Kent State University
Cleveland State University
Men's Basketball Opens 2016-17 Vs. Cleveland State
11/11/2016 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
KENT STATE GAME NOTES | CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTESÂ
KENT, Ohio – The Kent State University men's basketball team will begin the 2016-17 season on the road against Cleveland State Saturday in Youngstown, Ohio at 5 p.m.
Saturday's game will be the second annual Northeast Ohio Coaches vs. Cancer® Basketball Doubleheader. Coaches Vs Cancer® is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches established to provide critical mission outreach and financial resources in support of the Society's lifesaving efforts. Kent State hosted last year's tournament, while Akron will host the event in 2017 and Cleveland State in 2018.
The Kent State Golden Flashes enter the 2016-17 season under head coach Rob Senderoff for the sixth year. Senderoff's team is coming off a 19-13 season, in a campaign that started strong but featured key injuries down the stretch. The Flashes' last game came in the first round of the MAC Tournament at home against Bowling Green in a one-point loss.
This season, the Flashes have only five players with experience on the floor with Kent State, with the list of newcomers reaching double digits. The team is a relative mystery to those outside of the M.A.C. Center, and preseason predictions have been all over the board. The Flashes received one vote as the probable winner of the MAC Tournament.
Scouting Cleveland State
The Vikings are coming off a 9-23 season and a 4-14 record in the Horizon League. They return three starters and nine letterwinners, while adding an Oral Roberts transfer in Bobby Word, who sat out last season. KenPom's predictive model has the two teams back-to-back in its national ranking. Last season, they averaged 65.4 possessions a game, making their pace among the 50 lowest in the country. That team was solid on defense, with an above average defensive rating of 102.4.
This preseason, the Vikings held an exhibition against Tiffin, taking an 89-67 victory. Preseason All-Horizon League Rob Edwards led all scorers with 21 points.
Series History
- The season-opening matchup between Kent State and Cleveland State will be the 51st matchup of the series, which dates back to Jan. 10, 1933. Currently, Kent State leads the all-time series, 27-23.
- The last game played between the two teams came last season on Dec. 5 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Khaliq Spicer doubled his career best in scoring while helping Kent State win, 66-62. Spicer shot 9-of-11 from the field and scored 22 points – 11 better than his previous career-high from Dec. 30, 2014 at Kansas.
-While Kent State holds the edge since 1933, the series as of late has been an entertaining affair. The teams have traded wins back and forth evenly since 2011. Three of the last four games have been decided by single digits.
- This will be the first game between the two teams played outside of Kent or Cleveland.
Radio
Ty Linder and David Carducci will bring you the action on the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel and 640 WHLO.
Next Up For Kent State
The Flashes will make their home debut on Wednesday, Nov. 16 against Mississippi Valley State at 7 p.m.
