# 2018–19 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

The 2018–19 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2019 and concluded in March 2019. The season marked the 76th season of Mid–American Conference basketball.

## Preseason

In the preseason, Buffalo, which returned five of its six leading scorers from a team that defeated Arizona Wildcats men's basketball in the NCAA tournament, was discussed as a team that could potentially make a "Cinderalla run" in the NCAA Tournament.
The preseason poll and league awards were announced by the league office on October 30, 2019.

### Preseason men's basketball poll

(First place votes in parentheses)

#### East Division

* Buffalo 210 (35)
* Miami 127
* Kent State 122
* Ohio 121
* Akron 97
* Bowling Green 58

#### West Division

* Eastern Michigan 183 (17)
* Ball State 175 (11)
* Toledo 156 (5)
* Western Michigan 81 (1)
* Northern Illinois 73
* Central Michigan 67 (1)

#### Tournament Champs

Buffalo (25), Eastern Michigan (3), Toledo (3), Central Michigan (1), Miami (1), Northern Illinois (1), Western Michigan (1)

### Honors

| Honor | Recipient |
| Preseason All-MAC East | Demajeo Wiggins, Sr., Forward, Bowling Green |
| Preseason All-MAC East | C.J. Massinburg, Sr., Guard, Buffalo |
| Preseason All-MAC East | Jeremy Harris, Sr., Guard, Buffalo |
| Preseason All-MAC East | Nick Perkins, Sr., Forward, Buffalo |
| Preseason All-MAC East | Jaylin Walker, Sr., Guard, Kent State |
| Preseason All-MAC West | Tayler Persons, Sr., Guard, Ball State |
| Preseason All-MAC West | James Thompson IV, Sr., Forward/Center, Eastern Michigan |
| Preseason All-MAC West | Elijah Minnie, Sr., Forward, Eastern Michigan |
| Preseason All-MAC West | Eugene German, Jr., Guard, Northern Illinois |
| Preseason All-MAC West | Jaelan Sanford, Sr., Guard, Toledo |

### Watchlists
## Regular season
### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.
| | Akron | Ball St | BGSU | Buffalo | CMU | EMU | Kent St | Miami | N. Illinois | Ohio | Toledo | WMU |
| vs. Akron | – | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | –1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Ball St. | 0–1 | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. BGSU | 1–1 | 0–1 | – | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0– | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Buffalo | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 |
| vs. CMU | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | – | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. EMU | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Kent St. | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Miami | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | – | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. N. Illinois | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | – | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Ohio | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Toledo | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | – | 0–2 |
| vs. WMU | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | – |
| Total | 8–10 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 16–2 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 2–16 |

### Season summary & highlights
## Awards and honors
### Honors

| Honor | Recipient |
| All-MAC First Team | Justin Turner, G, Bowling Green, R-So. |
| All-MAC First Team | C.J. Massinburg, G, Buffalo, Sr. |
| All-MAC First Team | Nick Perkins, F, Buffalo, Sr. |
| All-MAC First Team | Jaylin Walker, G, Kent State, Sr. |
| All-MAC First Team | Jaelan Sanford, G, Toledo, Sr. |
| All-MAC Second Team | Demajeo Wiggins, F, Bowling Green, Sr. |
| All-MAC Second Team | Jeremy Harris, G, Buffalo, Sr. |
| All-MAC Second Team | Larry Austin Jr., G, Central Michigan, Sr. |
| All-MAC Second Team | James Thompson IV, F/C, Eastern Michigan, Sr. |
| All-MAC Second Team | Eugene German, G, Northern Illinois, Jr. |
| All-MAC Third Team | Tayler Persons, G, Ball State, R-Sr. |
| All-MAC Third Team | Shawn Roundtree Jr., G, Central Michigan, Sr. |
| All-MAC Third Team | Nike Sibande, G, Miami, So. |
| All-MAC Third Team | Jason Carter, F, Ohio, R-So. |
| All-MAC Third Team | Seth Dugan, C, Western Michigan, Sr. |
| All-MAC Honorable Mention | Daniel Utomi, F, Akron, Jr. |
| All-MAC Honorable Mention | Paul Jackson, G, Eastern Michigan, R-Sr. |
| All-MAC Honorable Mention | Elijah Minnie F, Eastern Michigan, R-Sr. |
| All-MAC Honorable Mention | Nate Navigato, F, Toledo, Sr. |
| All-MAC Honorable Mention | Marreon Jackson, G, Toledo, So. |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Anthony Roberts, G, Kent State, Fr. |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Mekhi Lairy, G, Miami, Fr. |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Ben Vander Plas, F, Ohio, Fr. |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Jason Preston, G, Ohio, Fr. |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | AJ Edu, F, Toledo, Fr. |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Dontay Caruthers, G, Buffalo, Sr. |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Davonta Jordan, G, Buffalo, Jr. |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Larry Austin Jr., G, Central Michigan, Sr. |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | James Thompson IV, F/C, Eastern Michigan, Sr. |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Darrian Ringo, G, Miami, Sr. |