Watch: Kent State loses NCAA tournament bid in worst way

Kent State players during the MAC Championship game against Akron Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Kent State loses MAC championship and NCAA tournament bid in worst way possible

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 3/16/24

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.

mental mistake for Kent State fouling after taking the lead, that's a tough one pic.twitter.com/XylUjzFJSb
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 17, 2024

Tribble went on to make both free throws to give Akron its lead and the Zips would hold on after Kent State's Jalen Sullinger missed a shot at the buzzer.

Winning the conference tournament was Kent State's only ticket to the tournament. It had it. It was right there. Then it slipped away like that. Maybe if Rollins had not fouled, Akron would have still gone down the floor and made a shot to win. It would have at least be a lower percentage play and almost certainly what Kent State would have been hoping for in that situation.

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