MAC

MAC Semifinals Review: Akron to Face Kent St

Bill Kintner — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 05:41:10 -0700

CLEVELAND – For second time in two days Akron has exacted some revenge against teams that beat them earlier in the season.

Tonight it was Western Michigan that felt the revenge wrath of the Zips as they fell to Akron 73-62.

In a game where Akron (23-9) consistently led and led by double digits starting at the end of the first half It came down to the Zips’ strong shooting performance.

Akron shot a blazing 58.7 percent (27-46) from the field versus 44.7 percent (21-47) for Western Michigan (20-12).

“I think we were able to shoot the ball well. One of the things coach emphasized was sharing the ball. I feel we didn’t run as many plays as we have because we were able to pass the ball around,” said Akron’s Chris Knight.

Akron coach Keith Dambrot thought his team turned up the intensity to pull out the win.

“We matched their intensity,” Dambrot said with a smile after the game.

Another key for the Zips was containing Western Michigan’s David Kool, who scored 24 points in yesterday’s win against Eastern Michigan. Akron managed to hold him under 50 percent (6-13) for the game, although he still got 17 points.

“We used a variety of people (on Kool), mostly (Nate) Linhart, who is very long. I thought the length bothered him,” explained Dambrot. “He gets a lot of points around the rim and at the line. I think Linhart gave him a little more trouble than he’s used to.”

The game started out with Akron’s Cedrick Middleton hitting a 3-pointer at the 19:37 mark and the Zips never trailed in the game. Akron finally pushed the lead out to double digits at the 6:32 mark when Chris Mc Knight put in a layup to make it 25-15.

By the half Akron pushed their lead to 13 points at 37-24.

In the second half the Broncos didn’t cut Akron’s lead to single digits until the 1:31 mark when Kool hit a 3-pointer to make it 67-59 but the Zips pushed the lead back to 11 by the end of the game, 73-62.

“They shot lights out. It was just too much for us to overcome. Said Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins. “We showed a lot of fight in the second half, but every time we came back they hit big shots.”

Game Two: Miami vs Kent State

Does history repeat itself? Miami attempted to answer that question in the semifinals against Kent State.

With :02 left Miami inbounded the ball in front of their bench they got the ball to their ace, Tim Politz. He got it in the lane, about five feet from the basket, he twisted shot it and it bounced off the rim, and Kent State won 49-47.

It was just a year ago that Doug Penno hit the game winner against Akron as time expired to punch Miami’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

But tonight it was not to be for Miami.

With :34 remaining in the game Miami’s Kenny Hayes put in a layup to tie the game 47-47.

After a Kent State (27-6) timeout they began working the ball around the perimeter and they finally got it to Al Fisher. He drove down the lane spun to his right and shot a floater over the out-stretched hand of Tyler Dierkers to put Kent State up 49-47 and that was stake the landed in Miami’s heart.

Fisher said he just was looking to get any shot when he got the game winner. “We were just looking to get a shot up. It’s easier when your coach and teammates have a lot of trust in you. It takes off a lot of the pressure.”
Miami actually out-shot Kent State 42.2 percent (19-45) to 35.8 percent (19-53) but Kent State coach Jim Christian thought it was experience and maintaining intensity that did the trick.

“We’ve been in many of these situations before. We’ve won many close games,” he said. “There is something to be said of the will to win. You have to be intense the whole time.”

Miami (17-15) scored the first basket a little over two minutes into the game on a layup by Hayes to go up 2-0. Aside from a brief one point lead a little over two minutes later Kent State led the whole first half and went into halftime up 25-23.

The second half was more back and forth with the biggest lead being four by the Golden Flashes at the 4:25 mark on a jumper by Rodriquez Sherman.

This game was tied 12 times and there were nine lead changes.

A tired acting Miami coach Jermaine Henderson thought his team played hard and just came up short.

“I think we played hard and leave it all out there” he said after the game. The right guy got a shot off but it came up a little short.”

