Game Recaps

Final Four Review & Finals Preview

Jason Brubaker — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:39:23 -0700

OK- raise your hand if you saw this coming, because if so, I've got a few lottery numbers that I need help picking.

The matchup in Monday night’s championship shouldn't be too surprising, considering both Kansas and Memphis entered the season as national title favorites, and have a combined 74-4 record. But the relative ease with which they dispatched UNC and UCLA was somewhat shocking, considering the level of competition. Kansas jumped all over UNC from the get-go, racing to a 40-12 advantage and making the Heels look slow and timid. Memphis meanwhile, simply overwhelmed UCLA all game, holding a comfortable margin the entire time. Here’s a look back at the weekend.

Memphis-UCLA

Perhaps the defining moments of the game occurred with about four minutes left, and Memphis holding a nine-point lead. Fabulous Tigers' freshman Derrick Rose penetrated and lobbed a soft pass up near the basket for Joey Dorsey to throw down, a play Memphis runs a few times each game. Dorsey bobbled the pass and blew the dunk, with the ball eventually landing in the hands of UCLA guard Russell Westbrook, perhaps the only Bruin athletic enough to compete with Memphis on this night. Westbrook raced down the floor, weaving in and out of traffic, and he rose for a lay-up that would cut the lead to seven, and give the Bruins some momentum. Just as he released it, Dorsey, who sprinted the length of the floor to atone for his bobble, took off a few feet behind Westbrook. He extended a giant left paw, swatting the shot out of the air just before it reached the backboard, saving the basket, and deflating UCLA's slim hopes. He said at the post-game press conference that he "just knew he had to make up for missing the dunk."

The play was typical of Memphis all night, as they just seemed a step faster everywhere on the court. Outside of Westbrook, UCLA looked timid on the perimeter, unsure of how to attack the Tigers. Bruin point guard Darren Collison looked like a scared freshman who was asked to scrimmage with the varsity team, not looking for his own shot and turning the ball over five times. Worse yet, the Bruins couldn't seem to get the ball to Kevin Love, who scored just 12 points, and only two in the second half. After all the talk of the Bruins being only a post player away from a title the past two seasons, they couldn't get him shots when it mattered most.

Meanwhile, the Tigers backcourt of Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts continued to play lights-out, combining for 53 points on 16-33 shooting. Rose simply gets better each game, as he got into the lane at will against the Bruins’ guards. Right next to him, CDR was a monster match-up problem with his height and speed, and it was his emphatic left-handed dunk over Love that punctuated the victory. Even the Tigers’ alleged weakness, free-throws, was forgotten for the third straight game, as they went 20-23. To be blunt, when Memphis plays like that, they're unbeatable, and the Bruins will attest to that. Another effort like this, and the Tigers will be cutting down the nets on Monday.

UNC-Kansas

The talk leading up to the game, besides UNC Coach Roy Williams going against his former school, was that both teams played an up-tempo game, and scoring would be early and often. Well that turned out to be only half-true, as Kansas came out and just blew the doors off UNC, opening up a 40-12 lead on the strength of an 18-0 run. The Jayhawks made the ultra-quick Heels look like they were running in quicksand, getting to every loose ball and getting any shot they wanted both in transition and in the half-court offense. On defense, they never let UNC establish a comfort zone, doubling Tyler Hansbrough in the post and coming up with weakside steals and blocks again and again. Keep in mind, this is a UNC team that entered the game at 36-2, and had won 15 straight games, yet they went over nine minutes without a field goal.

In the second half, the Heels mounted a valiant comeback, closing the gap to four behind Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green. Showing more effort on defense and more patience on offense, the Heels looked like they were on the verge of a historic comeback. But just as they got close, the Jayhawks found their second wind, pushing the lead back out and closing out the game on a 17-5 run. Guard Brandon Rush (25 points) was magnificent, as was the three-headed point guard tandem of Mario Chalmers, Russell Robinson and Sherron Collins, as they limited Ty Lawson to just nine points and two assists. Inside, two and sometimes three defenders constantly swarmed Hansbrough, and he never got into the rhythm he found against Louisville. Carolina showed a lot of heart in battling back when it appeared nothing could go right, but in the end, Kansas was just the better team.

