MAC Basketball Review: A Mid-American Tail: Fievel Goes West

No. 19 Gonzaga 78, WMU 58 — T'was a neat game, oh, about 18 minutes into the action, when the Broncos were a mere 30-28 behind GU. But there's a reason one team's winless, and the other is lossless. A collective effort from their big men — Matt Stainbrook and Shayne Whittington — wasn't enough to offset a load of turnovers (22) and the Zags' hot shooting (57.9 eFG%). Stainbrook had 11 points and six rebounds.

Southeast Missouri State 64, Miami 57 — A 27-point, 7-rebound night from Julian Mavunga was wasted as the Redhawks rallied in the second half to beat the RedHawks. You read that right — it was an all red-colored hawk game, and the argument was over how to capitalize the thing. SEMO wins their argument.

Toledo 82, Illinois-Chicago 67 — Already discussed.

CMU 65, Dartmouth 48 — The Chips win fourth place in the Great Alaska Shootout with their strong finishes. Trey Zeigler had 21 points and 10 rebounds. While Olivier Mbaigoto couldn't maintain his 3-point shooting prowess, he did come out with 10 points, nine boards and five blocks. Dartmouth never led.

Akron 81, Detroit 63 — No football coach? No sweat. The Zips continuously pulled away from their Horizon League foes, led by four individuals in double figures. Nikola Cvetinovic had the most for UA with 16 points (on just eight shots). And a 61 eFG% will help every time.

Boise State 71, NIU 57 — The Huskies are searching for their first win. It's not in Idaho, especially in a "Taco Bell Arena." I don't blame them trying to look there, hoping to find a couple of strong runs. Abdel Nader finished with 16 points in the losing effort, but the team had 21 turnovers.

In women's games:

No. 2 UConn 90, Buffalo 34 — YOUCH, LADIES. Tiffany Hayes scored 30 points for the Huskies, almost doing a Tavelyn James-on-Marygrove job against the Bulls. Brittany Hedderson finished with 12 points somehow, and fortunately the team had more points (34) than turnovers (32). Barely.

OHIO 65, Chicago State 37 — For all the games to play without two top players, this was one of them — against a winless team. Tenishia Benson and Porsha Harris were absent from the game (both reported to be ill, per @BobcatShowcase) and averaged 21 rebounds combined per event, yet had a 48-25 advantage on the boards. Kat Yelle did everything with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Akron 85, Seattle 74 — Look, MAC women's basketball just owns the city of Seattle. BGSU won the Seattle Thanksgiving Tournament this year, and now the Zips took the title in 2011. A narrow game in the second half quickly turned into a decisive victory for UA. Rachel Tecca had 16 points, five rebounds and Taylor Ruper added 15 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Northern Arizona 72, Kent State 56
Illinois State 81, Northern Illlinois 62

Today's men's games:

12 noon — Michigan State at EMU (ESPNU)
2:00 p.m. — Calumet College (NAIA) at Ball State (MAC Sports Livestream)
2:00 p.m. — Temple at BGSU (MAC Sports Livestream)

Today's women's games:

2:00 p.m. — EMU at Canisius
2:00 p.m. — Buffalo vs. Fairleigh Dickinson in Storrs, CT
3:05 p.m. — Toledo at Arkansas State