Western Head Coach Steve Hawkins Postgame:

“You have to tip your hat to Toledo, they out played us in every phase of the game, they were outstanding today and are playing the best basketball in the league right now… I thought they were running their offense with a lot more pace than earlier this year and today they ran their offense in a determined way, more determined than our defense and I think that was the difference in the game… We shot 49 percent, our offense wasn’t the problem today it was our defense… This isn’t the first time this program has been in this position and I don’t feel bad with where we are at, we have been a pretty good basketball team when everyone plays there role and we are healthy… I thought Toledo looked like they were playing for a championship today, they played extremely hard… We have to focus on the big picture of things and that is seeding, at the same time you do that by focusing on each day.”

the mac has a bunch of good young guards. thomas wilder of western put on a show.

Wilder Postgame:

Thomas Wilder:

“My teammates and coaches gave me the confidence to go out there and shoot the ball, my teammates found me and I would give the credit to them and my coaches… We are a good ball club and Toledo is a good ball club so it feels like a rivalry… Julius is great player I wanted the challenge to guard him, I like playing against guys like that, I feel it helps me get better… Earlier this week in practice I wasn’t shooting that much and Coach Hawk told me I needed to shoot more so I give all the credit to the coaches and my teammates… We don’t have a choice but to bear down for this last four games, we gotta go.”

With the remaining schedule it looks like top 2 seeds come down to cmu and toledo. win 13 or 14 mac games and you're top 2. kent, bg, akron, buffalo will beat up on each other. expect several of those teams to go 12-6.

the threat to toledo as a top 2 seed is complacency - must keep getting better, no let downs - and kent state continuing to peak/plus loss at cmu. will be interesting to see what kind of a team kent is now that hall is getting back on the court. will they be better? or will their chemistry change?

even the mac 2nd and 3rd round tourney games will be a show. the semis and final should be high level basketball. mac may not have multiple bids but it is a solid well coached conference this year with some good young players.

this is a good time of year to get a sense of how teams stack up nationally. the rockets won't get an at large we had a couple key close ones slip away when we weren't playing that well. but some of wins and losses look pretty good. n. arizona is making a push for the top of the big sky and just beat e washington a top100 rip team w 20 wins who beat indiana in bloomington. cleveland st is 2nd in the horizon and just won at top 100 20 win green bay who won at miami (fla) earlier. duke is a probable 1 seed. vcu lost their top player briante webber to a knee injury but continues to be a top 15 team. oregon is a probable at large. buffalo could be an rpi top 50 team. if the rockets win their last 6 - win out reg season , win 2 for the mac tourney. they may be 7-6 vs rpi top 100 and winner of 14 of their last 15. probably a pretty decent seed (11?)