The Akron Zips are going dancing in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a 62-61 win over Kent State in the MAC Championship game on Saturday night.
The story here is not how Akron won, but rather how Kent State lost.
It is one of the worst possible ways a college basketball team could lose a game – not to mention a tournament bid – and it was all due to a lack of situational awareness.
With Kent State trailing by one in the closing seconds, Cli’Ron Hornbeak hit a put-back shot to give the Golden Flashes a one-point lead with less than 10 seconds to play. That was when chaos set in.
When Akron inbounded the ball, Kent State’s Julius Rollins was unaware of the situation and fouled Greg Tribble, presumably because he thought they were still losing. That was the absolute last thing he wanted to do and the reaction of the Kent State bench showed the frustration with the situation.
