Kent State University
Northern Illinois University
Men’s Basketball Aims to Bounce Back vs. Northern Illinois on Tuesday
2/8/2016 12:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Kent State (15-8, 6-4 MAC) hosts Northern Illinois (16-7, 5-5 MAC) in a pivotal Mid-American Conference contest at 7 p.m. Tuesday night at the M.A.C. Center. Both teams look to stay in division races after falling out of first place in the last few games.
The frontcourt of Jimmy Hall (16.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg), Khaliq Spicer (6.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Chris Ortiz (7.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) has helped Kent State control play around the basket. The Flashes own a +4.5 rebounding advantage while outscoring opponents 34.8-26.7 in the paint and 12.4-9.0 on second chance opportunities.
The Golden Flashes' backcourt is led by Kellon Thomas, who has played well in his return to the court after being sidelined for all but eight games during the 2014-15 season and is averaging a career-high 12.0 points per game. Deon Edwin (5.5 ppg) and Galal Cancer (4.5 ppg) have stepped up their scoring in recent games in the absence of Xavier Pollard (12.2 ppg) and Jaylin Walker (7.8 ppg).
Scouting Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois has struggled since enjoying its best 19-game start to a season (16-3) since 1990-91 and enters on a four-game skid. The Huskies have lost just once in 14 home games, but own a 3-6 record on the road. Defense and rebounding have been the calling card for NIU as they lead the MAC in field goal percentage defense (.393), rebounding (40.3) and rebounding margin (+6.8), while ranking second in scoring defense (66.2 ppg), scoring margin (+8.) and steals per game (7.3).
Center Marin Maric is one of the conference's most-improved players, as he averages a team-high 12.5 points per game in addition to being tied for fourth in the MAC at 8.2 rebounds per game. Marshawn Wilson (11.4 ppg) is one of the top freshmen and sixth men in the league and is joined by Aaric Armstead (10.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg) as capable wing scoring options. Point guard Travon Baker leads the team in assists (3.8 apg) and three-point field goals (48) while scoring 11.3 points per game. Backcourt mate Michael Orris (3.1 ppg) leads the MAC with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Series History
• Kent State owns a 34-19 record all-time vs. Northern Illinois.
• The series dates back to the 1963-64 season and a 60-51 Kent State win at home on Feb. 26, 1964.
• The Golden Flashes have won 17 of the last 20 matchups with the Huskies, including a 67-65 victory in their visit to the NIU Convocation Center last season.
• Kent State is 18-6 as the home team in the series, but NIU snuck out of the M.A.C. Center with a 50-49 victory in its most recent visit on January 29, 2014.
FLASHback to Last Meeting
• Kris Brewer sank a pair of free throws with :15 to play and Kent State got a big defensive stop to leave DeKalb with a 67-65 victory and snap Northern Illinois' school-record 11-game home winning streak on January 10, 2015.
• The back-and-forth contest featured 13 ties and 14 lead changes. Neither team led by more than 7 points.
• The Golden Flashes trailed by 4 with a minute left in the first half, evened the score at 29-29 going into the locker room after two Derek Jackson free throws and a steal and fast break layup by Brewer.
• Devareaux Manley gave Kent State its largest lead of the game, 38-33, with a three-pointer at the 18:13 mark.
• The Flashes went cold and did not score again until a Khaliq Spicer putback ended a 10-0 NIU run at the 12:05 mark. The Flashes missed six straight and committed four turnovers during the 6-plus minute scoring drought.
• Trailing 58-54, the Flashes tied the game on a four-point play by Manley, and then took a 60-58 lead after Manley converted two more free throws on the following offensive possession.
• Both teams split a pair of free throws before NIU tied the game at 61-61 on a layup by Jordan Threloff.
• A putback by Chris Ortiz was answered by an Anthony Johnson driving layup. Johnson was fouled but unable to complete the three-point play.
• Marquiez Lawrence stepped the line and sank a pair of free throws, but Johnson once again scored for the Huskies to setup Brewer's heroics.
• Johnson had the ball in his hands once again on the final play, but this time was unable to make a contested shot in the lane.
• The free throw line was the difference in the game. In addition to the winning points being scored at the charity stripe, Kent State shot 21-for-27 (77.8%) from the foul line compared to just 19 makes for NIU in the same number of attempts.
• The Flashes stepped up their defense in the second half and held the Huskies to 10-for-30 shooting (33.3%).
• NIU held a 39-30 edge on the glass thanks to 21 offensive rebounds, and kept the game close by outscoring the Flashes on second chance opportunities, 19-4.
• Manley scored all of his team-high 19 points and made all five of his three-point shots during the second half.
• Jimmy Hall (15 points) and Brewer (11 points) were also in double-fgures, while Jackson added 8 assists.
• Threloff led NIU with 21 points and 9 rebounds and Johnson added 14 points.
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 Golden Flashes will look for the season sweep of Eastern Michigan on Saturday, February 13 at 12 p.m.
