2023–24 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

2023–24 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams12
Regular season
League championsToledo
  Runners-upAkron
Season MVPEnrique Freeman
Tournament
ChampionsAkron
  Runners-upKent State
Finals MVPEnrique Freeman
Mid-American men's basketball seasons
2023–24 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Toledo 14 – 4   .778 20 – 12   .625
Akron † 13 – 5   .722 24 – 11   .686
Ohio 13 – 5   .722 20 – 13   .606
Central Michigan 12 – 6   .667 18 – 14   .563
Bowling Green 10 – 8   .556 20 – 14   .588
Western Michigan 9 – 9   .500 12 – 20   .375
Miami (OH) 9 – 9   .500 15 – 17   .469
Kent State 8 – 10   .444 17 – 17   .500
Ball State 7 – 11   .389 15 – 16   .484
Eastern Michigan 6 – 12   .333 13 – 18   .419
Northern Illinois 5 – 13   .278 11 – 20   .355
Buffalo 2 – 16   .111 4 – 27   .129
† 2024 MAC tournament winner

The 2023–24 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season was the season for Mid-American Conference men's basketball teams. It began with practices in October 2023, followed by the start of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2024 and concluded in March 2024. The 2024 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio for the 25th consecutive season.[1]

Toledo won their fourth straight regular season championship with a 14–4 record in MAC play. Akron defeated Miami and Ohio in the MAC tournament and then Kent State in the final[2][3][4][5] Enrique Freeman was the MVP.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Bowling Green

on March 5, 2023, Bowling Green fired head coach Michael Huger after three consecutive seasons posting win totals under 15 and with a 126–125 over eight seasons.[6] On March 18, 2023, Bowling Green hired Todd Simon, who had previously been the head coach at Southern Utah.[7]

Buffalo

On March 11, 2023, Buffalo fired Jim Whitesell after four seasons with a 70–49 record at the school.[8] Buffalo hired Villanova associate head coach George Halcovage on March 30, 2023.[9]

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record School record MAC record MAC titles MAC Tournament titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA Championships
Akron John Groce Illinois 7 296–201 (.596) 116–70 (.624) 67–43 (.609) 1 1 1 0 0
Ball State Michael Lewis UCLA (Asst.) 2 20–12 (.625) 20–12 (.625) 11–7 (.611) 0 0 0 0 0
Bowling Green Todd Simon Southern Utah 1 127–114 (.527) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Buffalo George Halcovage Villanova (Assoc. HC) 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Central Michigan Tony Barbee Kentucky (Asst.) 3 148–171 (.464) 17–44 (.279) 11–25 (.306) 0 0 0 0 0
Eastern Michigan Stan Heath Lakeland Magic 3 227–251 (.475) 18–44 (.290) 10–28 (.263) 0 0 0 0 0
Kent State Rob Senderoff Kent State (Asst.) 13 247–147 (.627) 247–147 (.627) 130–84 (.607) 1 2 2 0 0
Miami Travis Steele Xavier 2 82–70 (.539) 12–20 (.375) 6–12 (.333) 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Illinois Rashon Burno Arizona State (Asst.) 3 22–40 (.355) 22–40 (.355) 15–23 (.395) 0 0 0 0 0
Ohio Jeff Boals Stony Brook 5 133–89 (.599) 78–47 (.624) 41–29 (.586) 0 1 1 0 0
Toledo Tod Kowalczyk Green Bay 14 394–281 (.584) 258–169 (.604) 142–89 (.615) 4 0 0 0 0
Western Michigan Dwayne Stephens Michigan State (Assoc. HC) 2 8–23 (.258) 8–23 (.258) 4–14 (.222) 0 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • Appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Years at school includes 2023–24 season.
  • MAC records are from time at current school only.
  • All records are through the beginning of the season.

Source - [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Preseason

The preseason coaches' poll and league awards were announced by the league office on November 1, 2023.[22] Akron was named the MAC favorite over 2023 MAC tournament champion Kent State and Ohio.

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll

Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1. Akron 121 11
2. Kent State 104 --
3. Ohio 102 1
4. Toledo 93 --
5. Northern Illinois 82 --
T6. Bowling Green 64 --
T6. Miami 64 --
8. Ball State 55 --
9. Buffalo 38 --
10. Western Michigan 33 --
11. Eastern Michigan 22 --
12. Central Michigan 14 --

MAC Tournament Champions: Akron (9), Kent State (1), Ohio (1), Toledo (1)

Source[22]

MAC Preseason All-Conference

Honor Recipient
Preseason All-MAC First Team Ali Ali, Guard, Akron, Sr.
Enrique Freeman, Forward, Akron, Sr.
Chris Payton, Forward, Kent State, Grad.
Jaylin Hunter, Guard, Ohio, Sr.
Dante Maddox Jr., Guard, Toledo, Jr.
Preseason All-MAC Second Team Tyson Acuff, Guard, Eastern Michigan, Jr.
Jalen Sullinger, Guard, Kent State, Jr.
Anderson Mirambeaux, Center, Miami, Sr.
David Coit, Guard, Northern Illinois, Jr.
AJ Brown, Guard, Ohio, So.

