Mid-American Conference 2003-04 Season Recap
The change in weather and the sighting of face paint can mean only one thing: it’s time for college basketball. Last week, the MAC’s basketball programs opened their programs for their 2004-2005 seasons. The first two weeks has whet the appetites of the MAC fans for the upcoming season with some big upsets and stellar performances.
Surprisingly, the very experienced Toledo Rockets have started their season 0-2. The Rockets opened their season against Vanderbilt, where the SEC’s Commodores took it to the Rockets in defeating them 74 – 64 on Nov. 19. Then on Nov. 27, the Rockets fell to Wright State, 74 – 64. With all five starters returning, the Rockets were picked to win the MAC and even received preseason AP Top 25 Poll votes. The Rockets returned first team All-MAC performer Keith Triplett, who has had two pretty good performances in averaging 19.6 points per game for the Rockets.
The biggest surprise so far has been the upset of the Big Ten’s Purdue Boilermakers by the Miami RedHawks. The RedHawks defeated the Boilermakers 81 – 71, Nov. 19, then had another big win on the road against Xavier on Nov. 22 in defeating Xavier 66 – 54. The RedHawks have opened the season 2-1 with a loss to Butler on Nov. 27.
The Kent State Golden Flashes have opened up with the best record in the MAC, starting the season 4-2. The Golden Flashes have had wins against Shawnee State, Binghamton, Florida State, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The win against the Seminoles was very big for the Golden Flashes, proving they can compete and be successful against teams from major conferences.
MAC players of the week
Forward John Bowler, from Eastern Michigan and forward Danny Horace, from the Miami RedHawks have won the first Player of the Week honors in the MAC for this season. Horace put up his eighth career double-double in a win against Purdue, adding four assists and two steals in 38 minutes of action. In his first two games, Bowler has averaged 15 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the Eastern Michigan Eagles. He helped the Eagles advance to the finals of the Paradise Jam with wins over St. Louis and Austin Peay.