Notes:

-I mentioned yesterday that Keith Dambrot is a great coach; he is also entertaining to watch during the game. His favorite position on the sidelines is bent over with his hands on his knees; with his tie hanging down like an outfielder waiting for the pitch to be delivered. Sometimes he runs the length of the bench clapping his hands. Bottom line, if you take a look over at the Akron bench there is a good chance Drambot will entertain you.

-Yesterday I ranked Ohio’s dance team as the best looking team in the MAC. Upon further review I would rank Western Michigan’s as number two and Akron’s as number three. There you have it the MAC Hot Dance Team rankings.

-Former Miami great and current Cleveland Cavalier Wally Szczerbiak was in attendance for the Miami/Kent State game sitting in the front row across from the Miami bench.

-The clock crew has had a tough tournament. They have consistently screwed up starting and stopping the clock at the proper time. I hope this is not the crew that works the clock for the Cavs games.

Live From the MAC Tournament: Quaterfinals

Bill Kintner — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:25:16 -0700

CLEVELAND – With four quarterfinals games today I am just going to get the highlights of the games and try to give fans a flavor for what is going.

Game One: WMU vs EMU

Led by David Kool’s 24 points No. 2 seed Western Michigan (20-11) beat No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan (14-17). In a game that Eastern Michigan never led, they did make it interesting when at the 10:34 mark they tied the game at 34-34 when Jarrad Axon made two foul shots, but that was a fleeting moment of joy as the Broncos closed it out to end Eastern Michigan’s season.
Fav quote:

“We weren’t talking well on defense and they are a great shooting team. With this being their first game of the tournament, we knew they were going to be pumped up and ready to go and we did not match their intensity and that hurt us in the long run.”
EMU guard Travis Lewis.

-This is WSM’s first trip to the semifinals since 2005.

-The crowd for this game was rather meager considering that Michigan leads the country in unemployment. With all that free time you would think more of them would be here watching two Michigan teams play.

-WMU leads the all-time series with EMU 49-44.

-Western Michigan plays Akron at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Game Two: Akron vs CMU

Akron the No. 3 seed stayed true to form and whipped up on the No. 6 seed Central Michigan 81-60. This game was close for the first 23 minutes before the Zips opened up a double digit lead at the 16:42 mark. Akron’s Jeremiah Wood led all scorers with 17 points. Akron (22-9) shot 56 percent (28-50) from the field and 58.8 percent (10-17) from beyond the 3-point line. Central Michigan (14-17) shot just 34.5 percent (20-58).

Fav quote:

“Today it was, ‘I just want to play basketball.’ Whatever I could do I wanted to do. We are in the part of the season where every game can be your last and I just wanted to leave everything out there.”

You thought the quote was going to be Akron coach Keith Dambrot and nine times out of 10 it usually is, just not today.

-Akron leads the all-time series with CMU 23-13.

-Akron plays Western Michigan at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Game Three: Kent State vs Toledo

No. 1 seed Kent State pounded No. 8 seed Toledo into submission 77-54. The first half was relatively close with Toledo (11-19) getting their biggest lead at three at 7-4 at the 16:42 mark. At halftime Kent State (26-6) led 39-29. In the second Kent just enlarged their lead as they were led by Mike Scott’s 23 points.

Fav Quote:

“On the court we do not think we should get any fouls. The officials made a few calls we did not necessarily agree with and the calls gave us a disadvantage and took away from us being aggressive.”
Toledo forward Jerrah Young.

-Kent State had a nice crowd at the game and they made a lot of noise.

-Toledo leads the all-time series with Kent 78-41.

-Kent State plays Miami at 9:30 p.m. on Friday night.

Game Four: Miami vs Ohio

A typical Miami/Ohio game that No. 5 seed Miami pulled out over No.4 seed Ohio 74-61. The game was a lot tighter than the score indicates. Miami (17-14) was led by Michael Bramos’ 23 points and after getting pounded on the boards by 19 in their last game, the RedHawks out-rebounded the Bobcats 42-31. With 2:10 left it was still a close game with Miami clinging to a four point lead at 63-59. Ohio would score just one more basketball in the game.

