{"id":617311,"date":"2023-03-11T22:10:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T04:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/11\/carry-scores-26-kent-state-tops-toledo-to-win-mac-tourney\/"},"modified":"2023-03-11T22:10:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-12T04:10:59","slug":"carry-scores-26-kent-state-tops-toledo-to-win-mac-tourney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/11\/carry-scores-26-kent-state-tops-toledo-to-win-mac-tourney\/","title":{"rendered":"Carry scores 26, Kent State tops Toledo to win MAC tourney"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

CLEVELAND (AP) \u2014 The pain from last year\u2019s championship loss, and the unusual circumstances surrounding it, stuck with Kent State\u2019s players, gnawed at them.<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, they finally found relief.<\/p>\n

Sincere Carry scored 26 points, Malique Jacobs added 18 and Kent State won the Mid-American Conference championship, 93-78 over top-seeded Toledo, which had its winning streak stopped at 17 and will likely miss the NCAA Tournament for the 43rd straight year.<\/p>\n

The second-seeded Golden Flashes (28-6) won their first tourney title since 2017 along with the conference\u2019s automatic NCAA bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make some noise,\u201d said Carry, Kent State\u2019s smooth senior guard, who didn\u2019t miss a shot or free throw in the second half. \u201cI\u2019m not just going there to experience the moment. I\u2019m trying to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 28 wins and some near-miss losses at Houston and Gonzaga, the Golden Flashes will be a tough out for any team. They\u2019re balanced, tough and in Carry have a player capable of, well, carrying them.<\/p>\n

Jacobs added 13 rebounds and six assists while atoning for a mistake last year, when he was suspended for the first half of the title game along with three teammates after they posted a profane video on social media following the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Kent State lost in the final 75-55 to rival Akron, and that score was the security code on the team\u2019s locker room door all season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kept 75-55 in our head,\u201d Carry said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was supposed to happen,\u201d added Jacobs.<\/p>\n

For Toldeo, it didn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n

The top-seeded Rockets (27-7) now must hope the NCAA selection committee looks at their entire body of work. However, history won\u2019t be on their side as the MAC hasn\u2019t had two teams in the 68-team field since 1999, and it\u2019s more likely they\u2019re headed to the NIT.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see our league office do more to get two teams in,\u201d said coach Tod Kowalczyk. \u201cThe fact that Kent State and Toledo haven\u2019t been talked about. That\u2019s a MAC problem. This team won 17 straight games. How many teams in the country have won 17 straight games?\u201d<\/p>\n

Toledo fell to 0-6 in MAC title games since last winning in 1980.<\/p>\n

RayJ Dennis, the conference player of the year, scored 25 for the Rockets. Setric Millner Jr. added 25 and 10 rebounds for Toledo, which reeled off 17 straight wins since losing to Kent State on Jan. 10.<\/p>\n

But with a chance to end one of the nation\u2019s longest NCAA droughts, the Rockets couldn\u2019t finish the job.<\/p>\n

Toledo was still within 71-67 when the Golden Flashes went on a 10-3 run capped by Carry\u2019s long 3-pointer as the 30-second shot expired. <\/p>\n

The Rockets couldn\u2019t catch up in the final minutes as Kent State put it away at the foul line in the final minute. Appropriately, Jacobs grabbed Toledo\u2019s last miss before celebrating with his teammates, making up for a moment they let escape in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year was a really tough evening for us,\u201d said coach Rob Senderoff. \u201cSo really proud of them and happy for them. These are special moments. It\u2019s hard to get to the NCAA Tournament in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toledo came in averaging 85.8 points per game \u2014 second nationally to Gonzaga \u2014 and these high-powered Rockets had scored over 100 points six times this season. But the Golden Flashes held them to a season-low 63 on Jan. 19, and Kent State\u2019s defense was up to the task early.<\/p>\n

Getting defensive stops, the Golden Flashes reeled off 11 points in a row to take a 27-16 lead.<\/p>\n

With Dennis unable to get going on offense, Millner picked up the slack by scoring 11 straight points and Toledo went on an 18-6 run to briefly take the lead before Jacobs\u2019 lay-in at the horn gave Kent State a 35-34 halftime lead.<\/p>\n

Toledo\u2019s NCAA dry spell has weighed heavily on the program, to the point Kowalczyk, who has been at the school for 13 years, felt it had become an unfair talking point.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody wants to make a big deal about 1980,\u201d he said following Friday\u2019s semifinals. \u201cThat\u2019s not this team\u2019s problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it hasn\u2019t gone away.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP college basketball: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-basketball and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https:\/\/twitter.com\/AP_Top25<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n By TOM WITHERS – AP Sports Writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND (AP) \u2014 The pain from last year\u2019s championship loss, and the unusual circumstances surrounding it, stuck with Kent State\u2019s players, gnawed at them. On Saturday night, they finally found relief. Sincere Carry scored 26 points, Malique Jacobs added 18 and Kent State won the Mid-American Conference championship, 93-78 over top-seeded Toledo, which had its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":617312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29681,534,1411],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-617311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carry","8":"category-financial","9":"category-scores"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}