Looking Ahead: Kansas-Memphis

This one should be fun. Both teams run, defend and have a ton of depth to keep everybody fresh. Both coaches are looking for their first national title, and both have silenced some doubters along the way. Kansas' guards will be giving up size to Rose, CDR and Antonio Anderson, but their defensive prowess may make up for that. Robinson and Chalmers are outstanding one-on-one and help defenders; meaning Memphis can't get careless with the ball. Off the bench, Collins is fearless, attacking the basket and using his strength to finish around bigger players. Kansas also has enough inside to match up with the Tigers, between Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun and Aldrich. Look for them to go at Dorsey early and try to get him in foul trouble.

The key for Memphis will be handling the Jayhawk pressure and running their dribble-drive offense. The Tigers are a confident bunch right now, and they feel they're capable of beating anyone. Rose has been fantastic, and if he's on, there's no defender that can stay in front of him, even veterans like Chalmers or Robinson. CDR has been just as good, and his match-up with Brandon Rush should be great. The Tigers also bring an impressive collection of athletes off the bench in Shawn Taggert, Doneal Mack and Willie Kemp, guys who can continue pressuring the ball and pushing the tempo. If Memphis can continue to get contributions from Robert Dozier and Anderson as the defense focuses on Rose and CDR, they'll be tough to beat.

In the end, Memphis wins this game much they did against UCLA, getting out to a solid lead and maintaining it throughout. Kansas played brilliantly in the first 15 minutes against UNC, but it's doubtful they'll get open looks like that against Memphis. Additionally, after putting so much energy into holding off the furious Tar Heel comeback, how much juice do the Jayhawks have left in the tank? If they get down 10 or 12 early, can they come back? Look for an exciting game with plenty of action, but when it’s all said and done, it will be the Memphis Tigers watching “One Shining Moment” on the Alamodome floor.

Consolation prizes

Both UNC and UCLA had fantastic years, unfortunately marred by poor endings. On the bright side, both teams could return virtually intact next year, in addition to adding stellar recruiting classes.

If Love, Westbrook and Collision decide to stick around, they'll be aided by a great four-man class led by Jrue Holiday, a big point guard who gives the Bruins some much-needed size in the back court. The class also includes do-everything guard Malcolm Lee, and big man Drew Gordon, which should improve the Bruins’ depth. Shooting guard Michael Roll will also be available again, after missing the season with injuries, giving the offensively-challenged Bruins another weapon from outside.

For the Heels, its possible they’ll lose only back-up point guard Quentin Thomas heading into next year. If Hansbrough, Lawson and Ellington come back, they'll join a three-man recruiting class that gives the Heels more size (Tyler Zeller), more athleticism (Ed Davis) and another shooter (Larry Drew). They'll also return a guard from injury, as Bobby Frasor should be back and ready to go.

Mindless Dribble: Memphis Owns UCLA in Semifinals Win

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:33:13 -0700

Once Memphis took the lead after 5 minutes.. they never looked back, rolling to a 78-63 win over UCLA.

- Coming in, I think most (including myself) would have ranked Howland ahead of Calipari as in-game coaches.. but this win was all about Cal. As much as Rose outplayed Collison, it was Cal's decisions that shut down UCLA's offense. Doubling Love at every touch, and then using an extra big to block Collison from even getting near the lane worked perfectly.

- Perhaps Cal got his inspiration for shutting down Collison from Washington State's win back in February. Besides the debacle tonight, that was really the only other time UCLA's PG got shut down. He was 1-8 with 8 turnovers that night.. similar stats to tonight's 1-9 with 5 to's.

- People love to talk about the athletic ability of Memphis, but this win was about more than that. Sure, their height and length played a factor as always.. but even when down 5-0, they played the smarter & more composed game. There was never really any sense that Memphis was phased by the big moment.

