotlight. Sweich, a 6-foot-9, 255-pound center, is from Pittsburgh where he attends Elizabeth Forward High. He scored 27 points-per-game, grabbed 13 boards-per-game and managed four blocks-a-game as a junior a season ago. Sweich earned a spot on the Associated Press All-State Class AAA Third Team, was named the WPIAL Player of the Year and selected to the WPIAL Class AAA First Team. He also earned the McKeesport Daily News and Pittsburgh Post Gazette Player of the Year awards, and was listed in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Terrific 10. http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/blog_entry/akron_zips_sign_three6633#comments Akron MAC Official Signings Mid-Majors Fri, 10 Nov 2006 10:33:13 -0500 Ryan Molnar 6633 at http://www.collegehoopsnet.com