Fav quote:

“I think we won with our guards and we got solid contributions from everybody on the boards. Last night we got out-rebounded by 19 so to come back to night and go plus 11 was a big thing.”
Miami forward Tyler Dierkers

-Ohio leads the all-time series with Miami 93-88.

-Miami plays Kent State Friday at 9:30 p.m.

MAC Notes:

-Miami has a four man broadcast team which is by far the biggest in the MAC. Steve Baker delivers the pbp, Joe Berry adds the color, Tim Bray gives sideline updates and Tommy Leugers engineers the whole mess. Some MAC schools simply have one guy that does all four jobs.

-And yes, Tim Bray actually does something besides carry Steve Baker’s luggage. At 1:30 p.m. today he was in the media room hard at work doing research for tonight’s game Miami/Ohio University game. Tommy Leugers calls him “Tidbit Tim” for all the great research he does that provides his reports. I would put that broadcast team up against any from the BCS programs.

-They are playing the woman’s tourney here at the same time as the regular tourney so it makes for a lot of downtime especially on Friday and Saturday for the fans and writers.

-Akron coach Keith Dambrot is one of the best quotes in college coaching and I like using him when I can. After I finished interviewing him he looked at my rather large stature and told me to come up to Akron to take a look at his program and he would take me to one of the best restaurants ever. That may just cost him a boatload of money someday. He also is not very PC which makes for a better interview.

-Ohio University has the best looking dance in the MAC.

-Miami’s coach Charlie Coles is not with the team. He had a heart procedure performed in a local hospital and there is no word as to when he might return. Assistant coach Jermaine Henderson is coaching the team for the remainder of the season.

MAC Tournament: Day One

Bill Kintner — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 06:44:52 -0700

Game 1

The No. 7 seed Eastern Michigan beat No. 10 Ball State 59-55 to put the Cardinals out of their misery and moved into the semifinals against No. 2 Western Michigan at noon. Justin Dobbins led the Eagles with 21 points, including a put-back that gave them a 45-44 lead and led to an 8-0 run to pull away from Ball State.

Fav quote:

“We expected them to play well. They had nothing to lose. They are a much better team than that record indicates.”
- Eastern Michigan coach Charles Ramsey

Game 2

It was a three game sweep as No. 6 Central Michigan whipped No. 11 Northern Illinois 83-71. Senior guard Giordan Watson led the Chippewas with 20 points. Central Michigan led by as much as 22 in the second half before a late comeback to make the score respectable. CMU plays Akron at 2:30 pm.

Fav quote:

“I know we have good shooters. When you have good shooters, they make shots.”
- CMU player Giordan Watson

Game 3

The No. 8 seed Toledo beat arch-rival No. 9 Bowling Green 52-48 to avenge a regular-season loss to the Falcons. The Rockets shot a meager 33.3 percent from the field and 5.9 percent (1-17) from 3-point land. Jonathan Amos led the Rockets with 15 points. Toledo plays Kent State at 7 p.m.

Fav quote:

“We bogged down on offensively. We had open shots , we just couldn’t convert. At one point they had nine offensive rebounds and I was pretty disappointed with that.”
- Toledo coach Stan Joplin

Game 4

No. 5 Miami, took a lead with three minutes thanks to the shooting of Kenny Hayes and the RedHawks made 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute to hold off No. 12 Buffalo 69-68. Michael Bramos led Miami with 23 points. The RedHawks were out-rebounded 38-22 and had just four offensive rebounds. Miami plays Ohio at 9:30 p.m.

Fav quote:

“We were getting frustrated because they were playing a lot harder than us. We had to come in the second half and match their intensity.”
- Tim Politz, Miami player

Today's Poll: Will the MAC Get Multiple Bids?

