CLEVELAND — This is what MACtion was always intended to be.
Sure, the prognosticators may have thought differently, but we all knew it was only a matter of time before these two bitter rivals met with everything on the line.
For the fifth time in their respective histories, Akron and Kent State will face off Saturday night in the finals of the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. The winner, as always, will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament next week.
Seeded second in the tournament bracket, the Zips were expected to be here. However, few saw the Golden Flashes making it this far, as they entered as the eighth and final seed after one of their weakest seasons in recent memories.
But then, the unthinkable happened, as KSU (17-16) shocked top-seeded Toledo 67-59 in the tourney's opening game. The hot streak continued Friday, when the Flashes knocked off Bowling Green 73-60. Jalen Sullinger and Giovanni Santiago had 22 and 20 points, respectively, with the pair combining for 11 made 3-pointers.
Despite being one of the favorites, Akron (23-10) also had to deal with some adversity, overcoming an early deficit to Miami (Ohio) in the quarterfinals before pulling away for a 75-63 win. Those struggles carried over to Friday's semifinals as 3-seed Ohio raced out to a 10-point halftime lead, but MAC Player of the Year Enrique Freeman took over with 24 points and 21 rebounds as the Zips held on for a 65-62 victory.
The rivalry between these two institutions separated by less than 20 miles has only grown in recent years, beginning when they battled for the MAC title in 2022. Before the championship game, multiple Golden Flashes players were disciplined in connection with a profane "diss track" against the Zips that was recorded and posted on social media. UA wound up getting the last laugh, thrashing KSU by 20 and marching to the NCAA Tournament.
However, Kent State got its revenge a year later, beating Akron 79-73 in the semifinals before dusting Toledo for the MAC championship. This season, the Zips have won both of their meetings with the Golden Flashes, who are trying to become the lowest-seeded team to win the conference tourney since OU back in 2010 (also against Akron).
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. In addition, Kent State's women's team will also play for the MAC title when it faces Buffalo at 11 a.m. on the same court.