- Joey Dorsey's trailing block on Westbrook with 4 mins to go in the game was SICK. Also, the 15 boards he pulled down were the most since February.

- Collison giving up a foul near half-court to get DQ'd from the game with 3 minutes to go was mind-boggling.. but the way he played, it didn't really hurt.

I'll be the first to admit that while others said Rose's size difference would play a huge factor against Collison, I gave DC enough respect to think he'd overcome that. I was wrong. 25 points to 2 is all you need to know.

- Everybody loves Derrick Rose, but CDR needs to start getting more respect as a legit NBA prospect.. he makes plays on O that very few can make.

- Amazing that it took Billy Packer 33 minutes of game-time to finally concede that the flow wasn't going in UCLA's direction..

- Nice to hear that Luc Richard Mbah a Moute's parents were at one of his UCLA games for the first time ever. Though he missed some open jumpers (credit Cal for forcing the ball into his hands), the junior gave a good effort and was one of the few Bruins to play at a high level (along with Westbrook).

- How did James Keefe go off for 18 & 12 against WKU? Against Xavier and UCLA, he looked more like a walk-on..

- I love when Cal puts in Pierre Niles for 30 second stints.. it makes me happy when he's on the court. Niles might lead the country in appearances that don't even count as a minute played in the scorebook.

- The Alamodome court looked good on High-Def. I'm not big on the overdone stars and stripes theme.. but the court was sharp.

Mindless Dribble: Kansas Escapes With Win over Davidson

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:58:59 -0700

Four #1 seeds have never made the Fi.. oh well, I guess we can throw out Bracket Tactic #17 from next year's batch. Unlike Xavier, Louisville, and Texas.. at least Davidson seemed up the challenge. The Wildcats didn't necessarily bring their A-game, but it seemed like C+ was enough to get it done on Sunday evening. The national media has had their full share of thoughts on this game, but here are a few other nuggets to chew on: - People (mainly I'm talking about the announcers here) need to stop prodding and discussing and waiting for Brandon Rush to shoot more or take over games.. he's been at this college basektball thing for 106 games now, and nothing has changed since day one. - Even though he only scored 2 points in the second half, Mario Chalmers hit the key shots for Kansas. Just when Curry finally heated up after a sluggish 10 minute start, Chalmers also caught fire. He scored 11 of the Hawks 15 points in a 4 minute stretch when Curry scored 12 of Davidson's 14. Without Chalmer's hot streak (which included 3 threes.. the game would have turned out very different). - The turning point of the game seemed to occur at the 8:13 mark. Spurred by Bryant Barr, the Wildcats made a great push in the middle of the second half. Up 51-47, Curry missed a three that would have brought down the house. Once that shot rimmed out, it seemed like all the effort Davidson put into the last few minutes finally caught up with them. Noticing this, Bob McKillop smartly called a time out at the 7:35 mark.. but it wasn't enough to wake up his crew. - Davidson's final possession has been ripped to shreds in many circles. And rightfully so. It was a somewhat pathetic way to end what was an amazing run. Curry's decision to pass or not to pass wasn't the issue.. the game ended before Richard's even took the last second desperation three. Why not play for overtime and go for two? It's not like Kansas was dominating down the stretch.. the Jayhawks didn't hit a field goal in the final 4:57. - I've been critical of Bill Self's coaching ability over the years and I can't say I'm a big believer now. Prime example was when Kansas regained possession after a huge three by Curry cut the lead to two with 54 seconds left. Half way through the possession, he calls time out, and the resulting "play" led to Sherron Collins (who had a blah game) bombing a three from 40 feet away. Then again, he won.. so I'll hold back on the rest of my criticisms. - Man, did Self look relieved when his team won though. It wasn't even happiness, it was like "Thank god I recruited some really good athletes who got me to this point and that Rush rebounded so quickly from his injury and Curry missed some shots he hit last game.. because we didn't play very well." - Sasha Kaun (13 points and 7 boards) looks really good when he goes up against guys 3-5 inches smaller then him. This is why his other "good" games came against Washburn, Northern Arizona, and Loyola Maryland.. - I like how ESPN has a story about "sources" telling them that Stephen Curry will return for his junior year. Of course he is, do we need sources to tell us that? - More interesting than the possibility of Curry leaving will be the rumblings about jobs being offered to Coach McKillop. You never know what a coach will do, even one that's been in the same program for 20 years. So long as Curry's there, it's hard to see him leaving though.. then again, his "stock" is as high as it will ever be. - Did Kansas give me any reason to think they could beat UNC? Not really. - Not sure what I think about the Ford Field setup. It looked like half the fans were a couple hundred yards away from the action. Also, why don't the extend the raised floor just a bit and put all the coaches and the benches up there? - Richards, Sander, and Meno are seniors so it will be worth watching to see how the Cats fare next year. I don't follow Davidson enough to know who exactly is line to start next year.. but a lineup of Curry, Barr, Archambault, Lovedale, and one of Gosselin/Rossiter doesn't look too bad.