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:50:25 -0800

Daily Dribble: Mid-Major Ranking

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:47:39 -0800

Following yesterday's "High-Major" ranking, today's "Mid-Major" list contains what I consider to be the usual 13th through 17th ranked conferences: Big West, Horizon, MAC, Sun Belt, and WCC. Of course, some years there are other leagues that squeak into the Top 17, but only once since 2000 (Ivy in 2002) has a league not included in my rankings finished in the top 16 RPI.

1. Butler 7-0 (Hor)

2. Gonzaga 7-2 (WCC)

3. Saint Mary's 6-0 (WCC)

4. UCSB 8-1 (BW)

5. Miami 4-3 (MAC)

6. Kent State 7-2 (MAC)

7. Pacific 6-2 (BW)

8. WKU 6-2 (SB)

9. Valparaiso 6-1 (Hor)

10. Western Michigan 4-4 (MAC)

11. South Alabama 6-3 (SB)

12. Ohio 4-2 (MAC)

13. Cleveland State 6-3 (Hor)

14. CS Fullerton 4-1 (BW)

15. Wright State 2-1 (Hor)

16. CS Northridge 6-1 (BW)

17. North Texas 5-2 (SB)

18. San Diego 5-5 (WCC)

19. UWGB 5-2 (Hor)

20. Cal Poly 4-2 (BW)

21. UALR 6-1 (SB)

22. Detroit 4-3 (Hor)

23. Akron 5-2 (MAC)

24. UIC 3-4 (Hor)

25. Buffalo 5-4 (MAC)

26. ULM 4-4 (SB)

27. UWM 3-4 (Hor)

28. New Orleans 4-1 (SB)

29. Santa Clara 5-2 (WCC)

30. Pepperdine 4-6 (WCC)

31. Central Michigan 2-5 (MAC)

32. Bowling Green 4-3 (MAC)

33. Toledo 1-7 (MAC)

34. UC Davis 4-4 (BW)

35. Eastern Michigan 4-4 (MAC)

36. San Francisco 3-5 (WCC)

37. Youngstown State 3-4 (Hor)

38. Denver 2-4 (SB)

39. Portland 2-6 (WCC)

40. MTSU 2-5 (SB)

41. LBSU 2-5 (BW)

42. FIU 3-3 (SB)

43. LMU 2-7 (WCC)

44. Northern Illinois 2-6 (MAC)

45. Troy 3-4 (SB)

46. Loyola-Chicago 2-4 (Hor)

47. Ball State 0-7 (MAC)

48. UC Riverside 2-6 (BW)

49. Arkansas State 2-5 (SB)

50. UC Irvine 2-5 (BW)

51. Lou-Lafayette 1-4 (SB)

52. FAU 1-7 (SB)

Coming next will be a ranking of the six BCS leagues.

Daily Poll: Who Will Win the MAC?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 06:42:35 -0700

Money, and Mid-Majors: Is the MAC Slipping?

Bill Kintner — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 09:44:08 -0800

OXFORD, Ohio -- Tonight it is Mid-American Conference at its best as the first place Akron Zips come to do battle with the Miami RedHawks.

Miami came in at 13-12 and 8-4 in the MAC. They took their lumps in the pre-conference schedule going 4-8 against a very tough schedule that included Wright State, Kentucky, Illinois, Xavier, Illinois State, Michigan, Dayton and Cincinnati.

Since that grueling stretch the RedHawks have gone 9-5 in the conference plus a win at Indiana State in the Bracket Busters.

The question is did the tough early season games toughen Miami up for MAC play or is the MAC not that tough this year?

Chew on that for a bit and we will come back to it in a moment.

As for Akron, they came in 20-5 and 10-2 in the MAC. They went 9-3 in their pre-conference games. The toughest team they played was 10th ranked Nevada at home and they lost 73-71. Oral Roberts was a tough road opponent that they beat 61-59. The rest of their games were against opponents that are fairly weak including Tiffin University, Gardner-Webb, Binghamton, Winston-Salem State, St. Francis and Loyola Marymount.

