KENT, Ohio – Despite double-double performances from both Brandon Hunter and Steve Esterkamp, the Ohio men’s basketball fell to Kent State 73-62 in Saturday’s regular-season finale at the M.A.C. Center.

Although the Bobcats (12-15, 8-10 MAC) finished in a four-way tie for eighth place in the Mid-American Conference, they will travel to sixth-seeded Akron Monday night as the 11th seed. Tip-off for that MAC Tournament first-round game is set for 7:30 p.m. at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Kent State (19-8, 12-6), meanwhile, claimed its third straight MAC East Division title and a first-round conference tournament bye.

Hunter led Ohio with 23 points and 10 rebounds for his nations’-best 22nd double-double. Esterkamp finished with 17 points and 12 boards while Jeff Halbert and Jaivon Harris each chipped in nine points.

The Golden Flashes were paced by Antonio Gates’ 24 points. Also, DeAndre Haynes came off the bench to score 13 points for Kent State and Eric Haut added 12.

2003 MAC Tournament Pairings

Monday, March 10
First round at campus sites
No. 13 Buffalo (5-22, 2-16) at No. 4 Northern Illinois (15-13, 11-7)
No. 12 Toledo (13-15, 7-11) at No. 5 Western Michigan (18-9, 10-8)
No. 11 Ohio (12-15, 8-10) at No. 6 Akron (14-13, 9-9)
No. 10 Eastern Michigan (14-13, 8-10) at No. 7 Marshall (13-14, 9-9)
No. 9 Bowling Green (12-15, 8-10) at No. 8 Ball State (13-16, 8-10)

Thursday, March 13
at Gund Arena, Cleveland
Game 1 - 7/10 winner vs. No. 2 Kent State (19-8, 12-6), noon
Game 2 - 6/11 winner vs. No. 3 Miami (13-14, 11-7), 2:00*
Game 3 - 8/9 winner vs. No. 1 Central Michigan (21-6, 14-4), 7:00
Game 4 - 4/13 winner vs. 5/12 winner, 9:00*
* or 30 minutes following previous game

Friday, March 14
at Gund Arena, Cleveland
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6:30
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 8:30
FOX Sports Net

Saturday, March 15
at Gund Arena, Cleveland
Championship Game, 7:00, ESPN2

Postgame quotes from Ohio head coach Tim O’Shea:

“(on Kent State’s effort on Senior Day) I thought they really shot the ball well, especially down the stretch. We had a stretch there where we had good looks at the basket but balls were rimming out on us. We missed some make-able shots but we didn’t play poorly. I thought Kent State played well and we missed some free throws. When Jeff (Halbert) had a chance to cut (the lead) from six to four and we could have put a lot of pressure on them, uncharacteristically – because he’s made free throws all year, big ones – (he missed) and that hurt us a little bit. We didn’t use the bench much today. The flow just didn’t seem to be there for the bench. It’s always tougher when you go on the road. So we wait and see who we’re going to play. Tomorrow is going to be just really a psychological prep day. We’re going to go out and play Monday and hopefully can advance ourselves to Cleveland.

(on the mood in the locker room) Well, there was a lot riding on this game. Also, when you develop – as we have over the past five or six games – some winning and that feeling of winning, now all of a sudden when you lose a tough game it hurts a lot more because you’ve gotten used to that great feeling of winning. So I think the attitude is right. Maybe one plus is that I didn’t use Delvar (Barrett) much at all today, which should leave him more ready for Monday. He’s a tough guy to go back-to-back, especially with only 24 hours off. Depending on who we play, hopefully that may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for us.

(on Kent State’s performance) They played very, very well today. They’ve had a week off to prepare and sort of get their psyche back because they’ve gone through a tough stretch. I think it showed today that the week off was probably a big help to them.

(on Antonio Gates) He played great, especially down the stretch. I thought we guarded him well. He just made tough shots. He has that little jab-step move he makes and he pulls back for the jump shot. Those are tough shots. I give the kid credit.

(on Brandon Hunter’s performance) He moved the ball well and that was really a key. The difference in the game was that they made shots a little bit better than we did. That’s how I felt. I thought our ball movement was good. Our discipline was good – 10 turnovers for the game. I thought we played hard. We had a few breakdowns but I give Kent State credit. They came out and made big shots. Gates stepped up on Senior Day like you would expect a senior to do. It was a good basketball game.

(on his team’s momentum heading into the MAC Tournament) The difficulty we have is we have to play on somebody else’s home court. We have to do what was done to us last year – go on somebody’s home court and win, which is very difficult to do under any circumstance. But when it’s tournament time, it’s probably more difficult. That’s the reward you get by finishing as a higher seed and we didn’t get enough done in the victory column to earn that reward this year so we’re going to have to do it the hard way.”