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MAC Tournament Preview - MAC West Teams

Previewing the MAC West teams for the 2009 MAC Basketball Tournament

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Ball State (13-13, 7-9 MAC)

Seed: 2nd

1st Round Opponent: Bye (Will play CMU/EMU winner in Quarterfinals: Thursday, 12:00 p.m. EST)

The Cardinals have somehow fallen into a coveted first round bye as the two seed in this week’s MAC tournament despite posting an underwhelming 7-9 conference mark on the year. Ball State finished off conference play with three gut-wrenching losses at the hands of Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, and Eastern Michigan by a combined five points. BSU won’t play their first tournament game until Thursday afternoon when they take on the winner of the #7/10 match-up between Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Regardless of which opponent Ball State faces in the quarterfinals freshman forward Jarrod Jones will be asked to carry a heavy load inside. Jones is averaging 11.0 ppg and 7.4 rpg on the season, but will be faced with the prospect of working against either EMU’s excellent forward tandem of Justin Dobbins and Brandon Bowdry or CMU’s senior center Marcus Van who will be highly motivated in his last collegiate go around. The Cardinals will also need a strong showing from senior guard Brandon Lampley who is capable of catching fire at any moment, but will need to limit his turnovers if the squad wants to advance to the semi-finals. As the two seed Ball State’s chances of advancing are fairly good, but they will have to build momentum from scratch when they take the floor Thursday without any positive carry over from the regular season home stretch. EMU and CMU are, by all accounts, playing their best basketball of the season in the last two weeks and have each recorded victories against the Cardinals earlier in the year. If Ball State reaches the semis they will likely face either Kent State or Buffalo and at that point the Cardinals will find it very tough to advance against either squad.

Central Michigan (11-18, 7-9 MAC)

Seed: 7th

1st Round Opponent: Eastern Michigan (Tuesday, 12:00 p.m. EST)

Central Michigan will look to open up the 2008-2009 edition of the MAC Tournament with a win against Eastern Michigan in the first game to tip-off Tuesday afternoon. The Chippewas should be carrying some confidence after grabbing a 71-68 road win against Western Michigan to wrap up the regular season on Sunday. CMU will need to expose their advantage at the guard position with strong games from juniors Jordan Bitzer and Robbie Harman who averaged 12.0 and 11.7 ppg during the regular season. Central Michigan isn’t all fast breaks, but they do like to keep up the pace of the game which will be vital in beating EMU’s big men down the court and forcing turnovers. As much as CMU would love to see a big scoring performance from senior center Marcus Van what they really need is great rebounding on both sides of the ball. The Eagles usually win close games with big advantages on the glass and strong defense. If the Chippewas can manage the pace and hold their own on the boards they should have a good shot at advancing, but EMU has won their last four games which equals the number of victories they managed in their first 27 contests of the season. If Central Michigan wins on Tuesday they’ll get a break on Wednesday before squaring-off against Ball State in Thursday’s early Quarterfinal. Though the Cardinals will be a little more rested the Chippewas should have a pretty even shot at advancing to the semis if they manage to get their first tourney win against EMU.

Western Michigan (7-9, 10-20 MAC)

Seed: 8th

1st Round Opponent: Ohio (Tuesday, 4:00 p.m. EST)

Western Michigan will look to get back on track Tuesday afternoon when they face Ohio in the first round of the MAC tournament. The Broncos have lost four of their last five games, but will match-up with an Ohio squad that’s carrying three straight losses of their own. Junior guard David Kool is averaging 18.2 ppg and will once again be the go-to guy for WMU. OU has been far from impressive with their perimeter defense this season and the opportunity for Kool to dominate the game may arise early if the Broncos can avoid turning the ball over in the first half. Senior guard Shawntes Gary will also be looking for blood on offense in what could be the final game of his collegiate career. Though Gary is averaging 10.3 ppg he’s been inconsistent all season, but did score 27 in a game earlier this season. Senior forward Derek Drews will need to be superb on defense when he takes on MAC POY favorite Jerome Tillman. Ohio will likely rely on the senior on most offensive sets and MAC opponents have seen Tillman single-handedly carry the Bobcats to victory before. It’s hard to tell which team is reeling worse coming into the tournament, but the Broncos seem to have much more confidence as a cohesive unit than Ohio does. If WMU advances they’ll face Bowling Green on Thursday in a Quarterfinal contest that will be a very tough challenge for the Broncos.

