2018–19 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

The 2018–19 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2019 and concluded in March 2019. The season marked the 76th season of Mid–American Conference basketball.

2018–19 Mid–American Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 2018 through March 2019
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	ESPN+, ESPN, ESPN3, CBSSN
Regular Season
Champion	Buffalo
Season MVP	C. J. Massinburg, Buffalo
Tournament
Champions	Buffalo
Runners-up	Bowling Green
Finals MVP	Jeremy Harris
Mid–American Conference men's basketball seasons
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

2018–19 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 15 Buffalo †	16	–	2		.889			32	–	4		.889
Bowling Green	12	–	6		.667			22	–	12		.647
Kent State	11	–	7		.611			22	–	11		.667
Akron	8	–	10		.444			17	–	16		.515
Miami (OH)	7	–	11		.389			15	–	17		.469
Ohio	6	–	12		.333			14	–	17		.452
West
Toledo	13	–	5		.722			25	–	8		.758
Central Michigan	10	–	8		.556			23	–	12		.657
Eastern Michigan	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
Northern Illinois	8	–	10		.444			17	–	17		.500
Ball State	6	–	12		.333			16	–	17		.485
Western Michigan	2	–	16		.111			8	–	24		.250
† 2019 MAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Preseason

In the preseason, Buffalo, which returned five of its six leading scorers from a team that defeated Arizona Wildcats men's basketball in the NCAA tournament, was discussed as a team that could potentially make a "Cinderalla run" in the NCAA Tournament.^[1][2]

The preseason poll and league awards were announced by the league office on October 30, 2019.^[3]

Coaching changes

Preseason men's basketball poll

(First place votes in parentheses)

East Division

1. Buffalo 210 (35)
2. Miami 127
3. Kent State 122
4. Ohio 121
5. Akron 97
6. Bowling Green 58

West Division

1. Eastern Michigan 183 (17)
2. Ball State 175 (11)
3. Toledo 156 (5)
4. Western Michigan 81 (1)
5. Northern Illinois 73
6. Central Michigan 67 (1)

Tournament Champs

Buffalo (25), Eastern Michigan (3), Toledo (3), Central Michigan (1), Miami (1), Northern Illinois (1), Western Michigan (1)

Honors

Honor	Recipient
Preseason All-MAC East	Demajeo Wiggins, Sr., Forward, Bowling Green
	C.J. Massinburg, Sr., Guard, Buffalo
	Jeremy Harris, Sr., Guard, Buffalo
	Nick Perkins, Sr., Forward, Buffalo
	Jaylin Walker, Sr., Guard, Kent State
Preseason All-MAC West	Tayler Persons, Sr., Guard, Ball State
	James Thompson IV, Sr., Forward/Center, Eastern Michigan
	Elijah Minnie, Sr., Forward, Eastern Michigan
	Eugene German, Jr., Guard, Northern Illinois
	Jaelan Sanford, Sr., Guard, Toledo

Watchlists

Regular season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

	Akron	Ball St	BGSU	Buffalo	CMU	EMU	Kent St	Miami	N. Illinois	Ohio	Toledo	WMU
vs. Akron	–	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–1
vs. Ball St.	0–1	–	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–2
vs. BGSU	1–1	0–1	–	1–1	0–2	0–1	0–	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–2
vs. Buffalo	0–2	0–1	1–1	–	0–1	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–0	0–2	0–2	0–1
vs. CMU	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	–	0–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–2
vs. EMU	1–0	0–2	1–0	2–0	2–0	–	1–1	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–2
vs. Kent St.	1–1	0–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	–	0–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	0–2
vs. Miami	1–1	0–2	0–2	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	–	1–0	1–1	2–0	1–0
vs. N. Illinois	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	–	0–2	2–0	1–1
vs. Ohio	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	–	1–0	0–1
vs. Toledo	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	0–2	0–2	0–1	–	0–2
vs. WMU	1–0	2–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	–
Total	8–10	6–12	12–6	16–2	10–8	9–9	11–7	7–11	8–10	6–12	13–5	2–16

Season summary & highlights

Points scored

Conference regular season

Midseason watchlists

Postseason

Mid–American Tournament

Main article: 2019 MAC men's basketball tournament

Highlights

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2019 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 2019 National Invitation Tournament

Awards and honors

Honors

Honor	Recipient
All-MAC First Team	Justin Turner, G, Bowling Green, R-So.
	C.J. Massinburg, G, Buffalo, Sr.
	Nick Perkins, F, Buffalo, Sr.
	Jaylin Walker, G, Kent State, Sr.
	Jaelan Sanford, G, Toledo, Sr.
All-MAC Second Team	Demajeo Wiggins, F, Bowling Green, Sr.
	Jeremy Harris, G, Buffalo, Sr.
	Larry Austin Jr., G, Central Michigan, Sr.
	James Thompson IV, F/C, Eastern Michigan, Sr.
	Eugene German, G, Northern Illinois, Jr.
All-MAC Third Team	Tayler Persons, G, Ball State, R-Sr.
	Shawn Roundtree Jr., G, Central Michigan, Sr.
	Nike Sibande, G, Miami, So.
	Jason Carter, F, Ohio, R-So.
	Seth Dugan, C, Western Michigan, Sr.
All-MAC Honorable Mention	Daniel Utomi, F, Akron, Jr.
	Paul Jackson, G, Eastern Michigan, R-Sr.
	Elijah Minnie F, Eastern Michigan, R-Sr.
	Nate Navigato, F, Toledo, Sr.
	Marreon Jackson, G, Toledo, So.
All-MAC Freshman Team	Anthony Roberts, G, Kent State, Fr.
	Mekhi Lairy, G, Miami, Fr.
	Ben Vander Plas, F, Ohio, Fr.
	Jason Preston, G, Ohio, Fr.
	AJ Edu, F, Toledo, Fr.
All-MAC Defensive Team	Dontay Caruthers, G, Buffalo, Sr.
	Davonta Jordan, G, Buffalo, Jr.
	Larry Austin Jr., G, Central Michigan, Sr.
	James Thompson IV, F/C, Eastern Michigan, Sr.
	Darrian Ringo, G, Miami, Sr.

^[4]

See also

2018–19 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season

References

1. Boone, Kyle (October 19, 2018). "College basketball preview: 11 potential Cinderella squads who could surprise in 2019 NCAA Tournament". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
2. Johnson, Raphielle (October 19, 2018). "Nine mid-majors that can be the next Loyola-Chicago". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
3. "2018-19 MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL & ALL-MAC TEAMS RELEASED". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
4. "MAC ANNOUNCES MEN'S ALL-MAC, ALL-FRESHMAN & ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAMS". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved May 21, 2022.