CBB Review hands out awards for each conference tournament in 2024. Up next: The MAC Tournament.
What an interesting tournament this was. The one-seed Toledo kicked us off by falling to 8 seed Kent State in the Quarterfinals, marking another year of conference tournament disappointment for the Rockets. Kent State wasn’t done though, beating Bowling Green by 13 to advance to the finals and face the Akron Zips.
The final was exciting throughout and literally came down to the last second. With eight seconds to go, Cli’Ron Hornbeak went made a tip shot putback to give Kent State a one-point lead. Akron would then inbound, and Juilius Rollins would run up to Greg Tribble and intentionally foul him, not realizing the score. Tribble would make both, and Akron would end up winning.
In the MAC preview, we had Ohio beating Toledo, which wasn’t the case, but hey, that’s what March Madness is all about.
CBB Review MAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Enrique Freeman, Akron
No surprises here. Enrique Freeman is not only the best player in his conference, but one of the best in the country. He put his team on his back all three games, especially the first two. In the quarterfinals, Freeman would score 30 and add 12 rebounds as well. He did so on 13-16 shooting. He would follow that performance up with 24 points, 21 rebounds, and 7 blocks. This might be the best individual performance of any player in any tournament. He had a “down” game in the championship, scoring “just” 17 points and grabbing “just” nine rebounds to go with his 4 blocks.
CBB Review All-MAC Tournament First Team
- G: Ali Ali, Akron – 3 GP (16.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 4.3 APG)
- G: Jalen Sullinger, Kent State – 3 GP (18.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.7 APG)
- G: Jaylin Hunter, Ohio – 2 GP (15.0 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 3.0 APG, 3.0 SPG)
- F: VonCameron Davis, Kent State – 3 GP (18.0 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.3 SPG)
- F: Enrique Freeman, Akron – 3 GP (23.7 PPG, 14.0 RPG, 1.7 APG, 4.0 BPG)
Akron’s NCAA Tournament Prediction
Round of 64
If it takes one of the biggest brainfarts in college basketball history to send your tournament to the NCAA Tournament, odds are you’re not going to go very far. However, Akron does have the talent. We’ve talked about how incredible Enrique Freeman is, but they also have a terrific scorer in Ali Ali. After that, crickets. They will need one of their supporting cast if they want any chance against Creighton, their first-round opponent. Things can get interesting, but unlikely that we will see Akron playing an extra game.