Regular season

Rankings

Main article: 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
  Pre Wk
2		 Wk
3		 Wk
4		 Wk
5		 Wk
6		 Wk
7		 Wk
8		 Wk
9		 Wk
10		 Wk
11		 Wk
12		 Wk
13		 Wk
14		 Wk
15		 Wk
16		 Wk
17		 Wk
18		 Wk
19		 Final
Akron AP
C
Ball State AP
C
Bowling Green AP
C
Buffalo AP
C
Central Michigan AP
C
Eastern Michigan AP
C
Kent State AP
C
Miami AP
C
Northern Illinois AP
C
Ohio AP
C
Toledo AP
C
Western Michigan AP
C
Legend
    Improvement in ranking
  Drop in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
  No change in ranking from previous week
RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Source - AP:[23] [24]

Coaches:[25]

Conference matrix

  Akron Ball State Bowling Green Buffalo Central Michigan Eastern Michigan Kent State Miami (OH) Northern Illinois Ohio Toledo Western Michigan
vs. Akron — 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Ball State 1–0 — 2–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–1
vs. Bowling Green 1–0 0–2 — 0–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–2
vs. Buffalo 2–0 1–0 1–0 — 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Central Michigan 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 — 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–2
vs. Eastern Michigan 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 — 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1
vs. Kent State 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 — 1–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 0–1
vs. Miami (OH) 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 — 1–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs. Northern Illinois 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–1 — 2–0 1–1 1–0
vs. Ohio 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 — 2–0 1–0
vs. Toledo 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 0–2 — 0–1
vs. Western Michigan 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 —
Total 13–5 7–11 10–8 2–16 12–6 6–12 8–10 9–9 5–13 13–5 14–4 9–9

All-MAC awards

Mid-American men's basketball weekly awards

[26]

Week Player(s) of the Week School
Nov 13[27] Enrique Freeman Akron
Nov 20[28] Enrique Freeman (2) Akron
Nov 27[29] Marcus Hill Bowling Green
Dec 4[30] Basheer Jihad
Elmore James 		Ball State
Ohio
Dec 11[31] Enrique Freeman (3)
Basheer Jihad (2) 		Akron
Ball State
Dec 18[32] Tyler Cochran Toledo
Dec 25[33] Enrique Freeman (4)
Brian Taylor 		Akron
Central Michigan
Jan 1[34] Seth Hubbard Western Michigan
Jan 8[35] Enrique Freeman (5) Akron
Jan 15[36] Enrique Freeman (6)
Rashaun Agee 		Akron
Bowling Green
Jan 22[37] Enrique Freeman (7)
Marcus Hill (2) 		Akron
Bowling Green
Jan 29[38] Basheer Jihad (3)
Anthony Pritchard 		Ball State
Central Michigan
Feb 5[39] Enrique Freeman (8) Akron
Feb 12[40] Jaylin Hunter
Marcus Hill (3) 		Ohio
Bowling Green
Feb 19[41] Tyson Acuff Eastern Michigan
Feb 26[42] Marcus Hill (4) Bowling Green
Mar 4[43] David Coit Northern Illinois
Mar 11[44] Shareef Mitchell Ohio

Postseason

Mid–American Tournament

Main article: 2024 MAC men's basketball tournament

Akron defeated Miami and Ohio in the MAC tournament and then Kent State in the final[45][46][47][48] Enrique Freeman was the MVP.

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Akron was defeated by Creighton in the opening round.[49]

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 2024 National Invitation Tournament

No MAC teams played in the NIT.

Postseason awards

Enrique Freeman of Akron was the unanimous selection for player of the year. Central Michigan's Tony Barbee was named coach of the year[50]

  1. Coach of the Year: Tony Barbee, Central Michigan
  2. Player of the Year: Enrique Freeman, Senior, Forward, Akron
  3. Freshman of the Year: Javan Simmons, Forward, Toledo
  4. Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Anthony Pritchard, Junior, Guard, Central Michigan
  5. Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Tyler Cochran, Junior, Guard, Toledo
  6. Sixth Man of the Year: JaVaughn Hannah, Sophomore, Guard, Western Michigan

