Well Gary, it may be late but I am celebrating! At 2:07 a.m. EST Kent State got a key win in it's bracket buster contest against the St Mary's Gaels. The only concern now is, "was anyone on the selection committee still awake to see it"?!
Kent's win highlighted a pretty decent day for the MAC who went 6-5 in the bracket buster and saw it's top teams take 3 out of 5 with Ohio, and Western Michigan joining Kent with impressive wins. Akron lost a tight contest to CAA leader VCU and Miami fell to Valpo in double overtime or else the MAC would have joined the MVC as the best conference on Bracket Saurday.
As Saturday ended, the MVC had a banner day that could improve tomorrow if Illinois State gets a win in the last game of the braket buster match-ups. The next best conference performances were the MAC and the CAA who went 7-5 but saw UNCW and George Mason go down to defeat. But yes Gary, Hofstra continued its recent strong play with an easy win over Iona.
Kent now appears to be in solid shape should it win 2 out of 3 of their remaining conference games which include key games against Akron and Miami. This would put the Flashes at 25-6 with a handful of nice out of conference wins. The only other MAC teams with a chance at an at-large bid would be Ohio if they can finish with three wins and a 21-9 record. They too have match-ups remaining with Akron and Miami. Of course this assumes both teams advance in the MAC tourney two weeks from now in Cleveland at the Q...(Q at the Q!). With losses today both Miami and Akron would need to win the conference tourney to advance to the NCAA's. Western Michigan, who could finish at 20-10, would need to win the conference tuorney as well to make the dance despite the chance to finish the season with MAC's best or second best conference record.
Kent State would not have gotten a win against the Gaels, that puts then into the buble discussion, had it not been for guard Al Fisher who netted 28 points in addition to critical penetrations that led to other Kent scoring. Hamin Quaintance (Q) was is foul trouble from the early going but playing with four fouls, Q had numerous key plays down the stretch along with fellow senior Mike Scott who struggled until the final five minutes when he hit three crucial baskets and grabbed key rebounds.
Congrats to Kent State who got its first regular season win ever over a ranked opponent and hopefully put themselves in position for a little national recognition and an at-large bid...if they need it!
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