Zips Claim First MAC Championship
Boxscore
Notes
Quotes
Cleveland, Ohio ? Akron defeated Buffalo, 65-53, in the Mid-American Conference men’s basketball championship Saturday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
Four players hit double figures for Akron (23-12) as the Zips secured an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in the program’s Division I era. Akron?playing in its third straight MAC Championship?won six of its last eight games, two of those victories over Buffalo.
Brett McKnight led all scorers with 16 points, coming on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 free throws. Chris McKnight added 12 points, while Anthony “Humpty” Hitchens and Darryl Roberts added 10 apiece. Nate Linhart (six points) led all rebounders with nine.
Coming in as the second-best scoring offense in the league, the Zips shot 55.3 percent (21-of-38) from the floor, including 11-of-20 (55 percent) before halftime. Akron used 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) shooting from long distance to continue its fourth straight 20-win season.
Owning an eight-point lead at the half, Akron continued its hot shooting out of the break. Steve McNees capped a 10-2 outburst that saw the Zips make four of their first six shots, and that 43-27 lead would grow to as many as 18 points with 13:09 left in regulation.
A completed 3-point play by Max Boudreau (eight points, five rebounds) could have made it an eight-point game with 3:13 left, but a missed free throw followed by Darryl Roberts’ second 3-pointer pushed the lead back to 12.
Two players reached double figures for Buffalo (21-11), led by Calvin Betts and Greg Gamble. UB, as the top rebounding team in the league, won the battle of the boards, 34-27, but fell to 19-5 when it outrebounds its opponent.
The Akron defense held one of the league’s top 3-point shooting teams to just 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from behind the arc. Buffalo committed 15 turnovers, translating into 18 Zips points.
Akron caught fire from long range from the very start, hitting on 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) threes in the first half. UA was true on its first five 3-pointers, including one by McNees that gave the Zips a 20-12 advantage at the 7:20 mark of the first half. Akron did not miss a triple until 3:04 left in the first period.
Hitchens and Brett McKnight sparked the Akron reserves, combining for all 20 points off the bench in the first half, scoring 10 apiece. UA, tops in the MAC in 3-point field goal defense, held the Bulls without a triple until Rodney Pierce made the score 24-20. Hitchens and McKnight then scored the next seven UA points to give the Zips a 10-point lead, their largest of the period.
Gamble opened the scoring and turned in seven of the Bulls first eight points in their first MAC title game since 2005. Hitchens, seeing his first action since early in Thursday’s quarterfinal, came off the bench 3:59 into the game and immediately scored five straight points for Akron. The Zips scored eight of their first 12 points off four UB turnovers.
Akron now advances to the NCAA Tournament as the first fifth-seed to ever win a MAC men’s basketball championship.
2009 MAC Tournament All-Tournament Team
MVP- Nate Linhart, Akron
Brett McKnight, Akron
Steve McNees, Akron
Max Boudreau, Buffalo
Nate Miller, Bowling Green