Honors

Honor Recipient
Postseason All-MAC First Team Ali Ali, Senior, Guard, Akron
Enrique Freeman, Senior, Forward, Akron
Marcus Hill, Junior, Guard, Bowling Green
Anthony Pritchard, Junior, Guard, Central Michigan
Ra’Heim Moss, Junior, Guard, Toledo
Postseason All-MAC Second Team Basheer Jihad, Junior, Forward, Ball State
Rashaun Agee, Senior, Forward, Bowling Green
Jaylin Hunter, Senior, Guard, Ohio
Dante Maddox Jr., Junior, Guard, Toledo
Tyler Cochran, Junior, Guard, Toledo
Postseason All-MAC Third Team Brian Taylor, Graduate Student, Guard, Central Michigan
Tyson Acuff, Junior, Guard, Eastern Michigan
Jalen Sullinger, Junior, Guard, Kent State
David Coit, Junior, Guard, Northern Illinois
AJ Clayton, Junior, Forward, Ohio
Postseason All-MAC Honorable Mention Greg Tribble, Senior, Guard, Akron
VonCameron Davis, R-Junior, Forward, Kent State
Anderson Mirambeaux, Senior, Center, Miami
Darweshi Hunter, Graduate Student, Guard, Miami
B. Artis White, R-Junior, Guard, Western Michigan
All-MAC Freshman Team Arne Osojnik, Guard, Eastern Michigan
Eian Elmer, Wing, Miami
Will Lovings-Watts, Guard, Northern Illinois
Javan Simmons, Forward, Toledo
Sonny Wilson, Guard, Toledo
All-MAC Defensive Team Enrique Freeman, Senior, Forward, Akron
Greg Tribble, Senior, Guard, Akron
Anthony Pritchard, Junior, Guard, Central Michigan
Tyler Cochran, Junior, Guard, Toledo
Ra’Heim Moss, Junior, Guard, Toledo

See also

References

  1. ^ Zarrella, Tony (March 12, 2021). "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  2. ^ "MAC basketball tournament bracket set; Miami RedHawks face Akron in first round". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  3. ^ "Akron 75, Miami 63". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  4. ^ "Akron 65, Ohio 62". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  5. ^ "Akron vs. Kent State". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  6. ^ Lambdin, Nia (March 5, 2023). "BGSU fires men's basketball head coach Michael Huger". ABC 13. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  7. ^ Couch, Graham (March 18, 2023). "Fowler's Todd Simon comes back close to home, takes over Bowling Green men's basketball program". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  8. ^ "Buffalo fires men's basketball coach Jim Whitesell after 4 seasons". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  9. ^ Jonah Bronstein (March 30, 2023). "UB hires basketball coach George Halcovage from Villanova". WVIB. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  10. ^ "John Groce". Sports Reference.
  11. ^ "Michael Lewis". Sports Reference.
  12. ^ "Todd Simon". Sports Reference.
  13. ^ "George Halcovage". Sports Reference.
  14. ^ "Tony Barbee". Sports Reference.
  15. ^ "Stan Heath". Sports Reference.
  16. ^ "Rob Senderoff". Sports Reference.
  17. ^ "Travis Steele". Sports Reference.
  18. ^ "Rashon Burno". Sports Reference.
  19. ^ "Jeff Boals". Sports Reference.
  20. ^ "Tod Kowalczyk". Sports Reference.
  21. ^ "Dwayne Stephens". Sports Reference.
  22. ^ a b "MAC Announces 2023-24 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll & Teams" getsomemaction.com. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  23. ^ "AP TOP 25 POLL, Preseason".
  24. ^ "AP TOP 25 POLL, Week 1".
  25. ^ "Preseason top 25".
  26. ^ "Men's Basketball Players of the Week".
  27. ^ "Zips' Freeman Named MAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  28. ^ "Akron's Freeman Garners Player of the Week Honors".
  29. ^ "Falcons' Hill Tabbed Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  30. ^ "Ball State's Jihad, Ohio's James Share Player of the Week Honors". getsomemaction.com. December 4, 2023.
  31. ^ "Freeman, Jihad Share Men's Basketball Weekly Honors".
  32. ^ "Toledo's Cochran Garners Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honors".
  33. ^ "Zips' Freeman, Chippewas' Taylor Tabbed Co-Players of the Week".
  34. ^ "Broncos' Hubbard Garners Player of the Week Honors".
  35. ^ "Akron's Freeman Earns Player of the Week Honors".
  36. ^ "Agee, Freeman Share Player of the Week Honors".
  37. ^ "Freeman, Hill Garner Co-Player of the Week Honors".
  38. ^ "Jihad, Pritchard Garner Player of the Week Honors".
  39. ^ "Zips' Freeman Tabbed Player of the Week".
  40. ^ "Hill, Hunter Garner Co-Player of the Week Accolades".
  41. ^ "Eagles' Acuff Garners Player of the Week Honors".
  42. ^ "Falcons' Hill Collects Player of the Week Honors".
  43. ^ "Huskies' Coit Garners Player of the Week Accolades".
  44. ^ "Ohio's Mitchell Garners Final Player of the Week Honors".
  45. ^ "MAC basketball tournament bracket set; Miami RedHawks face Akron in first round". Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  46. ^ "Akron 75, Miami 63". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  47. ^ "Akron 65, Ohio 62". ESPN. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  48. ^ "Akron vs. Kent State". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  49. ^ "Akron vs. Creighton". ESPN. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  50. ^ "MAC Announces 2023-24 MAC Men's Basketball All-MAC Teams, Specialty Award Winners".