In the past seven days, we’ve seen the Ohio Bobcats and the Toledo Rockets drop their first games of the season, both at the mercy of the Akron Zips.
Akron, looking to become the first repeat winner of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) since Buffalo went dancing in 2018 and 2019, is one of two remaining unbeatens in the conference.
Here’s how the week went for the field:
Miami (13-4, 5-0 MAC)
The story of the season continues for the RedHawks, earning two more big wins over Northern Illinois (84-69) on Tuesday and perennial MAC contender Kent State (70-61) on Saturday, extending their win streak to seven.
Xavier transfer Kam Craft leads the way, averaging 15.4 points a night, shooting 46.5% from the field in almost 28 minutes per game. Miami currently has four of the top 10 three-point shooters in the conference, with Luke Skaljac (48.5%) leading the way in the MAC.
Akron (12-5, 5-0 MAC)
A tale as old as time, Akron is currently tied for the lead in the conference while averaging the most points per game as a team (82.8, tied with Miami).
As mentioned previously, the model of mid-major consistency under John Groce is the Zips, as they are looking to be the first MAC team to go dancing twice in as many years since the 2017-18 and 2018-19 Buffalo Bulls led by Nate Oats.
Armed with nothing but the power of friendship (Akron has six scorers averaging over eight points and none averaging over 13) and the usual scrappy defense (8.12 steals per game rank second in the conference), Akron hasn’t lost a game since conference play opened.
This past week, they’ve handed both Toledo and Ohio their first losses of the season at James A. Rhoades Arena.
Ohio (10-7, 4-1 MAC)
Ohio split their two games this week, beating Ball State 86-71 on Tuesday and falling to Akron 92-80 on Friday.
After leading the conference in scoring heading into this week of games, AJ Clayton cooled off with the polar vortex entering the state of Ohio, only putting together 15 combined points on 4-of-13 (30.7%) shooting against Ball State and Akron.
Toledo (10-7, 4-1 MAC)
Similarly to Ohio, Toledo also had their perfect season ruined in LeBron James’ hometown, falling 85-78 to Akron on Tuesday.
Toledo got back in the win column on Saturday, beating Ball State 93-75, with the away segment of the Battle of I-75 looming on the schedule on Friday.
Kent State (11-6, 2-3 MAC)
Kent appears to have kept their fastball, allowing opponents to score just 64.8 points a night which is tops in the conference, but have lost all command on their secondary pitches. They rank dead last in scoring at 69.5 points per game, and they’re in the middle of the pack in steals after finishing third in the conference last season.
After an exhibition scare against Heidelberg, Kent State looked like they were back on track with a 2-1 conference start but dropped their two games this week to Western Michigan and Miami on Tuesday and Saturday, respectively.
VonCameron Davis averages 15.4 points a night for the Golden Flashes, while Jalen Sullinger chips in 12 points per game.
Ball State (8-9, 2-3 MAC)
The Cardinals have been on a rollercoaster ride of a season, even with the return of superstar Payton Sparks after a season at Indiana.
Ball State entered conference play 6-6, won two of their first three games, but have now dropped their last two contests against Ohio (86-71) on Tuesday and Toledo (93-75) on Saturday.
The pick-and-roll duo of Jermahri Hill and Sparks combine for 28 points and 12.4 rebounds every night while helping to aid Ball State to the fourth-best scoring defense in the conference (73.0 opponent points per game).
Central Michigan (8-9, 2-3 MAC)
The Chips have begun to heat up after starting conference play with three straight losses, winning their last two against Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois, while not having a repeat leading scorer since Anthony Pritchard on Dec. 5 and 14.
Central Michigan has a favorable next few games, playing three of their next four at home with a game at Buffalo in the mix before they welcome Miami to Mount Pleasant to open up their early February gauntlet run of Miami, Kent State, Akron, and Ohio, with Texas State in that stretch as well.
Eastern Michigan (8-9, 2-3 MAC)
EMU has had quite the week, splitting their games (82-63 loss to Central Michigan, 68-62 win over Bowling Green), but is also caught up in some kind of alleged gambling scandal.
DePaul transfer Da’Sean Nelson leads the way for the Eagles, averaging 15.6 points per game on an extremely efficient 52.7% shooting, tacking on 5.3 boards and two assists per game.
Bowling Green (7-10, 2-3 MAC)
After shocking the MAC basketball community and winning 20 games in 2023-24, injuries have decimated the depth of this BGSU squad. After a grueling, yet disappointing out of conference finish, the Falcons have flip-flopped their five games since the start of MAC play.
Splitting their last two, they’ve beaten Buffalo, 79-61, and fallen to Eastern Michigan, 68-62.
BG boasts the MAC’s leading scorer in Marcus Johnson, clocking in at over 16 points per contest on 47.2% shooting.
Buffalo (6-11, 1-4 MAC)
Buffalo finally won their first conference game of the 2024-25 season, knocking off Western Michigan 85-76 on the road on Saturday.
Tyson Dunn led the team with 20 points (6-12 3PT), nine rebounds and eight assists, while three other Bulls finished the game in double figures.
Western Michigan (4-13, 1-4 MAC)
Like Buffalo, Western Michigan also picked up their first conference win of the season this week, beating Kent State on the road by double-digits on Tuesday.
Four Broncos finished with more than 15 points in the game, with Markhi Strickland leading the charge with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, bringing his average up to 11.7 ppg on the season.
Northern Illinois (4-13, 0-5 MAC)
Northern Illinois still has yet to win their first conference game, though they’ve come close – on Saturday, they lost to Central Michigan by just five, their second single-digit conference loss of the season.
Their next game against Western Michigan on Tuesday could be what they need to get the season turned in the right direction with 13 games left until tournament time.