Since starting conference play the Zips have gone 11-2 including a home win against Austin Peay in the Bracket Busters.

So what we have learned is the team that struggled with a killer pre-conference schedule is doing well in MAC play. The team that did well in a much easier pre-conference schedule also is doing well in the MAC.

I am beginning to see a pattern? Let’s keep looking.

It is no doubt that the MAC is down a little this year. But hold on just a minute they have been somewhat down for awhile now. Hasn’t it been eight years since the MAC has gotten multiple bids to the NCAA? The last time that happened was in 1999 when Miami and Kent State went to the Big Dance. That is the year that Wally Szcerbiak led the RedHawks to the Sweet sixteen.

Well then let’s look at the conference RPI. The RPI is not perfect but at least it is an apple to apples comparison. This year the MAC is ranked 15th.

How about similar conferences?

The CAA is 13th, the Horizon League is 12th and the MVC is 7th.

And last year the RPI was MAC at 16, the Horizon League was 15, the CAA was 10 and the MVC was six.

So the two year RPI average was MAC 15.5, Horizon 13.5, CAA 12.5 and the MVC 6.5.

The two prior years the RPI average was the Horizon League 15.6, CAA 14.6, MAC 12 and MVC 10.3.

So is it just a cycle? The MAC is a little down the past several years compared to the other three similar conferences?

That is how Horizon League Commissioner Jon LeCrone explains it. He was attending tonight’s game as a member of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee taking a look at Akron.

“It is hard to tell because everything is cyclical. The MAC certainly has a great reputation as a basketball conference. They have been successful in the past and they will continue to be successful,” said LeCrone. We have had years in the Horizon League where people would say the league is down and we’ve had a breakout team get in and do very well. I think all four of the leagues you mentioned, the MAC, Horizon, CAA and even the MVC are all very similar.”

Back to the question you were chewing on.

“I think we may slipping in the eyes of those people that pick teams, but how can you say we are not good? Like two years ago we should have gotten in the tournament,” explained Miami Coach Charlie Coles. “We played the schedule, our RPI was high and then they come up with a new RPI.”

For the record--Miami was 18-10 that year with an RPI of 43.

And Coles is right the MAC had been slighted by the NCAA Selection Committee a few times in the last few years.

In 2002 the year Kent State went to the Sweet Sixteen, Bowling Green was 23-7 with an RPI of 59 and they went to the NIT.

In 2000 Ball State went to the Big Dance but Kent was 19-7 with an RPI of 36 and Bowling Green was 21-7 with an RPI of 56. Both went to the NIT.

So it is not like the MAC is in the toilet, but they seem to be a step behind the MVC and the CAA. They have never put three teams in the NCAA
like the Horizon League did in 1998 when Butler, Detroit and UIC went to the dance.

Let’s do another comparison between our four so-called Mid-Major conferences.

In attendance this year the MVC averages 7680 per game and the lowest in attendance is Indiana State at 4341 per game.

The Horizon League average 3606 per game and the lowest in attendance is Detroit at 2364.

The CAA average 3574 per game and the lowest in attendance is Georgia State at 1167 per game.

Then we have the MAC at just 2921 per game and the lowest is Eastern Michigan just 841 per game. That is not a typo! That 841 per game are what you might see at a women’s game and Eastern even has a nice new arena.

So the fan support is a little lower than those other conferences too. Does that mean the teams are slipping? Well better teams do tend to draw a little better at the gate.

Now on the other hand Akron Coach Keith Dambrot thinks the MAC has emphasized football and not funded basketball.

“You have to put resources into a business to make it grow. I think the CAA and the Missouri Valley have put a big investment into basketball. I think years of neglect have caught up to our conference. If you check the history of our league we have put many more players into the pros than those other leagues,” explained Dambrot.

