JoePa's College Hoops - 3/5

**joepa66** · 03-05-2011, 01:31 PM

MAC Hoopla - What's on the line for MAC teams on the final day of the regular season....

Buffalo (17-11, 8-7 MAC) at Bowling Green (12-18, 7-8 MAC)
Bowling Green leads series 15-7
�Bowling Green plays the final regular season home game in Anderson Arena Saturday at 1 p.m. Despite a six-game losing streak, including five consecutive league losses, Bowling Green still has much to play for Saturday. With a win, the Falcons would be the No. 7 seed and would host a MAC Tournament first round game against Northern Illinois on Tuesday, March 8 at 7 p.m. With a loss, Bowling Green would drop to the No. 9 seed and would play at Central Michigan on Tuesday... The Bulls have a unique combination of size and three-point shooting. On the perimeter, Zach Filzen leads the country with 3.6 three-pointers made per game and is 23rd in the nation in three-point percentage at 42.7 percent. Point guard Byron Mulkey shoots 39 percent from three-point range and averages 13.9 points per game. But spending too much time defending those two opens it up inside for Javon McCrea and Mitchell Watt. McCrea is one of the favorites for MAC Freshman of the Year and is averaging 11.1 points and 6.3 rebounds, while shooting 65 percent from the floor.

Toledo (4-26, 1-14 MAC) at Eastern Michigan (8-21, 4-11 MAC)
Toledo leads series 45-41
� The Rockets are locked in as the No. 12 seed in this year's Mid-American Conference Tournament and will visit the No. 5 seed in the tourney's first round on Tuesday, March 8. Toledo is coming off Tuesday's 68-56 setback to Central Michigan on �Senior Night.' Junior G Jay Shunnar was an impressive 8-of-9 from the field and topped the Rockets with a career-high 20 points. Malcolm Griffin leads UT with leads the team with 12.7 ppg, 4.0 apg and 1.5 spg... Eastern Michigan brings a three-game losing streak into its conference finale. Two-time second-team All-MAC honoree Brandon Bowdry's 19.9 ppg and 9.5 rpg rank second and first in the conference, respectively.Toledo in winless in its last four meetings vs. the Eagles, marking the first time it has lost four in a row in the series since losing nine straight from 3/7/95-2/28/98.

Northern Illinois (9-19, 5-10 MAC) at Ball State (17-12, 9-6 MAC)
Ball State leads series 43-31
�The Cardinals enter Saturday's game with a 17-12 overall record and a 9-6 mark in MAC play. Ball State trails Western Michigan by one game heading into the weekend. The Cardinals can still claim the MAC West title and the number two seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament with a victory Saturday and a WMU loss at Central Michigan. Junior forward Jarrod Jones leads the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game and on the glass at 8.3 rebounds per game. Northern Illinois enters Saturday's game with a 9-19 overall record and a 5-10 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The Huskies have won two straight with wins over Toledo and Eastern Michigan. NIU is averaging 69.4 points per game while allowing 73.5 points per game. The Huskies are locked in as the No. 10 seed at this year's upcoming Tournament.

Western Michigan (18-11, 10-5 MAC) at Central Michigan (10-19, 7-8 MAC)
Western Michigan leads series 80-45
� After winning the last two MAC West Division titles, Central Michigan will look to knock off the 2010-11 West Division champion Western Michigan to close the regular season. The Broncos claimed at least a share of the title with an 87-70 win over Ball State in Kalamazoo on Wednesday night. Freshman guard Trey Zeigler continues to climb the record books of the Central Michigan men's basketball program. Zeigler has scored 488 points on the season, breaking Dirk Dunbar's 1972-73 record of 471 for the most points by a freshman in CMU history. Zeigler's 16.8 points per game currently ranks fifth on the freshman scoring average list and his 30-point effort versus Toledo on Jan. 12 tied the seventh best performance by a freshman... A win over CMU secures the #2 seed in the upcoming First Energy MAC Tournament for the Broncos. Mike Douglas scored a career high 25 points against Ball State, marking the 16th time a Bronco has scored 20 or more points in a game this season and was the third highest scoring effort this season.

