| Year: | 2011 |
| Conference: | MAC |
| Division: | I |
| Gender: | Men's |
| Teams: | 12 |
| Arena: | Quicken Loans Arena |
| City: | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Champions: | Akron Zips |
| Titlecount: | 2nd |
| Coach: | Keith Dambrot |
| Coachcount: | 2nd |
| Mvp: | Zeke Marshall |
| Mvpteam: | Akron |
| Television: | SportsTime Ohio and ESPN2 |
The 2011 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the post-season men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) 2010–11 season. Sixth-seeded Akron defeated Kent State in the MAC tournament final in overtime and represented the MAC in the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Notre Dame.[1]
Each of the 12 men's basketball teams in the MAC receives a berth in the conference tournament. Teams are seeded by conference record with the following two-team tiebreakers:[2]
For multiple team ties:
Once a three-team tie has been reduced to two teams, the two-team tiebreaker will go into effect.
The top four seeds receive byes into the quarterfinals. The winners of each division are awarded the #1 and #2 seeds. The team with the best record of the two receives the #1 seed. First round games will be played on campus sites at the higher seed. The remaining rounds will be held at Quicken Loans Arena.[2]
Asterisk denotes game ended in overtime.
| Seed | Team | Record | Tiebreaker #1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kent State | align=center | 12–4 | align=center | – | |
| 2 | Western Michigan | align=center | 11–5 | align=center | Division champ | |
| 3 | Miami | align=center | 11–5 | align=center | – | |
| 4 | Ball State | align=center | 10–6 | align=center | – | |
| 5 | Ohio | align=center | 9–7 | align=center | 2–0 head-to-head | |
| 6 | Akron | align=center | 9–7 | align=center | 0–2 head-to-head | |
| 7 | Bowling Green | align=center | 8–8 | align=center | 2–0 head-to-head | |
| 8 | Buffalo | align=center | 8–8 | align=center | 0–2 head-to-head | |
| 9 | Central Michigan | align=center | 7–9 | align=center | – | |
| 10 | Northern Illinois | align=center | 5–11 | align=center | 2–0 head-to-head | |
| 11 | Eastern Michigan | align=center | 5–11 | align=center | 0–2 head-to-head | |
| 12 | Toledo | align=center | 1–15 | align=center | – |
In the championship game, Akron defeated Kent State 66–65. Senior Brett McKnight led Akron with 15 points and scored the final two points of the game, hitting two free throws to put his team up by one. With 12 seconds to go in the overtime period, Kent State had the ball and a chance to win, but Zeke Marshall blocked Kent State's first attempt and the second attempt was deflected. As Akron celebrated after the final buzzer, one of the Kent State players, who had laid down on the court in disappointment, was accidentally stepped on by the jumping mob of Akron players, and a slight skirmish broke out after his teammates came to his defense.[3]
The Akron Zips advanced to their third NCAA Tournament of the Division I era. They would go on to lose to Notre Dame in their first game.
Tournament MVP – Zeke Marshall, Akron[4]
| Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Jarrod Jones | Ball State | |
| Michael Porrini | Kent State | |
| Justin Greene | Kent State | |
| Brett McKnight | Akron | |
| Zeke Marshall | Akron |