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Eastern Michigan (8-23, 6-10 MAC)

Seed: 10th

1st Round Opponent: Central Michigan (Tuesday, 12:00 p.m. EST)

Eastern Michigan will look to extend their hot-streak on Tuesday when they take on Central Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The Eagles will lean on inside play with their duo of stellar forwards Brandon Bowdry and Justin Dobbins averaging 14.8 and 10.0 ppg, respectively. While the Chippewas will likely attack from the outside the Eagles will play a very physical game and look to put up points in the paint while dominating the glass. EMU could get a great boost from senior guard Zane Gay who is averaging 7.0 ppg on the season, but may look to score more against CMU as he makes his final MAC tournament appearance. The Eagles like to play at a slow pace and work the shot clock so limiting turnovers and being opportunistic in shot selection will be key. EMU may have a hard time guarding Jordan Bitzer on the perimeter, but in the last four games the Eagles have put up their strongest overall defensive performances of the season. The game could go either way, but I like EMU’s recent play and think their momentum may be enough to give them the edge on Tuesday. If the Eagles advance they’ll take on Ball State Thursday in a game that will match a pair of patient offenses with strong emphasis on inside play.

Northern Illinois (10-19, 5-11 MAC)

Seed: 11th

1st Round Opponent: Kent State (Tuesday, 2:00 p.m. EST)

Northern Illinois will look for a huge upset Tuesday afternoon when they take on heavily favored Kent State. If the Huskies want to be competitive against the Flashes they’ll need to play much better on defense. NIU gave up 75 and 74 points in their last two games, both loses, against Eastern Michigan and Toledo. In the single regular season match-up between the squads NIU narrowly lost at home 86-83. Sophomore guard Darion Anderson is averaging 16.9 ppg and MUST play excellent on both ends of the floor to challenge KSU’s talented guards. The other half of matching-up with KSU will be the play of freshman guard Mike DiNunno who’s averaging 11.9 ppg, but likely will need to be even better on Tuesday. NIU isn’t a great rebounding team, but against the Flashes they may be able to take advantage of the smaller line-up and fast pace when working the boards. The Huskies aren’t afraid to run and will need to force a ton of turnovers and score in transition to make-up for the amount of points the Flashes are likely to score against their young squad. I don’t believe NIU has much of a chance to win this game, but with the parody in MAC basketball this season anything could happen in Cleveland. If the Huskies do manage to grab a win against the Flashes they’ll face Buffalo on Thursday in another match-up against a heavy favorite from the MAC East.

Toledo (7-24, 5-11 MAC)

Seed: 12th

1st Round Opponent: Akron (Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. EST)

Toledo will be the biggest under-dog of all on the first day of the MAC tournament. The Rockets have won two of their last three, but that won’t mean much when they take the court against a superior Akron squad. The one thing that Toledo has on its side is experienced leadership. Senior guards Tyrone Kent and Jonathan Amos are averaging 14.5 and 13.4 ppg and will need to be unstoppable Tuesday night if the Rockets want their season to continue. Toledo is a poor defensive team, but they are capable of putting up points and will need to create a frantic tempo if they hope to force turnovers and score in transition against a young, but disciplined Akron squad. Really, the Rockets chances come down to one thing, will Amos and Kent BOTH be lights out on the night or will they falter in their final MAC tournament. Like every other team this season Toledo could get hot against the Zips and advance to the quarterfinals, but they’ll need to play a near flawless game to do so. If Toledo does advance they’ll face Miami late Thursday night.

By Damian Caudill
VanDelay Sports Staff Writer
Published March 9, 2009