“The MAC made their investment in football which is fine, but when you look at basketball they are paying the price for it. It is salaries, budgets and buildings. We played at Creighton and we played at Temple. You look at Wichita State’s and George Mason’s buildings. Our fans expect us to be as good as those teams but in realty we don’t have as good as buildings as the Horizon League.”

Plain Dealer Sportswriter Elton Alexander who has covered the MAC since 1986 agrees that the emphasis on football in the MAC has hurt basketball, but he pins in on the entrance of football power Marshall into the MAC in
1997.

When Marshall came into the league, had Marshall been as good in basketball as they were in football, I think schools in the MAC would have matched that across the board, like they tried to do in football. But basketball was doing pretty good anyway,” said Alexander.

How about coaches? This year the Horizon League hired two new coaches and they both were Division I head coaches. They were Gary Waters at Cleveland State and Brad Brownell at Wright State. Waters was the coach at Kent State and Rutgers, Brownell was the coach at UNC-Wilmington.

Brownell is making about $220,000 a year. Butler’s Todd Lickliter, UIC’s Jimmy Collins, Loyola’s JimWhitesell and USM’s Rob Jeter are making in that ballpark or a little more.

And recent hires in the MAC? Prior to this season Ball State hired Ronny Thompson and Central Michigan hired Ernie Zeigler. Both were assistant coaches.

In fact, I think the last MAC coaching hire who was a Division I head coach was Coles and that was 17 years ago.

The only coaches making in the $200,000 range per year in the MAC are Jim Christian at Kent and Tim O’Shea at Ohio University.

So what does all this add up to? I am not sure, but it looks like the MAC will need to invest a little more money in basketball in the future to keep up with the Jones of the Mid-Major World.

Oh and tonight’s game?

Miami beat Akron 64-62 in overtime. That game was worth the investment in a ticket.

Joel Knows: Sunday Review

Joel Welser — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 12:25:51 -0800

Does Joel know everything? Anything? Or does Joel simply know nothing? Find out every Sunday in Joel Welser’s new weekly column: Joel Knows.

Joel knows how to pronounce offense.

Joel knows that Connecticut will need a big win on the road to make the NCAAs. The best opportunity may come on Wednesday at DePaul. If the Huskies fail in Chicago, Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Georgetown are the only other choices to pick up that elusive quality road victory. And we aren’t too far from looking at UConn not even making the Big East Tournament.

Joel knows February is the shortest month of the year for a reason.

Joel knows that just about everybody underestimated George Washington. After a road win at Rhode Island, the Colonials sit at 6-1 and the lone remaining one-loss team in the A-10. They might not end up winning the conference, or even making the NCAA Tournament, thanks to more talented teams like Umass and Xavier, but Coach Karl Hobbs and his GW squad deserve some kudos.

Joel knows Michigan is on the verge of collapse.

Joel knows Air Force is still the best team in the MWC. BYU is not an easy team to beat at home and the Falcons’ 52-61 loss at the hands of the Cougars won’t stop Air Force from claiming the conference crown.

Joel knows that Drew Neitzel is freaky looking when he’s possessed.

Joel knows the MAC West has a lot of work to do. Toledo is a misleading 7-0, taking full advantage of an amazingly easy early schedule, but the directional Michigan schools, Ball State and Northern Illinois are all under .500 overall. Western Michigan is the only other team with a winning record in conference in the West, but got absolutely destroyed by Akron on Saturday to further escalate the East’s conference dominance.

Joel knows Penn should be clinching the first NCAA Tournament bid any day now.

Joel knows Utah Valley State will make a nice addition to whatever conference they end up with. The Wolverines are 13-7 on the season as an independent with wins over Montana, Albany and UMKC…twice. Sure, that doesn’t sound like an at-large resume, but it can compete in a conference like the Big Sky or Mid-Con.

One Bid League

Ryan Molnar — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 09:50:51 -0800

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.

MAC Recap: 11-13

Ryan Molnar — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 12:56:04 -0800

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.