The bracket after the quarterfinals.
Kent State’s women’s basketball team will get another chance to show it can beat Buffalo on Wednesday.
Buffalo beat Miami 87-72 in the first round of the MAC Tournament Monday. The Bulls had an overpowering 57-28 first-half lead. Miami played much better in the second half, at one point going on a 15-0 run. The rally kept three key Buffalo players on the court for more than 32 minutes. So Daisha Fair, Therese Onwuka and Hannah Hall won’t have had a huge amount of rest when they play their third game in five days against the Flashes.
Freshman guard Fair, the leading candidate for MAC freshman of the year, had 28 points for the Bulls, making 11-of-22 field goals. She had five steals and two assists. Senior guard Onwuka had 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Buffalo’s starters made 51% of their shots; the team shot 48% overall.
“This team is really starting to hit its stride,” coach Felisha Legette-Jack said in the story posted on the Buffalo team website. “We’ve been working really hard to find our way. We are one of the youngest teams in the country but now we’ve turned into just a team that has stayed in our foxhole. I’m excited about the story we have to tell.”
The Flashes are the No. 3 seed in the tournament. Buffalo is No. 6 but has won six straight games. Kent State has won four of its last five with the loss coming at Buffalo on Saturday.
Kent State lost twice to Buffalo this season, 57-44 in Kent and 72-58 Saturday. The score of the game in Kent is a little misleading; the Flashes actually led by four points going into the fourth quarter. In Saturday’s game, Buffalo had to win in order to get a decent seed in the MAC Tournament. KSU’s status wasn’t going to chance no matter the outcome of the game.
Still, the Flashes have had a tough time with Bulls for many years. With its two best teams in school history, Buffalo knocked Kent State out of the tournament in the quarterfinals in the last two seasons. Both those Buffalo teams won at least one game in the NCAA tournament; the 2017-18 team reached the Sweet 16.
The game will be the last of the day on Wednesday, starting at about 8 p.m. The first of four Wednesday games starts at noon, and the next three start 30 minutes after the previous game ends. So the times are inexact.
It will be broadcast on ESPN+, WHLO radio and Golden Flash iHeart Radio.
The winner of the game will play the winner of the Ball State-Eastern Michigan game in the semifinals at about 1:30 p.m. Friday.
MAC women’s Tournament Central, with schedule and ticket information. Tickets are $10 for the entire four-game session on Wednesday.
How to buy tickets in the Kent State section. (It’s a little different this season.)
Student bus trips to the tournament (both women’s and men’s).
First-round results and quarterfinal pairings
- No. 9 seed Toledo (7-11, 13-17) 63, No. 8 Akron (8-10, 15-15) 59 at Akron.
Toledo will play No. 1 seed Central Michigan at noon Wednesday. Winner will play winner of Western Michigan-Ohio game at 11 a.m. Friday.
- No. 5 Western Michigan (10-8 MAC regular season, 18-12 overall) 84, No. 12 Bowling Green (3-15, 10-21) 67 at Western.
Western will play No. 4 seed Ohio (11-7, 18-11) at a half hour after Central-Toledo game ends, probably about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. Winner of that game will play winner of Central Michigan-Toledo game at 11 a.m. Friday.
- No. 6 Eastern Michigan (9-9, 15-15) 76, Northern Illinois (7-11, 11-19) 69 at Eastern.
Eastern will play No. 2 Ball State (13-5, 21-9) at about 5 p.m. Wednesday. Winner of that game will play winner of Kent State-Buffalo at about 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Finals are at 11 a.m. Saturday.
All games are on ESPN+ except for the finals, which are on the CBS Sports Network.