HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t). Up next is the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. The opening round on campus sites Monday night had seen a major upset when 12-seed Miami-Ohio took down 5-seed Buffalo. Would the Redhawks continue their run? Would top seeds Akron and Bowling Green reach the finals? It is time to find out!
MAC QUARTERFINALS
Every now and then, something happens at a conference tournament that seems completely inexplicable. That is how the entire day felt at the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals. It began with 8-seed Ohio University shocking top-seed Akron 91-79, as Jordan Dartis, Jason Preston and Ben Vander Plas all scored over 20 points for the Bobcats. Up next, 12-seed Miami-Ohio, a team that has shocked 5-seed Buffalo on the road in the opening round, continued their magic, turning a 1-point halftime deficit into an amazing 25-point win, 88-63. The first semifinal was set, and it was the 8 seed versus the 12!
After an amazing afternoon of upsets, the MAC was expected to return to normalcy in the evening session when 7-seed Toledo took on 2-seed Bowling Green. The game was not even close. However, it was Toledo that rolled in this one, grabbing a 53-35 halftime lead and rolling by a final of 93-65 thanks to 30 points from Marreon Jackson and a double-double (21 point and 17 rebounds) from Willie Jackson. The craziness was still not over, however, as 6-seed Kent State made the lower seeds four-for-four on the day, overcoming a 5-point halftime deficit to win 83-74 behind 20 points from Anthony Roberts. And so, the MAC semifinals were set: 8 vs 12 and 6 vs 7!
MAC SEMIFINALS
Miami-Ohio had only won 5 conference games all season, but the underdog Redhawks were suddenly in the semifinals, and amazingly matched up with the 8-seed, Ohio University. The lower-seeded teams were already 4-for-4 in the games being played in Cleveland, but it appeared that streak might end when Ohio built a 5-point halftime lead. Miami came out red-hot in the second half, however, and the Bobcats could not recover. The Redhawks ended up winning again, by a 70-55 blowout margin, and were suddenly one win away from turning a last place finish into an NCAA Tournament bid! Nike Sibande led the way for the victorious Redhawks, scoring 22 points in the win.
With the lower-seeded teams now 5-for-5 in Cleveland, it would figure that 6-for-6 would happen in the battle between 6-seed Kent State and 7-seed Toledo. And, of course, it did. The Rockets came out strong early and never looked back, cruising to a 75-61 win and a spot in the MAC title game against Miami. Luke Knapke led the way for the Rockets, scoring 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. And with the win, we had an amazing 7 vs 12 game set to determine who would win the MAC automatic bid!
MAC CHAMPIONSHIP
7-seed Toledo. 12-seed Miami-Ohio. Neither team was expected to make it past the quarterfinal round, and in Miami’s case, the team wasn’t even expected to make it past the opening round and into the quarters. Yet here we were, with one of the wildest tournament final matchups we had ever seen. Miami was the lower-seeded team, and given what had happened the prior two days, that practically made them the favorite to win this game!
The first half was back and forth, with neither team able to establish any serious momentum, and Toledo held the narrow 38-37 edge at the break. The second half, however, saw the Rockets come out on fire, building a 13-point lead by the under 12 timeout. Miami was never able to make another serious run after that point, and, for the first and only time in the games in Cleveland, the higher-seeded team had a victory. Toledo was off to the Big Dance for the first time since 1980 thanks to an 83-74 win!
