March 10, 2009
Entry 4
The women's basketball continues to entertain. From their comments on suspect calls by the officials to the attire of Kent State's players. Kent State's Tyree Evans is wearing argyle athletic socks. He missed the front end of a one and one, and senior Shari' Welton yelled out, "You missed that shot because you're wearing dress socks."
Entry 3
The Huskies have just tipped off and jumped out to a 9-3 lead, forcing Kent State to take a timeout. Sitting right behind me in the stands is NIU's women's basketball team cheering the Huskies on. I love listening to the "concise anlysis" in the early going.
Entry 2
CLEVELAND - This is Joe Summins, and I handle media relations for the Huskie women's basketball team reporting from the 2009 MAC Tournament. I just wanted to give everyone a quick update on the men's tourney. The first game of the day between Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan ran a bit long and the Huskies will be tipping off in about 15 minutes.
This is my third trip to the MAC Tournament here in Cleveland and every time is exciting. It's pretty cool sitting courtside at an NBA Arena. I can only imagine what the experience is like for our student-athletes.
Entry 1
CLEVELAND - Howdy Huskies fans! This is Brett McWethy, the NIU men's basketball sports information director. During this week's Mid-American Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments, the NIU Athletics Media Relations staff will be blogging, providing you with as many angles and storylines as possible behind the scenes at the annual event here in Cleveland.
After a hard-fought loss at Toledo Sunday afternoon, the men's squad spent the night in Toledo, and traveled to Cleveland Monday afternoon, arriving at about 1 p.m. EST. All 12 men's teams are staying at the Renaissance Grand Hotel downtown, right around the corner from Quicken Loans Arena.
The day started with a conference call to cross any last minute "T's," and dot the "I's." Coach Patton also appeared on the pre-tournament media teleconference, where DeKalb Daily Chronicle sports writer John Sahly was part of the festivities. Be sure to check out his preview on daily-chronicle.com Tuesday morning! He also spoke with Darion "Jake" Anderson and Mike DiNunno from the bus for a players' perspective. Click Here for John Sahly's preview.
NIU, which garnered the No. 11 seed in the tournament, will take on sixth-seeded Kent State Tuesday afternoon in the opening round - the game is slated to begin at 2 p.m. (1 p.m. CST), but may start a little later than scheduled. NCAA protocol calls for a 30-minute break in between games, which could push the start time back a bit.
Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan kick off the festivities at noon. It should be a great start to the tournament - EMU defeated the Chippewas twice during the regular season, but CMU tied for the West Division title after beating Western Michigan Sunday in Kalamazoo, and earned the No. 7 seed.
The MAC is celebrating its 10th year with the tournament held in Cleveland. There have been some memorable games over the years, and this event should be no different. The field seems to be wide open, and it wouldn't be a surprise to anyone regularly following MAC basketball for an unexpected champion to emerge.
For those who didn't see, NIU had a nice representation on the All-MAC teams, which were released Monday afternoon. Darion "Jake" Anderson earned second-team honors, and Mike DiNunno was named to the All-Freshman Team. The specialty awards will be released Wednesday, and we'll keep you posted on any NIU ties. Click Here for my All-MAC release.
Fans in attendance for Tuesday's game could only hope for as good of a contest between NIU and Kent State than what was on display at the Convocation Center on Feb. 10. KSU outlasted the Huskies in double overtime, but those in attendance or listening to Bill Baker and Casey Kahler's call on the Huskie Sports Radio Network could not have been disappointed by the excitement of the game. DiNunno hit a half-court shot to send the game into the second extra session, and it was a great offensive match-up. Hopefully those traveling to the `Q' will be treated to a similar style Tuesday, with hopes of the Huskies pulling out their first postseason win since 2003!
I'll provide another entry prior to Tuesday's game. I'll try to paint the picture of MAC Madness as accurately as possible! Be sure to stay tuned to NIUHuskies.com for women's basketball SID Joe Summins' blogs, as well. The Huskie women have a great chance to make a run at a championship in this tournament, and senior Jessie Wilcox will be chasing the coveted 1,000 career point plateau against Buffalo in the first round Wednesday beginning at 1 p.m. EST. You can watch all Huskie games FREE on the web as part of the conference's "All MACCESS" package, and as always, listen to Bill Baker's radio call, flagshipped by 1360-AM in DeKalb.
Until Tuesday afternoon, have a good one, and Go Huskies! Be sure to stay close to your computer in the next week to be a part of the new web-based feature section, "Huskie Happenings." It will be a one-stop shop for NIU Athletics news, features and chats, and much more! We won't give away the details just yet, but a little teaser never hurt anyone!
If anyone has questions about the festivities, feel free to e-mail me at bmcwethy@niu.edu. I'd be happy to enlighten you all on what I see!
