Cleveland, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference announced today that upcoming men's basketball games between Bowling Green and Kent State and Ohio and Akron have been selected for the conference's February basketball television package.
Bowling Green will host Kent State on Saturday, February 25th at 6 p.m. on SportsTime Ohio, while Akron will travel to Ohio on Sunday, February 26th for an 8 p.m. game on ESPNU. The Akron-Ohio game was originally scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 25.
Bowling Green (10-11, 4-4 MAC) reached .500 in conference play Wednesday night with a 72-48 win over Western Michigan. The Falcons have gotten back to 4-4 in the league by ranking third in the MAC in scoring offense, field-goal percentage, and three-point percentage. Four Falcons are averaging in double-figures, led by A'uston Calhoun at 13.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Dee Brown has scored in double-figures in nine of the past 10 contests and is coming off of a season-high 21 points at WMU. Scott Thomas ranks 10th nationally with 53 steals this year and has had at least three in four of the last five games.
Kent State (15-6; 5-3) heads into this weekend’s contest with Western Michigan having won three straight following road wins at Toledo and Central Michigan this past week. The Golden Flashes offense continues to shine in Mid-American Conference play where the team is averaging a league best 75.2 points per game and 49 percent field goal percentage. The high powered offense has five players averaging better than 9.5 points per game, led by 13.0 points per game from junior guard Randal Holt and 12.9 points per game from senior forward Justin Greene. The Kent State defense has been just as solid this season. The 17.0 turnovers per game forced by the Golden Flashes this season are the most by the team since 2000 while the 9.0 steals per game are the most since 1999.
Akron (15-7, 7-1 MAC) sits atop the overall MAC standings and is an impressive 7-2 on television this season, including a perfect 2-0 mark on ESPNU (W, 68-58 at Mississippi State; W, 68-63 vs. Ohio).The Zips play host to MAC West Division leader Eastern Michigan (10-12, 5-3 MAC) this Saturday at Rhodes Arena beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The Bobcats (18-4, 6-2 MAC) are 11-1 at home and over the last seven+ seasons, the Bobcats are an impressive 83-20 (.806) at the Convocation Center. Ohio has been excelling defensively with Cousy Award finalist D.J. Cooper ranking eighth in the nation in steals per game with an average of 2.6. The Bobcats also rank sixth in the nation in turnover margin (+5.4), 10th in the nation in steals per contest (9.2) and 20th in the nation when it comes to defending the three-point line, holding opponents to 29.2% shooting. Offensively, Ohio has three players averaging in double figures with Cooper leading the way at 13.5 points per game. Walter Offutt is averaging 11.8 points per game and Ivo Baltic is chipping in 10.9 points per game for the Bobcats.
All 12 MAC Men’s Basketball teams will take the court this Saturday as crossover play continues with six match-ups. For more information on MAC Basketball visit MAC-Sports.com