C10  Sunday, March 12, 2017  |  THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH ••
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Kent State 70 / Akron 65
Kent State upends Akron to earn NCAA bid
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch
CLEVELAND — Kent State
is back in the dance after nine
years.
The Golden Flashes rode
the play of Jimmy Hall and
Jaylin Walker to a 70-65 upset
of No. 1 seed Akron in the
Mid-American Conference
tournament final Saturday
night at Quicken Loans Arena.
No. 6-seed Kent State won
“the backyard brawl” — the
schools are 8 miles apart —
and the league’s automatic bid
to the NCAA Tournament.
“It’s not going to sink in
until I lay down and start
Big Ten roundup
Walton carries Michigan past Minnesota
The Associated Press
Derrick Walton Jr. had 29
points, nine assists and five
rebounds to carry eighth-
seeded Michigan into the Big
Ten title game with an 84-77
victory over fourth-seeded
Minnesota on Saturday.
Walton had a hand in 18
consecutive Michigan points
down the stretch, grabbing
the rebound of a Minnesota
miss that helped seal it. The
Wolverines (23-11) have
defeated Illinois, Purdue and
Minnesota since their plane
skidded off the runway ear-
lier in the week and delayed
their arrival in D.C. and will
face No. 24 Wisconsin today
in the final.
As soon as coach John
Beilein entered the locker
room, sneaking around the
door in dramatic fashion,
players rose from seated
silence and started jumping
around him spraying drinks
and screaming, “Hey, hey,
hey.”
Outdueling all-Big Ten
first-team point guard Nate
Mason, who led the Golden
Gophers (24-9) with 23
points, Walton took over
the game when big German
forward Moe Wagner got into
foul trouble and D.J. Wilson
didn’t have his best. Walton
was 8 of 15 from the floor and
10 of 10 from the free throw
and also had two steals to go
along with just one turnover.
Walton, the conference’s
second-team point guard,
starred after going 3 of 10
in the quarterfinals against
Purdue. He had as many
assists in the first seven
thinking about it, man,”
Walker said. “Your dreams
really do come true.”
Walker scored 30 points,
including two key free throws
with 11 seconds left, to help
keep Akron at bay and was
named the tournament most
valuable player.
Hall scored 19, going 9 of 12
from the field, but it was the
forward’s tough play inside
against Akron’s Isaiah Johnson
that stood out more. Johnson
led the Zips with 24 points,
but at critical moments in the
last five minutes he had to
deal with Hall, who held him
at bay.
“He’s a great player, and
Michigan guard Derrick Walton Jr. shoots past Minnesota forward Eric Curry during the second half in a Big Ten
tournament semifinal game Saturday in Washington. Michigan won 84-77. [Alex Brandon/the associated press]
minutes as Michigan had in
the entire game Friday and
went from facilitating to
scoring as the game required
him to do so.
Wagner finished with 17
points.
Wisconsin 76, Northwestern
48: Wisconsin revved up the
defense against weary North-
western (23-11) and got the
desired result that earned the
No. 24 Badgers a berth in the Big
Ten Tournament championship
game for the third time in five
years. Nigel Hayes scored 18
points and Ethan Happ added 16
I’ve got a lot of pride in
myself,” Hall said. “It was
mano y mano, and just see
who comes out on top.”
Jimond Ivey gave the Zips
a shooter’s chance in the last
11 seconds. The second of his
two three-pointers in that
span cut Kent State’s lead to
68-65. But the Flashes’ Jalen
Avery made two free throws
with six seconds left to secure
the win, and when Johnson
fell trying to get off a last shot
for Akron, the ball flying short
and into the hands of Hall, the
Flashes celebrated.
Their last trip to the NCAA
Tournament came in 2008
when they also beat Akron in
for the second-seeded Bad-
gers. They never trailed in their
third straight victory second
in the tournament following a
run of five losses in six games.
Wisconsin (25-8) will vie for
its fourth Big Ten title Sunday
against No. 8 seed Michigan,
which will be playing its fourth
game in four days. It will be the
seventh championship game
appearance for the Badgers,
trailing only the eight by Ohio
State. Northwestern (23-11)
was playing for the second
time in less than 24 hours and
third game in three days, and
it showed. Coming off wins
the MAC final. Their last good
chance to get back came in
2011 when the lost in the MAC
final, again to Akron.
Akron likely won’t be going
into the NCAA Tournament
as an at-large invite despite its
26-8 record. That’s because
the Zips fall short on strength
of schedule, probably leaving
the MAC with just one partici-
pant, as usual.
“If you want to get multiple
teams in, you’ve got to build
the resumes,” MAC commis-
sioner Jon Steinbrecher said
during an informal discussion
with several media members
before the game. “It’s who
you play and who you beat. …
over Rutgers and No. 3 seed
Maryland, the Wildcats missed
20 of 27 shots in the first half,
had only one assist and trailed
38-21. Their poor shooting could
be attributed in part to the Wis-
consin defense, which allowed
a Big Ten-low 61.5 points per
game. It was the 18th time in 33
games the Badgers allowed 60
points or fewer. Scottie Lindsey
scored 16 points for Northwest-
ern, which went 18 for 52 (35
percent) from the floor, was
outrebounded 37-27 and didn’t
get their second assist until the
8-minute mark of the second
half.
We’ve got to move that needle
up.”
Akron coach Keith Dambrot
understands.
“I'm a big boy, I can take it,
but I really feel bad for all the
work our guys put in because,
you know, we just can't go to
the big dance, and it comes
down to you can play great for
32 games or win the regular
season, you just can't do it,”
Dambrot said. “So we bit the
bullet, they made all the plays
in the last eight minutes, we
didn't, and just feel bad for our
kids.”
 
tmay@dispatch.com
@TIM_MAYsports
Illinois
Illini fire
Groce after
18-14 season
The Associated Press
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illi-
nois basketball coach John
Groce was fired Saturday
after an
18-14 season
in which his
team was
ninth in the
Big Ten. The
Groce Illini made
just one
NCAA appearance in his
five seasons at the school.
Assistant Jamall Walker
was appointed interim
coach while the school
searchers for a successor.
Groce has two years left
on his contract and will
receive the balance, about
$1.7 million.
In five seasons at Illinois,
Groce was 95-75 overall
and 37-53 in Big Ten play.
The Illini were 8-10 in
the conference this season,
ending the regular season
with a loss to last-place
Rutgers. They lost 75-55 to
Michigan in their confer-
ence tournament opener.
The lone NCAA appear-
ance for Illinois under
Groce came in his first
year. Then things got
worse the next four sea-
sons. The wins dropped
from 23 to 20 to 19 to 15
from the 2012-13 season to
2015-16. The postseason
was the same story: The
Illini went to the NCAA
round of 32 his first season
and two NIT appearances
followed.