2022–23 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

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2022–23 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams12
Regular season
League championsToledo
  Runners-upKent State
Season MVPRayJ Dennis
Tournament
ChampionsKent State
  Runners-upToledo
Finals MVPSincere Carry
Mid-American men's basketball seasons
2022–23 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Toledo 16 2   .889 27 8   .771
Kent State 15 3   .833 28 7   .800
Akron 13 5   .722 22 11   .667
Ball State 11 7   .611 20 12   .625
Ohio 10 8   .556 19 14   .576
Buffalo 9 9   .500 15 17   .469
Northern Illinois 9 9   .500 13 19   .406
Miami (OH) 6 12   .333 12 20   .375
Bowling Green 5 13   .278 11 20   .355
Eastern Michigan 5 13   .278 8 23   .258
Central Michigan 5 13   .278 10 21   .323
Western Michigan 4 14   .222 8 23   .258
2023 MAC tournament winner

The 2022–23 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season is the season for Mid-American Conference men's basketball teams. It began with practices in October 2022, followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2023 and concluded in March 2023. The 2023 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio for the 24th consecutive season.[1]

Toledo won their third straight regular season championship with a 16-2 record in MAC Play.[2] RayJ Dennis was named player of the year.[3] Second seed Kent State defeated Northern Illinois, Akron, and top seeded Toledo to win the MAC tournament.[4][5][6]

Head coaches[edit]

Coaching changes[edit]

Ball State[edit]

On March 14, 2022, Ball State fired James Whitford after nine seasons with a 131–148 record at the school.[7] Ball State hired UCLA assistant coach Michael Lewis on March 25, 2022.[8]

Miami[edit]

After the season Miami fired head coach Jack Owens after five years and a 70–83 record.[9] On April 1, 2022, Miami hired Travis Steele, who had been let go by Xavier at the end of the 2022 season.[10]

Western Michigan[edit]

Clayton Bates resigned on On March 7, 2022 as the head coach of Western Michigan after posting a two-year record of 13–39.[11] On April 5, Michigan State associate head coach Dwayne Stephens was named the new head coach.[12]

Coaches[edit]

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 6 274–190 (.591) 94–59 (.614) 54–38 (.587) 1 1 1 0 0
Ball State Michael Lewis UCLA (Asst.) 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Bowling Green Michael Huger Miami (FL) (Asst.) 8 115–105 (.523) 115–105 (.523) 59–69 (.461) 0 0 0 0 0
Buffalo Jim Whitesell Buffalo (Assoc. HC) 4 430–340 (.558) 55–32 (.632) 36–18 (.667) 0 0 0 0 0
Central Michigan Tony Barbee Kentucky (Asst.) 2 138–150 (.479) 7–23 (.233) 6–12 (.333) 0 0 0 0 0
Eastern Michigan Stan Heath Lakeland Magic 2 219–228 (.490) 10–21 (.323) 5–15 (.250) 0 0 0 0 0
Kent State Rob Senderoff Kent State (Asst.) 12 219–140 (.610) 219–140 (.610) 115–81 (.587) 1 1 1 0 0
Miami Travis Steele Xavier 1 70–50 (.583) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Illinois Rashon Burno Arizona State (Asst.) 2 9–21 (.300) 9–21 (.300) 6–14 (.300) 0 0 0 0 0
Ohio Jeff Boals Stony Brook 4 114–75 (.603) 59–33 (.641) 31–21 (.596) 0 1 1 0 0
Toledo Tod Kowalczyk Green Bay 13 367–272 (.574) 231–160 (.591) 126–87 (.592) 3 0 0 0 0
Western Michigan Dwayne Stephens Michigan State (Assoc. HC) 1 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • Appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Years at school includes 2022–23 season.
  • MAC records are from time at current school only.
  • All records are through the beginning of the season.

Preseason[edit]

The preseason coaches' poll and league awards were announced by the league office on October 26, 2022.[13] Kent State was named as a slight MAC favorite over 2021–22 regular season champion Toledo and 2022 MAC tournament champion Akron.

