Previous Evening MAC Review: Hail To Summit County

Last night in MACsketball:

Kent State 56, South Florida 51 — First it was Ball State over DePaul. Then you had Akron soccer beat Louisville in the championship. And for your "Big East ass-whoopins come in threes" capper, the Flashes welcome USF into the MAC Center and then promptly thrash them in the second half. Justin Greene had a banner day, on an evening where the '02 Elite Eight team was honored, with a 15-point, 14-rebound, 3-block, and 3-steal performance. Michael Porrini led the game with 16, 11 of them in the second half, where their slim halftime lead dissipated. And so finishes their toughest three-game stretch of the year, finishing 1-2 in those games. Kent State's next game: Tuesday, 12/21 vs. Youngstown State

Temple 82, Akron 47 — Well, probably not the outing UA wanted in basketball, but when a freaking soccer championship comes right after this in the day ... you're gonna live with it. But let's just say the halftime score was 40-15 and it never got better. Steve McNees and Alex Abreu each had 11 points and three 3-pointers, but a cold shooting night for the whole team (29.5%) was counterbalanced by the Owls lighting up the hoop all afternoon (55.7%). This has only been the Zips seventh game, second fewest in the MAC only to Northern Illinois, so it's intensely difficult to get a read on this team as their record drops to 3-2. Akron's next game: Wednesday, 12/15 at Minnesota

Bowling Green 76, Florida International 67 — The Falcons' first Division I win of the season comes at the hands of Isiah Thomas' boys from Miami, who played a close first half with BG (they were tied after 20) until the Falcons pulled away in the second half. And they did this without leading scorer Scott Thomas, who didn't play because of back spasms. Dee Brown filled the void with 24 points, but all day it looked like an ugly, physical affair as signified by double technicals late in the second half. I think Zeke knows a thing or two about those. Bowling Green's next game: Saturday, 12/18 at Milwaukee

IUPUI 66, OHIO 56 — This was ... well, a little surprising. The losses just keep getting a little less and less impressive. Everyone's favorite vowel-intensive acronym came in with a losing record, but D.J. Cooper had himself a forgettable rendezvous: four points, six turnovers (but six assists) and 1-of-9 shooting. Tommy Freeman went nuts with 17 points and five threeballs and DeVaughn Washington's 14-12 double-double wasn't enough to overcome an 18-0 run the Jaguars had late in the second half. That's right, OHIO went over seven minutes (8:25 to 1:20) without scoring a single point. Pretty much all you need to point at. OHIO's next game: Wednesday, 12/15 vs. St. Francis (PA)

No basketball games tonight. Tuesday's lineup:

7 p.m. — Wright State at CMU (Holy gosh, a home game!)
8 p.m. — Illinois-Chicago at Northern Illinois