The Mid-American Conference (MAC) and the Sun Belt capped off this year’s rendition of the ‘Battle for the Belt,’ with this week being the MAC’s turn to host the games.
Eight MAC teams were able to will their way to wins in Saturday’s out-of-conference affairs.
Here’s how each team fared in this week of MAC hoops:
Akron (18-5, 10-0 MAC)
With the Auburn Tigers’ loss to Florida on Saturday, the Akron Zips now own the country’s longest winning streak. Akron has won 11 straight games and hasn’t lost since last year, when they fell 76-75 to Princeton on Dec. 30.
They took care of Ball State, 81-73, on Tuesday, then gave South Alabama a 13-point loss at the JAR, boosting their home record to a perfect 12-0.
Tavari Johnson had 20 points on Saturday, along with three steals, while the Zips held South Alabama to 26.1% shooting from deep.
Miami (18-5, 9-1 MAC)
The RedHawks continued their great season with two close wins against Central Michigan on Tuesday and Troy on Saturday.
Eian Elmer nearly had back-to-back double-doubles, finishing with 12 points and nine boards on Tuesday, and 12 points to go with eight rebounds on Saturday.
Toledo (15-8, 8-2 MAC)
The Rockets finished up their three-game homestand with a perfect 3-0 record, taking down Buffalo by 13 on Tuesday, and squeaking past James Madison on Saturday.
Sam Lewis had a combined 41 points on 14-of-25 (62.5%) shooting, leading Toledo in scoring in both contests.
Ohio (12-11, 6-4 MAC)
The Bobbies split their games, routing Western Michigan at the Convo on Tuesday before suffering a double-digit loss to Appalachian State on Saturday.
The major storyline came from AJ Clayton’s triumphant return on Tuesday, leading the team with 18 points on 50% shooting in Ohio’s 94-69 win over the Broncos, his first action since Jan. 21.
Kent State (15-8, 5-5 MAC)
Kent State has battled back from the 2-3 open-to-conference play, and the Golden Flashes are now back up to .500 in the MAC.
On Tuesday, they held Eastern Michigan to under 50 points, winning 70-49 in Ypsilanti.
Saturday, they snuck past Sun Belt leader Arkansas State, 76-75. Jalen Sullinger exploded for 27 points, shooting 50% from the field and connecting on four of his seven three-point attempts.
Ball State (11-12, 4-6 MAC)
Ball State held their own against Akron on the road on Tuesday, walking out with only an eight-point loss fueled by Jermahri Hill’s 19 points. They got back in the win column on Saturday, knocking off Southern Miss by just a point.
Hill is the MAC’s third-leading scorer at just under 16 points a game.
Central Michigan (11-12, 4-6 MAC)
Central’s up-and-down season continued this week with a six-point home loss to Miami on Tuesday and a 15-point win over Texas State on Saturday.
CMU’s Lithuanian big man Ugnius Jarusevicius stole the show on Saturday, leading the Chips to victory with a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double, bringing his averages to 13.6 ppg and 7.1 RPG as he continues his breakout season.
Eastern Michigan (11-12, 4-6 MAC)
Eastern is still clinging on to the final seed with just under a month to go until tournament time, however the Eagles are on a three-game conference losing streak since their win against Buffalo on Jan. 25.
EMU was able to hand Old Dominion a six-point loss on Saturday, led by 22 points off the bench from Da’Sean Nelson.
Western Michigan (7-16, 4-6 MAC)
The Broncos are now losers of two straight games after their blowout losses to Ohio and Georgia Southern by a combined 51 points.
WMU sits one spot out of the tournament with Akron, Miami, Ohio, and Kent State still left to play down the stretch, with NIU, Buffalo, and BG sprinkled in between.
Bowling Green (9-14, 3-7 MAC)
The Falcons have found their second winning streak of the season and have won back-to-back games for the first time since they beat New Mexico State and Morgan State on Nov. 30 and Dec. 7, respectively.
On Tuesday, they snapped their five-game skid with a big win over Northern Illinois, then followed it up with a thrashing of Coastal Carolina on Saturday, giving the Chanticleers their 10th straight loss.
The Falcons sit just one game back of the directional Michigan schools, who are all tied* for the seventh seed.
Buffalo (7-16, 2-8 MAC)
Buffalo was one of the four unlucky MAC schools to lose their Battle for the Belt game, falling to Georgia State by five and extending their losing streak to three.
Four Bulls finished in double figures, with Ryan Sabol managing to put up 13 points, despite shooting 3-of-18 (16.6%) from the field.
Northern Illinois (5-18, 1-9 MAC)
With Bowling Green’s win over them on Tuesday, NIU now holds the conference’s longest losing streak – again – at four games, with their last win coming over Ball State on Jan. 25.
Quentin Jones and Quaran McPherson have been the bright spots for the Huskies, with Jones second in the conference in scoring (16.3 ppg), and McPherson averaging just short of 13 points and five rebounds per game, on 45.7% shooting.