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll[edit]

Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1. Kent State 135 6
2. Toledo 131 4
3. Akron 127 2
4. Ball State 94 --
5. Ohio 91 --
6. Buffalo 82 --
7. Eastern Michigan 68 --
8. Western Michigan 66 --
9. Bowling Green 42 --
10. Central Michigan 38 --
11. Miami 36 --
12. Northern Illinois 26 --

MAC Preseason All-Conference[edit]

Honor Recipient
Preseason All-MAC First Team Enrique Freeman, F, Akron, Jr.
Payton Sparks, C, Ball State, So.
Sincere Carry, G, Kent State, R-Sr.
JT Shumate, F, Toledo, Sr.
Lamar Norman Jr., G, Western Michigan, Sr.
Preseason All-MAC Second Team Xavier Castaneda, G, Akron, Sr.
Kevin Miller, G, Central Michigan, So
Emoni Bates, F, Eastern Michigan, So.
Malique Jacobs, G, Kent State, R-Sr.
Setric Millner Jr., F, Toledo, Sr.

Regular season[edit]

Rankings[edit]

  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 RV RV RV
C RV RV
Miami AP
C
Northern Illinois AP
C
Ohio AP
C
Toledo AP RV
C RV RV
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

[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52]

Conference matrix[edit]

  Akron Ball State Bowling Green Buffalo Central Michigan Eastern Michigan Kent State Miami (OH) Northern Illinois Ohio Toledo Western Michigan
vs. Akron 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–2
vs. Ball State 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–1
vs. Bowling Green 1–0 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–0
vs. Buffalo 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–1
vs. Central Michigan 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs. Eastern Michigan 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–1
vs. Kent State 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–2
vs. Miami (OH) 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2
vs. Northern Illinois 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–2
vs. Ohio 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–1
vs. Toledo 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 0–1
vs. Western Michigan 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0
Total 13–5 11–7 5–13 9–9 5–13 5–13 15–3 6–12 9–9 10–8 16–2 4–14

All-MAC awards[edit]

Mid-American men's basketball weekly awards[edit]

[53]

Week Player(s) of the Week School
Nov 14[54] RayJ Dennis Toledo
Nov 21[55] JT Shumate and Malique Jacobs Toledo and Kent State
Nov 28[56] Payton Sparks and Miles Brown Ball State and Ohio
Dec 5[57] Curtis Jones Buffalo
Dec 12[58] RayJ Dennis Toledo
Dec 19[59] Jaylin Sellers Ball State
Dec 26[60] Sincere Carry Kent State
Jan 2[61] Reggie Bass Central Michigan
Jan 9[62] Enrique Freeman Akron
Jan 16[63] Miryne Thomas Kent State
Jan 23[64] RayJ Dennis Toledo
Jan 30[65] Enrique Freeman Akron
Feb 6[66] Xavier Castaneda Akron
Feb 13[67] Jaylin Hunter and Tyson Acuff Ohio and Eastern Michigan
Feb 20[68] Enrique Freeman and RayJ Dennis Akron and Toledo
Feb 27[69] Emoni Bates and Mekhi Lairy Eastern Michigan and Miami
Mar 6[70] RayJ Dennis and Sincere Carry Toledo and Kent State

Postseason[edit]

Mid–American Tournament[edit]

Kent State defeated Toledo in the final to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.[71] Sincere Carry was the MVP.[72]

NCAA tournament[edit]

Kent State was placed as the 13th seed in the Midwest Regional where they lost to Indiana in the first round of the NCAA tournament.[73][74]

National Invitation tournament[edit]

Toledo received an automatic bid to the National Invitation tournament where they lost to Michigan in the first round.[75][76]

Postseason awards[edit]

RayJ Dennis was the unanimous selection for player pf the year.[77]

  1. Coach of the Year: Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo
  2. Player of the Year: RayJ Dennis, Toledo
  3. Freshman of the Year: Reggie Bass, Central Michigan
  4. Defensive Player of the Year: Malique Jacobs, Kent State
  5. Sixth Man of the Year: Jalen Sullinger, Kent State

Honors[edit]

