MAC tournament is back at The Q

The Mid-American Conference basketball tournaments return to Quicken Loans Arena this week. The Buffalo men’s and Central Michigan women’s teams will figure prominently, David S. Glasier reports.

The Mid-American Conference Tournament returns to Quicken Loans Arena for the 19th straight year with the University of Buffalo having formidable presences in the men’s and women’s brackets.

UB’s men own the No. 1 seed after finishing the regular season at 23-8 overall and 15-3 in the MAC. The Bulls were the only team in the usually tough East Division to finish with winning records on both sides of the ledger.

UB’s women dominated the East Division in similar fashion with records of 25-4 and 16-2 but had to settle for the No. 2 seed. Central Michigan also was 25-4 overall but finished 17-1 in MAC West play to secure the No. 1 seed.

The top four seeds in the women’s and men’s tournaments received byes to the quarterfinals at The Q on March 7 and 8, respectively.

The men’s and women’s semifinals are on March 9, with championships games on March 10.

The UB men are led by the powerhouse quartet of junior guard C.J. Massinburg (17.4 points, 7.5 rebounds), junior forwardcenter Nick Perkins Jr. (16.7 points,. 6.2 rebounds), junior guard Jeremy Harris (15.9 points, 5.7 rebounds)

and senior guard Wes Clark (14.8 points, 5.4 assists).

On March 5, Massinburg and Perkins were named first-team All-MAC honorees. Harris was All-MAC second team and Clark was on the third team.

The No. 2 men’s seed Toledo (21-10, 13-5) captured the West Division regularseason title behind senior guard and All-MAC first team honoree Tre’Shaun Fletcher (18.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists).

Eastern Michigan (2011, 11-7 MAC) and Ball State (19-12, 10-8 MAC) are the No 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, on the men’s side.

The UB women’s team has double-figure scorers atop its rotation in junior guard Cierra Dillard (14.5 points), 6-3 senior center Cassie Dursler (13.7 points, 7.2 rebounds), junior guard Stephanie Reid (11.2 points) and 6-1 sophomore forward Summer Hemphill (10.3 points).

Freshman forward Tinarra Moore (19.2 points, 9.6 rebounds) is a MAC women’s Player-of-theYear candidate for Central Michigan.

The Chippewas carry a MAC-best nine-game winning streak into the tournament.

The defending tournament champions are the Kent State men and Toledo women.

MICHAEL WYKE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Guard CJ Massinburg, shown grabbing the ball against Texas A&M earlier this season, is averaging a team-best 17.4 points per game.