Quick Midday Recap: Curry Explodes, Roger is Clutch, McClinton Dominates

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:04:06 -0700

A quick review of the morning action on Day Two of the NCAA Tournament: (10) Davidson 82 - (7) Gonzaga 76 The first big games of the first round that actually lived up to its hype. Stephen Curry scored 40 points, including an amazing 30 in the second half, to lead Davidson to the mini-upset. Gonzaga tried many times to run away with the game in the first thirty minutes, getting up 10 with just 13 minutes to go. But too much Curry and not enough clutch play down the stretch did in the Zags. As was the case all season, the Bulldogs simply lacked that one go-to player that could put them over the edge. Steven Gray had big moments early, Jeremy Pargo had big moments in the middle, but it was only Curry who had big moments in the end. (12) Western Kentucky 101 - (15) Drake 99 Drake's magical season came to an end due to an amazing game-winning three from Ty Rogers. Western Kentucky came out firing and was shooting close to 60% for the first 35 minutes of the game.. but down 74-59 with 8 minutes left, Drake finally found its long-range touch. Once in overtime, the Bulldogs had many chances to pull away but their lack of inside presence and ability to break guys down off the dribble was damning. There's really only so many times you can settle for 40 foot shots. Both teams made bonehead decision in the OT session, especially a foul by WKU's Boris Siakam. But Siakam made up for his wrongdoing by hitting a pair of clutch ft's with 21 seconds left. (7) Miami 78 - (10) Saint Mary's 64 Up 5 at half, things were looking good for Saint Mary's. But Jack McClinton's 32 point second half outburst (every bit as good as Stephen Curry's half) was more than enough to put away the Gaels. At various points in the second half, he scored 14 in a row for Miami, 10 in a row, and 8 in a row. (7) Butler 81 - (10) South Alabama 61 Like the above game in some sense, this was neck and neck for 15 minutes with South Alabama leading 23-22. But a three-point barrage by Pete Campbell and AJ Graves broke open the game and the Bulldogs never looked back. Campbell ended up with 26 points, including 8 of 10 from downtown. South Alabam scoring leader Demetric Bennett was held to just 6 points thanks to solid D by Drew Streicher. Butler now faces Georgetown in the 2nd round. (2) Tennessee 72 - (15) American 57 For 30 minutes the Eagles gave it a good run before the Vols talent and athleticism pulled away. Garrison Carr hit back to back threes midway through the second half to tie the game at 40. Tennessee then called a timeout, ran off 10 straight points and never looked back. Carr, who averaged 18 on the season, ended up with 26 of American's 57 points. Tennessee's Chris Lofton was just 1-7 from the floor, but JaJuan Smith and others picked up the slack. (2) Georgetown 66 - (15) UMBC 47 Nothing terribly exciting to note here. UMBC showed some heart, keeping the score relatively close for most of the game, but you never got the sense they really had the upset in them. (2) Texas 74 - (15) Austin Peay 54 This game was well over by the 10 minute mark with Texas leading 22-5. Whatever happened after that really didn't matter. (13) San Diego 70 - (4) UCONN 69 More on this game soon! Overall: Some fireworks by Stephen Curry and Jack McClinton, not to mention Pete Campbell's 8 of 10 shooting were the first real big individual efforts of the tournament. Ty Rogers clutch game-winning OT three was the first of what hopefully will be many buzzer-beaters over the next couple weeks.

