CLEVELAND – The 2025-26 Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament continues today, March 13, with a pair of semifinal matchups inside Rocket Arena.
Friday, March 13th -- MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament Semifinals
Game 5: No. 4 Toledo (18-15, 11-8 MAC) vs. No. 8 UMass (16-15, 7-11 MAC)
Chris Lewis (PxP), Tre Demps (Analyst), Jordan Giorgio
LIVE on CBSSN | Live Stats | 5 PM ET
No. 4 Toledo: The Toledo men's basketball (18-14, 11-7 MAC) will make its fifth semifinal appearance in the last six seasons when it faces No. 8 seed UMass (17-15) tonight in the 2026 Mid-American Conference Tournament. The contest will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network and tip off in Cleveland's Rocket Arena at 5:00 p.m.
The No. 4 seed Rockets dropped an 84-82 decision to the Minutemen in Amherst on Jan. 20 in the lone meeting between the two teams. Leroy Blyden Jr. scored a game-high 22 points. Sonny Wilson added 16 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds, while Austin Parks provided 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting while also going 6-of-6 from the line.
Blyden scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half in yesterday's 77-76 quarterfinal win over Bowling Green. Wilson added 12 points, and Sean Craig, Parks and Mynor Strong each scored 10 points apiece. Toledo shot 50.8% from the field, including 8-of-16 from downtown. It was the second straight game UT shot 50% from behind the arc.
The Rockets are led by the backcourt duo of Wilson (17.2 ppg) and Blyden (16.4 ppg) along with the frontcourt tandem of Sean Craig (11.6 ppg) and Austin Parks (10.8 ppg). Blyden leads all MAC freshmen in scoring, while Wilson is dishing out a team-high 4.5 apg.
No. 8 UMass: Massachusetts men's basketball takes on Toledo in the semifinal round of the MAC tournament on Friday, March 13. Opening tipoff is set for 5 p.m. at Rocket Arena. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Massachusetts men's basketball outlasted No. 20 Miami (OH), 87-83, at Rocket Arena in the MAC Quarterfinals on Thursday. The Minutemen survived two double-digit deficits to knock off the last remaining undefeated team in Division I men's basketball and advance to the semifinals.
The Minutemen were led by Leonardo Bettiol with 25 points and eight rebounds on an efficient 10-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Marcus Banks Jr. added 18 points and five rebounds, including two triples. With his first make from behind the arc, Banks Jr. broke the program single-season three-pointers made record with 108.
In his first game back from injury, Daniel Hankins-Sanford netted 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jayden Ndjigue tacked on 16 points and eight boards of his own, including an and-one to tie the game with 4:45 to play.
The Minutemen secured their first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since taking down No. 19 New Mexico on Nov. 22, 2013 by an 81-65 final. UMass had lost 11 straight against ranked foes since (which included two this season to Miami (OH)).
Game 6: No. 2 Akron (26-6, 16-2 MAC) vs. No. 3 Kent State (16-14, 9-9 MAC),
Chris Lewis (PxP), Tre Demps (Analyst), Jordan Giorgio
LIVE on CBSSN | Live Stats | 7:30 PM ET (approx.)
No. 2 Akron: No. 2 Akron battles No. 3 Kent State in Mid-American Conference Semifinals on Friday.
The Zips enter the second round of the MAC Tournament with a 27-5 overall record. The Blue and Gold went 17-1 in conference action.
Akron recently defeated No. 7 Buffalo, 73-70, in the quarterfinals. Tavari Johnson led the offense with 25 points while Amani Lyles posted a 12-point, 16-rebound double-double.
Tavari Johnson leads the Zips in points (20.3) and assists (5.1). Amani Lyles leads the Blue and Gold in rebounds (7.8) and blocks (21. Evan Mahaffey leads the way in steals (1.8).
Akron is scoring 89.1 points per game while outscoring its opponents by 15.5 points. The Zips shoot .506 from the field while shooting .383 from beyond the arc and average 11.0 3s per game. The Blue and Gold hold a .766 ft percentage while averaging 38.1 rebounds, 18.8 assists, 11.1 turnovers, 7.8 steals and 3.0 blocks per game.
Akron ranks in the top five in the MAC in scoring offense (2nd - 89.1), scoring defense (4th - 73.6), scoring margin (1st - +15.5), fg pct (2nd - .506), opp fg pct (1st - .423), 3pt pct (2nd - .383), ft pct (1st - .766), rebounds (2nd - 38.1), opp rebounds (2nd - 32.7), off rebounds (4th - 11.3), def rebounds (2nd - 26.8), rebound margin (3rd - +5.4), turnover margin (2nd - +2.63), assist-turnover ratio (1st - +1.69), assists (1st - 18.78) and steals (2nd - 7.75).
No. 3 Kent State: Kent State Men’s Basketball (24-8, 14-4 MAC) continues play in the 2026 Mid-American Conference Championship Tournament on Friday, March 13. The third seeded Golden Flashes will tip-off against two-seeded Akron in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. or 30 minutes following the conclusion of game three. All MAC Tournament games will take place inside Rocket Arena in downtown Cleveland.
KSU’s quarterfinal win over No. 6 Ohio marks a trip to the MAC Tournament semifinals for the fifth straight time for the first time in program history. Gillespie's 27 points led all scorers while his 11-of-13 free-throw performance proved decisive. Safford finished with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Whaley Jr. added 14 points and four rebounds while Medley contributed 11 points, and seven assists orchestrate the offense. Kent State dominated in the paint with a 42-36 advantage. The Flashes converted 21-of-29 free throws compared to Ohio's 24-of-32 and forced 12 Bobcat turnovers while committing just five themselves. Kent State's bench contributed five points as the starters carried the load in the tournament victory.
Kent State punched their ticket to the 2026 MAC Tournament in Cleveland with their win over Bowling Green on Feb. 17. With the win over Bowling Green, the Golden Flashes recorded their 10th season of 20 wins or more under Coach Senderoff. Kent State collected their 10th Mid-American Conference win on the season in Feb 14 against Ball State, marking the 10th time that Coach Senderoff has led the Flashes to that may MAC victories.
