The 2002 MAC men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place at Gund Arena in Cleveland. Its winner received the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA tournament. It was a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round. All MAC teams were invited to participate. Kent State, the MAC regular season winner, received the number one seed in the tournament. The Flashes won the tournament, their third MAC Tournament championship, claiming the title 70–59 over Bowling Green.[1] The announced crowd of 14,106 set a conference record for highest-attended tournament game. In the NCAA Tournament Kent State defeated Oklahoma State, Alabama, and Pittsburgh before losing to then eventual national runner-up Indiana Hoosiers in the Elite Eight.[2][3][4][5]

2002 MAC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2001–02
Teams13
SiteGund Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
ChampionsKent State (3rd title)
Winning coachStan Heath (1st title)
MVPTrevor Huffman (Kent State)
MAC men's basketball tournaments
← 2001
2003 →
2001–02 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Kent State 17 1   .944 30 6   .833
Bowling Green 12 6   .667 24 9   .727
Ohio 11 7   .611 17 11   .607
Miami (OH) 9 9   .500 13 18   .419
Marshall 8 10   .444 15 15   .500
Buffalo 7 11   .389 12 18   .400
Akron 5 13   .278 10 21   .323
West
Ball State 12 6   .667 23 12   .657
Toledo 11 7   .611 16 14   .533
Western Michigan 10 8   .556 17 13   .567
Northern Illinois 8 10   .444 12 16   .429
Central Michigan 5 13   .278 9 19   .321
Eastern Michigan 2 16   .111 6 24   .200
2002 MAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Tournament edit

Seeds edit

  1. Kent State
  2. Ball State
  3. Bowling Green
  4. Toledo
  5. Ohio
  6. Western Michigan
  7. Miami
  8. Marshall
  9. Northern Illinois
  10. Buffalo
  11. Akron
  12. Central Michigan
  13. Eastern Michigan

Bracket edit

[6]

First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
            
1 Kent State 86
8 Marshall 70
8 Marshall 97
9 Northern Illinois 93
1 Kent State 86
4 Toledo 61
4 Toledo 89
13 Eastern Michigan 53
4 Toledo 62
12 Central Michigan 54
5 Ohio 56
12 Central Michigan 65
1 Kent State 70
3 Bowling Green 59
2 Ball State 62
7 Miami (OH) 50
7 Miami (OH) 70
10 Buffalo 61
2 Ball State 57
3 Bowling Green 69
3 Bowling Green 60
11 Akron 58
6 Western Michigan 83
11 Akron 90

First Round summary edit

Quarterfinal summary edit

Semifinal summary edit

Championship summary edit

Broadcast Information edit

ESPN2 announcers edit

Regional TV announcers edit

Local announcers edit

Seed Teams Flagship station Play-by-play announcer Color analyst(s)
1 Kent State WNIR–FM 100.1 Bill Needle

References edit

  1. ^ "Golden Flashes win MAC for third time in four years". ESPN. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  2. ^ "Kent State rides big lead to first-round upset". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  3. ^ "Kent State stifles Tide to reach Sweet 16". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  4. ^ "Kent State reaches fourth round for first time". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  5. ^ "Hoosiers make long-awaited return to Final Four". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  6. ^ "MAC Tournament History" (PDF). 2009-10 MAC Men's Basketball Record Book. Mid-American Conference. November 11, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2009.