Quick Evening Recap: Belmont Comes Close, Mayo Fizzles Out

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:55:02 -0700

A quick review of the evening action on Day One of the NCAA Tournament: (2) Duke 71 - (15) Belmont 70 One last basket away from being one of the biggest (if not the biggest) upset in NCAA Tournament history. The Blue Devils were outplayed and Coach K was outcoached the entire game. With the exception of Belmont's unfortunately horrible in-bounds play with 5 seconds left, the Bruins never looked out of place physically or mentally. Duke was saved by Gerald Henderson, who finished with 21 points, 8 boards, and the game-winning layup with 2 seconds left. Henderson was the only Blue Devil who seemed to have the mindset that he was better than his opponent. What's especially troubling if you're a Duke fan is not just the score.. but that Belmont didn't play above their heads to hang in there. They didn't shoot exceptionally well from the floor or from three, but just played their usual game. (11) Kansas State 80 - (6) USC 67 This was supposed to be the epic matchup of the evening session, but Kansas State only trailed for 26 seconds after the first basket. With Michael Beasley in foul trouble early, Bill Walker and sub Ron Anderson carried the scoring load in the first half. With USC down at half, OJ Mayo finally showed some big-time spark, leading the Trojans on a 21-10 run to take the lead. A big three by Clent Stewart opened up the game once again with 10:06 left and K-State never looked back. It was a somewhat blah ending for Mayo's brief college career. The heralded freshmen was supposed to carry USC to glory, but though his team had an okay year, they rarely showed signs of even approaching very good status. (9) Texas A&M 67 - (8) BYU 62 Give BYU credit for coming back from an 11-0 deficit.. but that poor start proved too be to much to overcome. The teams played to a standstill for the final 35 minutes, and A&M was able to hold off the comeback effort thanks to Josh Carter's career game. Carter came into the game having hit only 4 of 20 threes, but he blew threw his season high by hitting 6 threes and scoring 26 points. Carter had barely been hitting double-digits in the last month, so his 26 point outburst was perhaps more shocking than Belmont's good play. (4) Washington State 71 - (13) Winthrop 40 A neck and neck first half in which neither team led by more than 3 points gave way to an absolute beatdown in the second stanza. Locked at 29 after 20 minutes, there was little reason to think either team would win by more than 10 points. But the Cougars came out on a ridiculous 25-4 run and held Winthrop to 11 second half points.. one of the worst totals in Tournament history. Overall: After terribly mundane morning and afternoon sessions, at least the night got off to a good a start. Kansas State was the first real "upset" of the tournament, though its nothing that will generate much pub in the media. Belmont gave it a good run.. but the real underdog wake up call is yet to come.

NCAA Tournament: Quick Morning Review

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:14:09 -0700

A quick review of the morning action on Day One of the NCAA Tournament: (3) Xavier 73 - (14) Georgia 61 Josh Duncan, one of the most efficient players in college basketball, finished with 20 points as the Musketeers rebounded from a slow start to beat Georgia. Coming off their miraculous SEC Tournament win, Georgia looked to have the magic early before running out of gas down the stretch. Everybody who picked Xavier to go the Sweet Sixteen or beyond took a big sigh of relief.. and now XU plays the winner of Baylor/Purdue. (5) Michigan State 72 - (12) Temple 61 The Spartans shut down Temple's leading scorer, Dionte Christmas, holding him to just 2 points on 1 of 10 shooting. Luckily for Christmas, he's a junior, and won't have to end his career on the worst game of his career. Drew Neitzel also had an off game, 5 points on 2-10 shooting, but the Spartans overcame this with a deeper and more balanced attack. (1) Kansas 85 - (16) Portland State 61 There's no use wasting precious space with commentary on this game. Kansas won big is all you need to know. Overall: Nothing terribly exciting this morning with all the favorites winning. Xavier's comeback prevented what would have been a disaster for the A10. The afteroon sessions beginning as a I write this should offer some more competitive basketball.

