2011 MAC men's basketball tournament

Format

Each of the 12 men's basketball teams in the MAC receives a berth in the conference tournament. Teams are seeded by conference record with the following two-team tiebreakers:

• Head-to-head competition
• Division record (10 games)
• Winning percentage vs. ranked conference teams (top to bottom, regardless of division, vs. common opponents regardless of the number of times played)
• Coin flip

For multiple team ties:

• Total won-lost record of games played among the tied teams
• Two-team tie-breaker procedure goes into effect

Once a three-team tie has been reduced to two teams, the two-team tiebreaker will go into effect.

The top four seeds received byes into the quarterfinals. The winners of each division were awarded the #1 and #2 seeds. The team with the best record of the two received the #1 seed. First round games were played on campus sites at the higher seed. The remaining rounds were held at Quicken Loans Arena.

Bracket

Quicken Loans Arena March 10 Quicken Loans Arena March 11 Quicken Loans Arena March 12 | RD1-seed03 = 8 | RD1-team03 = Buffalo | RD1-score03 = 64 | RD1-seed04 = 9 | RD1-team04 = | RD1-score04 = 50 | RD1-seed07 = 5 | RD1-team07 = Ohio | RD1-score07 = 74 | RD1-seed08 = 12 | RD1-team08 = | RD1-score08 = 57 | RD1-seed11 = 7 | RD1-team11 = | RD1-score11 = 74 | RD1-seed12 = 10 | RD1-team12 = Northern Illinois | RD1-score12 = 54 | RD1-seed15 = 6 | RD1-team15 = Akron | RD1-score15 = 67 | RD1-seed16 = 11 | RD1-team16 = Eastern Michigan | RD1-score16 = 53 | RD2-seed01 = 1 | RD2-team01 = Kent State | RD2-score01 = 73 | RD2-seed02 = 8 | RD2-team02 = Buffalo | RD2-score02 = 62 | RD2-seed03 = 4 | RD2-team03 = Ball State | RD2-score03 = 76* | RD2-seed04 = 5 | RD2-team04 = Ohio | RD2-score04 = 73 | RD2-seed05 = 2 | RD2-team05 = Western Michigan | RD2-score05 = 67 | RD2-seed06 = 7 | RD2-team06 = Bowling Green | RD2-score06 = 56 | RD2-seed07 = 3 | RD2-team07 = Miami (OH) | RD2-score07 = 75 | RD2-seed08 = 6 | RD2-team08 = Akron | RD2-score08 = 82** | RD3-seed01 = 1 | RD3-team01 = Kent State | RD3-score01 = 79 | RD3-seed02 = 4 | RD3-team02 = Ball State | RD3-score02 = 68 | RD3-seed03 = 2 | RD3-team03 = Western Michigan | RD3-score03 = 68 | RD3-seed04 = 6 | RD3-team04 = Akron | RD3-score04 = 79 | RD4-seed01 = 1 | RD4-team01 = Kent State | RD4-score01 = 65 | RD4-seed02 = 6 | RD4-team02 = Akron | RD4-score02 = 66* Asterisk denotes game ended in overtime.

Tiebreakers

Championship game

In the championship game, Akron defeated Kent State 66–65. Senior Brett McKnight led Akron with 15 points and scored the final two points of the game, hitting two free throws to put his team up by one. With 12 seconds to go in the overtime period, Kent State had the ball and a chance to win, but Zeke Marshall blocked Kent State's first attempt and the second attempt was deflected. As Akron celebrated after the final buzzer, one of the Kent State players, who had laid down on the court in disappointment, was accidentally stepped on by the jumping mob of Akron players, and a slight skirmish broke out after his teammates came to his defense.

The Akron Zips advanced to their third NCAA Tournament of the Division I era. They would go on to lose to Notre Dame in their first game.

All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Zeke Marshall, Akron

References

References

1. "Notre Dame holds off Akron, advances to round of 32". ESPN.com.
2. "Men's and Women's Tiebreaker Procedures - MAC-Sports.com Official Web Site of the Mid-American Conference".
3. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110319021140/http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap/_/id/310712309/akron-zips-vs-kent-state-golden-flashes Game recap]
4. "AKRON STUNS KENT STATE, RETURNS TO NCAA TOURNAMENT". Mid-American Conference.