Western Michigan-Kent State Postgame Notes
March 13, 2004
WESTERN MICHIGAN-KENT STATE POSTGAME NOTES
*Western Michigan wins its first-ever MAC Tournament Championship.
*Tonight marked the fourth match-up of a West vs. East Division team in the tournament final in seven seasons. The West has won each meeting (1998, 2000, 2003, 2004).
*The Broncos will be making their third NCAA Tournament appearance and have a 2-2 record. In 1976, they defeated Virginia Tech in the first round, 77-67 in overtime, and lost to Marquette in the second round, 62-57. In 1998 WMU defeated Clemson 75-72 in the opening round, before falling to Stanford 83-65.
*WMU head coach Steve Hawkins is the second first-year coach to win a MAC Tournament title in the past three years. Kent State's Stan Heath accomplished the feat in 2002.
*The all-time series is now tied at 51 wins apiece.
*WMU used a 15-9 run in the first 13:31 of the second half, to lead 51-46 with 12:29 to go. The Flashes got to within three, 65-62 with 3:25 to go, but WMU went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final 3:00 of the game to pull out to the 11-point victory.
*With 3:36 left in the first half, WMU trailed 30-29. They used a 5-0 run to pull ahead 34-30 at the 2:42 mark. Kent State pulled off a 7-2 run over the final 2:30 to lead by one at halftime, 37-36.
*Previously the Flashers were 14-2 in games where they led at the half.
*Williams led all scorers with a game-high 28 points. It is his 13th 20-point game of the season. He also grabbed seven rebounds and hit his first career three-pointer with 55 seconds left to put the Broncos up 69-62.
*WMU is now 13-0 when Williams scores more than 20 points.
*Anthony Kann finished with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season.
*WMU's Ben Reed finished with 16 points. He was 8-for-8 from the charity stripe, with all eight free-throws coming in the second half. He is the 13th player to finish with a perfect free throw total in a tournament game and the second to do it in the championship contest.
*WMU scored 19 points off of 18 KSU turnovers. In the first half, the Broncos outscored the Flashes 16-8 in the paint. For the game, WMU held a 24-18 advantage in the paint.
*WMU out-rebounded the Flashes 41-32. They are now 22-2 when grabbing more boards then their opponent. For the tournament, the Broncos out-rebounded their opponents 123-85 including a 58-25 advantage on the offensive glass. The 123 rebounds are the second-most in tournament history.
*The Broncos finished 25-for-32 from the charity stripe; they finish the tournament 74-for-88 (.841). Their 74 free throws made ties for the second-best mark in tournament history and their percentage (.841) is fourth-best in tournament annals.
*KSU's Bryan Bedford tied the KSU mark for career appearances with 131.
*KSU's John Edwards finished with three blocks. It was his 31st straight game with at least one stuff. He also led the Flahses with 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds. He was 6-for-6 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
*KSU's Bedford finished with 12 points and Jason Edwin had 10.
*The MAC All-Tournament Team consisted of Toledo's Keith Triplett, DeAndre Haynes and Edwards of Kent State and Kann and Williams of Western Michigan. Williams, the MAC Player of the Year, was named Most Valuable Player.
*The championship game attendance of 10,868 was the third largest in the events' 25-year history.
*The four-session total of 28,832 also ranks No. 3 on the tournament's all-time attendance list. The only two sessions to draw more fans occurred at Gund Arena in 2002 (35,095) and 2001 (32,349).
*In the five-year history of the MAC tournament at Gund Arena, 152,294 fans have passed through the turnstiles. It's an average of 30,459 fans per tournament, or an average session attendance of 7,615.