MAC Championship: Kent State Dominates Akron

Joel Welser — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:47:01 -0700

Cleveland, OH - It came down to two near-by rivals and a packed Quicken Loans Arena in the Mid-American Conference Championship but in the end the No. I seed pounded the No. 3 seed as Kent State cruised by Akron 74-55.

Kent State (28-6) was the dominant team in the MAC this year and the Golden Flashes dominated Akron by almost every measure.

They out-shot Akron (23-10) from the field 50.9 percent (27-53) to 30.8 percent (18-52) and from the foul line 88.9 percent (16-18) to 54.3 percent (18-33). Both teams shot poorly from 3-point land but the Golden Flashes won that one too 33 percent (4-12) to 27.7 percent (5-22). Kent State also out-rebounded the Zips 36-27.

This year Kent State won the East Division title, they had the player of the year, the coach of the year and the best defensive player, Haminn Quaintance who was chosen tournament MVP. Tonight he scored 16 points, pulled down six rebounds and had a blocked shot.

Cleveland State has an RPI of 21 and most likely would have been in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happened tonight. This game was probably for seeding purposes and the Golden Flashes made their case in convincing fashion.

As for the Zips for the second straight year they saw their Big Dance dreams shattered as they again lost in the championship game. Last year it was a buzzer-beater by Miami’s Doug Penno that sunk them.

It was a relatively tight game until Akron hit a dry spell toward the end of the first half that allowed Kent State to close out the first half on a 16-1 run that sent the Zips into the locker room at halftime down 13 points at 33-20.

A dry spell is putting it mildly. Akron went the final 7:46 without scoring missing their last nine shots and three free throws to end the half.

Akron coach Keith Dambrot thought that his team’s poor shooting hurt them at the other end of the court. “I think our offensive performance affected our defense. I think we got inside on them better than we ever have . We got it at point-blank range, we just couldn’t make it, which is difficult.”

“We just wanted to put pressure on the ball and give them a hard time getting into their offensive sets. We wanted them to chance what they wanted to do,” explained Kent State player Al Fisher.

In the second half Akron did make a run cutting the Kent State lead to 10 points at 51-41 at the 8:20 mark on a basket by Nate Linhart. Kent State’s Mike Scott responded by making a jump shot. Right after that he was intentionally fouled on a steal play. He sunk both foul shots.

Then Kent State’s Chris Singletary converted a 3-point play, but was knocked down after making the final foul shot by Linhart who backed into him.

Kent State coach Jim Christian had some choice words for Linhart after everyone got untangled.

“Singletary is a key person for us when putting pressure on the ball because he is so strong. That was a key for us to have an option like him to go to,” said Christian.

When the final horn sounded Fisher, the MAC Player of the Year, provided an exclamation point on a good night by doing a back flip in front of the Kent State bench.

Notes:

-LeBron James of the Cavalier and Akron’s most famous native son was in attendance for tonight’s game.

-Tonight’s meeting was the 125 meeting between the two programs. Kent leads the all-time series 65-60. Akron won last year’s three games and Kent won this year’s three games.

-This is the seventh time in the past 11 years tht Kent has played in the MAC Championship game. Kent has won five of those seven games.

The All-Tournament Team

-Joe Reitz, Western Michigan
-Jeremiah Wood, Akron
-Al Fisher, Kent State
-Mike Scott, Kent State
-Haminn Quaintance, Kent State

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