Bobcats battle Zips for Mid-American Conference crown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Looking to claim their second consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament title, the third-seeded Akron Zips will take the floor this evening against the ninth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Bobcats entered this tournament as the ninth seed, but that did not stop them from reaching the title game. Ohio began this event with an 85-77 overtime win over Ball State. The team then followed that victory with an impressive 81-64 victory over the top-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes. With their 54-42 decision over Miami-Ohio on Friday, the Bobcats will know have a shot for their fifth MAC tournament title and their first since 2005.

As for the Zips, they claimed their first-ever MAC tournament championship last year with a 65-53 victory over Buffalo. However, this will be the fourth consecutive year that Akron will partake in this event's title game. This season the Zips finished 12-4 in league action but came into the tournament as the third seed. So far the team's journey to this point has not been easy, as Akron needed double-overtime to defeat Eastern Michigan (97-89) and then needed a last second shot to get past Western Michigan, 66-64, on Friday.

The all-time series is currently tied at 30-30, but the past few years have been dominated by Akron, which has won six of the last seven meetings, including both matchups this season. The last time these two schools collided the Zips grabbed a thrilling, 91-88 double overtime victory over the Bobcats.

The Bobcats put forth a tenacious defensive effort against Miami-Ohio on Friday, as Ohio held the RedHawks to just 12 points on a meager 25.0 percent shooting effort in the first half. Overall, Ohio limited the RedHawks to just 42 points in the matchup and held them to a mere 34.0 percent shooting clip. At the other end of the floor the Bobcats were not exactly solid, but the team did enough to grab the win. Ohio shot just 38.1 percent from the field, but finished 19-of-24 from the foul line. Armon Bassett led the way with 28 points, while DeVaughn Washington added 18 points and seven rebounds. Bassett has been sensational on the season for Ohio, as the guard is netting 16.7 ppg, to go along with 106 assists. Helping in the backcourt has been D.J. Cooper, who is posting 12.8 ppg, to go along with 5.4 rpg and a team-best 199 assists.

The Zips found themselves in the championship game thanks to Chris McKnight's impressive showing against Western Michigan on Friday. The forward scored a team-best 18 points, and that includes the game-winning basket with 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Anthony Hitchens added 14 points for Akron, which shot a mediocre 41.4 percent from the floor. Akron, which won the battle on the glass by a 34-28 margin, also won the battle in the paint by outscoring the Broncos by a 30-18 margin. Chris McKnight is only averaging 9.2 ppg on the season, but his brother Brett McKnight is leading the team with 10.2 ppg. Akron comes into this title game averaging 70.6 ppg behind a 43.7 percent shooting effort.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


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