Honor Recipient
Postseason All-MAC First Team Xavier Castaneda, Sr., G, Akron
Enrique Freeman, Jr., F, Akron
Sincere Carry, R-Sr., G, Kent State
RayJ Dennis, Jr., G, Toledo
JT Shumate, Sr., F, Toledo
Postseason All-MAC Second Team Payton Sparks, So., C, Ball State
Jarron Coleman, R-Jr., G, Ball State
Malique Jacobs, R-Sr., G, Kent State
Setric Millner Jr., Sr., F, Toledo
Dwight Wilson III, Grad., F, Ohio
Postseason All-MAC Third Team Jaylin Sellers, So., G, Ball State
Curtis Jones, So., G, Buffalo
Emoni Bates, So., F, Eastern Michigan
Mekhi Lairy, 5th, G, Miami
David Coit, So., G, Northern Illinois
Postseason All-MAC Honorable Mention Leon Ayers III, Sr., G, Bowling Green
Anderson Mirambeaux, Sr., F, Miami
Kaleb Thornton, Sr., G, Northern Illinois
Jaylin Hunter, Jr., G, Ohio
Lamar Norman Jr., Sr., G, Western Michigan
All-MAC Freshman Team Reggie Bass, Central Michigan, G
Ryan Mabrey, Miami, G
AJ Brown, Ohio, G
Elmore James, Ohio, G
Seth Hubbard, Western Michigan, G
All-MAC Defensive Team Enrique Freeman, Akron
Greg Tribble, Jr., G, Akron
Demarius Jacobs, Sr., G, Ball State
Malique Jacobs, Kent State
Sincere Carry, Kent State

See also[edit]

2022–23 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season

References[edit]

  1. ^ Zarrella, Tony. "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  2. ^ "History: Toledo men win third consecutive outright MAC Championship". Toledo Blade. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "2023 All-MAC basketball: Xavier Castaneda, Enrique Freeman, Sincere Carry earn honors". Akron Beacon Journal. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  4. ^ "Northern Illinois 57, Kent State State 76". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  5. ^ "Akron 73, Kent State 79". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  6. ^ "Toledo 78, Kent State 93". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  7. ^ "Sources: Ball State fires Whitford after 9 seasons". ESPN.com. March 14, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Karpinski, Izzy (March 25, 2022). "Ball State hires Michael Lewis as men's basketball coach". Fox 59. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  9. ^ Media, Field Level. "Miami (Ohio) parts ways with coach Jack Owens". Gwinnett Prep Sports. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  10. ^ "Travis Steele introduced as new Miami RedHawks men's basketball coach". WCPO. March 31, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  11. ^ "Western Michigan men's basketball coach Clayton Bates steps down after two seasons". Detroit Free Press. March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  12. ^ Knight (SpartyOnHuskers), Kevin (April 5, 2022). "Longtime Michigan State assistant Dwayne Stephens leaves for Western Michigan". BT Powerhouse. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  13. ^ "Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll & All-MAC Teams Announced" getsomemaction.com. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
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  15. ^ "AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll, Week 2". Associated Press. November 14, 2022.
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  20. ^ "AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll, Week 7". Associated Press. December 19, 2022.
  21. ^ "AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll, Week 8". Associated Press. December 26, 2022.
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  50. ^ "USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, Week 18". USA Today.
  51. ^ "USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, Week 19". USA Today.
  52. ^ "USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, Week 20". USA Today.
  53. ^ "Men's Basketball Players of the Week".
  54. ^ "Toledo's RayJ Dennis Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  55. ^ "Kent State's Jacobs, Toledo's Shumate Share Player of the Week Honors".
  56. ^ "Ball State's Sparks, Ohio's Brown Share Player of the Week Honors".
  57. ^ "Buffalo's Jones Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  58. ^ "Toledo's Dennis Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  59. ^ "Ball State's Sellers Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  60. ^ "Kent State's Carry Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  61. ^ "Central Michigan's Bass Earns Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honors".
  62. ^ "Akron's Freeman Earns Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honors".
  63. ^ "Kent State's Thomas Named MAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  64. ^ "Toledo's Dennis Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  65. ^ "Akron's Freeman Named Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  66. ^ "Akron's Castaneda Named MAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week".
  67. ^ "Ohio's Hunter, EMU's Acuff Share Co-Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honors".
  68. ^ "Akron's Freeman, Toledo's Dennis Share Player of the Week Honors".
  69. ^ "Eastern Michigan's Bates, Miami's Lairy Named Men's Basketball Co-Players of the Week".
  70. ^ "Kent State's Carry, Toledo's Dennis Named MAC Men's Basketball Co-Players of the Week".
  71. ^ "MAC champs! Kent State beats Toledo". FOX 8 Cleveland. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  72. ^ "Flash Dance: Kent State Headed To NCAA tournament". Mid-American conference. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  73. ^ "Indiana men open NCAA tournament push against Kent State Friday". WDRB. March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  74. ^ Horner, Scott (March 18, 2023). "LIVE: Indiana basketball beats Kent State in March Madness action". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  75. ^ "Bufkin, Baker lead Michigan past Toledo 90-80 in NIT". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
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  77. ^ "2022-23 MAC Basketball Postseason Awards Released".