The 2023 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held March 9–11, 2023. The entire tournament was played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] Kent State defeated Toledo in the final to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.[2] Sincere Carry was the MVP.[3]
| 2023 MAC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2022–23 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, Ohio |
| Champions | Kent State (7th title) |
| Winning coach | Rob Senderoff (2nd title) |
| MVP | Sincere Carry (Kent State) |
| Television | CBSSN, ESPN+, ESPN2 |
MAC men's basketball tournaments | |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toledo | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 27 | – | 8 | .771 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kent State † | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 28 | – | 7 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akron | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 22 | – | 11 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ball State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 20 | – | 12 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buffalo | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Illinois | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 13 | – | 19 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 11 | – | 20 | .355 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Michigan | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 8 | – | 23 | .258 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Michigan | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 8 | – | 23 | .258 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2023 MAC tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format
editAs with the 2021, and 2022 tournament, only the top eight teams qualified. The winner of the tournament received the MAC's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.[4]
Venue
editThe 2023 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the 24th consecutive season. The venue, located in downtown Cleveland at One Center Court, is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and has a seating capacity for basketball of 19,432.[5][6]
Seeds
editEight out of the 12 MAC teams qualified for the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[7]
| Seed | School | Conference record |
Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toledo | 16–2 | |
| 2 | Kent State | 15–3 | |
| 3 | Akron | 13–5 | |
| 4 | Ball State | 11–7 | |
| 5 | Ohio | 10–8 | |
| 6 | Buffalo | 9–9 | 2–0 vs. Northern Illinois |
| 7 | Northern Illinois | 9–9 | 0–2 vs. Buffalo |
| 8 | Miami | 6–12 | |
| DNQ | Bowling Green | 5–13 | 3–1 vs Eastern Michigan & Central Michigan |
| DNQ | Eastern Michigan | 5–13 | 1–2 vs Bowling Green & Central Michigan; 1–0 vs. Central Michigan |
| DNQ | Central Michigan | 5–13 | 1–2 vs Bowling Green & Eastern Michigan; 0–1 vs. Eastern Michigan |
| DNQ | Western Michigan | 4–14 |
Schedule
edit| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 9 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:00 am | No. 1 Toledo vs No. 8 Miami | 91–75[8] | 3,852 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 4 Ball State vs No. 5 Ohio | 70–90[9] | ||||
| 3 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 2 Kent State vs No. 7 Northern Illinois | 76–57[10] | ||||
| 4 | 6:30 pm | No. 3 Akron vs No. 6 Buffalo | 101–77[11] | ||||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 10 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | |||||||
| 2 | 5 | 5:00 pm | No. 1 Toledo vs No. 5 Ohio | 82–75[12] | 9,295 | CBSSN | |
| 6 | 7:30 pm | No. 2 Kent State vs No. 3 Akron | 79–73[13] | ||||
| Championship – Saturday, March 11 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | |||||||
| 3 | 7 | 7:30 pm | No. 1 Toledo vs No. 2 Kent State | 78–93[14] | 8,375 | ESPN2 | |
| *Game times in ET. ()-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||||
Source[15]
Bracket
edit| Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9, 2023 | Semifinals Friday, March 10, 2023 | Championship Saturday, March 11, 2023 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Toledo | 91 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Miami (OH) | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Toledo | 82 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Ohio | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Ball State | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Ohio | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Toledo | 78 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Kent State | 93 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Kent State | 76 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Northern Illinois | 57 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Kent State | 79 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Akron | 73 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Akron | 101 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Buffalo | 77 | ||||||||||||
All-Tournament Team
editTournament MVP – Sincere Carry
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Sincere Carry | Kent State |
| Malique Jacobs | Kent State |
| RayJ Dennis | Toledo |
| Setric Millner Jr. | Toledo |
| Xavier Castaneda | Akron |
Source[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "MAC champs! Kent State beats Toledo". FOX 8 Cleveland. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ a b "Flash Dance: Kent State Headed To NCAA Tournament". Mid-American conference. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ "MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments". ABC News. May 12, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "About". Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "A-Z Guide". Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "Tie-Breaker Procedures". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
- ^ "Miami 75, Toledo 91". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ "Ohio 90, Ball State 70". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ "Northern Illinois 57, Kent State 76". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ "Buffalo 77, Akron 101". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ "Ohio 75, Toledo 82". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ "Akron 73, Kent State 79". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ "Toledo 78, Kent State 93". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ "2023 MAC Men's Basketball Championship". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved March 8, 2023.