**DukiesBaby** · 03-05-2011, 03:46 PM

3-5-2011

lol WRONG SPOT

GOOD LUCK TODAY JOE PA :thumbs:

**joepa66** · 03-05-2011, 04:27 PM

Added St. John's and Vandy at the top.....:thumbs:

**joepa66** · 03-05-2011, 04:30 PM

March 4, 2011

Golden Flashes Claim Back-To-Back Outright MAC Titles & No. 1 Tournament Seed With 79-68 Win Over Akron
Golden Flashes become first MAC team in 21 years to win outright title back-to-back

KENT, Ohio � In front of a capacity crowd of 6,327, Kent State topped rival Akron 79-68 to win its second straight Mid-American Conference title and wrap up the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. The Golden Flashes (21-10; 12-4) become the first MAC team in 21 years and only the second in the last 48 years to win an outright conference title in consecutive years.

Trailing by four (31-27) at halftime, Kent State had four players reach double-figures in the second half alone to lead a 52 point explosion in the final 20 minutes. Senior guard Rodriquez Sherman (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) powered the charge shooting 6-7 from the field in the second half to total 12 of his 17 points. The fifth-year senior also added five rebounds as he becomes the first MAC player in 60 years to be a part of three-straight outright championships.

"I'm really going to miss this place," said Sherman. " It has really grown on me. I love it. I love the fans. I love the tradition and the family here. We're so much like a family here that it helps me from missing my family back home. These are like my brothers. Everybody goes through things, and we just help each other through them."

With Akron (19-2; 9-7) leading by six (35-29) two minutes into the second half, Kent State outscored the Zips 21-10 over the next eight minutes capped off by a Sherman lay-up at 10:42 that gave the Golden Flashes their largest lead to that point at five points (50-45). Junior forward Justin Greene (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lincoln) powered the stretch for KSU scoring eight of his game-high 18 points. Greene, who became the 28th player in school history to reach 1,000 points in the first half, added 10 rebounds in the game for his third straight double-double and 11th of the year.

A three-point play by Akron's Quincy Diggs (12 points), cut the deficit back down to a single point (59-58) with 6:06 left, but Sherman answered with another lay-up followed by a three from sophomore Randal Holt (Cleveland, Ohio/Bedford) that quickly pushed the lead back to five and keep Kent State in control. Holt, who in the second half shot 5-6 from the field for 12 points, added another three with 52 seconds remaining that extended the margin up to nine and sealed the win. He would finish the game with 14 points.

"It was a tale of totally different halves," said Head Coach Geno Ford, who only the fifth coach in the 64-year history of the league to lead his team to back-to-back outright MAC titles. "We were awful on defense and couldn't make a shot in the first half. In the second half, neither team could stop the other. We were able to make a couple of dagger plays. It was fun game for us to play well offensively."

After making just 33.3 percent (11-33) in the first half, the Golden Flashes shot 68.8 percent (22-32) from the field in the second half. Junior Carlton Guyton (Chicago, Ill. / Mineral Area C.C. [Mo.]) added 16 points and six rebounds and joined the trio of Sherman, Greene and Holt with 11 second half points.

The Golden Flashes will be in action in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

**joepa66** · 03-05-2011, 11:09 PM

JOEPA'S UPDATED YTD: 448 - 371 - 26
UNITS: +23.50
MAC: 86 - 51 - 8
Halfs: 27 - 19 - 1
3/5: 6 - 4 - 2
SCRF: 50 - 52 - 2

OVEN MITT YTD: 41 - 42
3/5: 0 - 1

GL to ya!

JoePa's College Hoops - 3/5

JoePa's College Hoops - 3/5

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