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Final	1	2	T
Kent St. (17-7 (8-2 MAC))	42	42	84
Northern Ill. (7-16 (3-8 MAC))	33	44	77
NIU Convocation Center, DeKalb, Ill.

Kent St.	Northern Ill.
Pts: SHERMAN, Rodriquez - 25	Pts: SILAS, Xavier - 34
Reb: GREENE, Justin - 8	Reb: 3 Players (#03, #13, #30 - 6)
Ast: PORRINI, Michael - 3	Ast: CHRISTIAN, Antone - 5

Team Statistics	Kent St.	Northern Ill.
Field Goal %	50.0% (27-54 )	42.9% (27-63 )
Rebounds	37	37
Assists	8	11
Turnovers	10	8
Pts off Turnovers	9	16
2nd Chance Pts	9	11
Pts in the Paint	30	20
Fastbreak Pts	6	2
Bench Pts	19	14

full stats

Complete Notes in (.PDF)

The Game
Kent State (16-7; 7-2) travels to Northern Illinois (7-15; 3-7) on Saturday to kick off a four-game road swing that will cover four states and nearly 3,000 miles.  Winners of five straight and seven of the past eight, the Golden Flashes have their sights set on maintaining their lead in the Mid-American Conference East Division while Buffalo (7-3), Bowling Green (7-3) and Miami (7-3) all loom just a half-game back heading into this weekend's action.

With an 80-70 win over Eastern Michigan, Kent State made it 21 straight wins against the MAC West Division on Wednesday night behind a 23-point, eight rebound effort from junior forward Justin Greene who also had three assists and two blocks.  The Golden Flashes are 7-0 this season and have won 13 straight dating back to last year when Greene goes for 20 or more.  He is the only player in the MAC ranked top five in scoring (5th - 16.0 ppg), rebounding (3rd - 7.7 rpg) and blocked shots (5th - 1.4).     

Junior guard Michael Porrini added 15 points and equaled a season high with eight assists in the win as four Golden Flashes reached double figures for the first time in eight games.  Averaging 9.3 ppg on the year, Porrini is one of five Kent State players scoring more than nine points per game this season.  He also leads the team and ranks top five in the league in assists (4.1 apg) and steals (2.0 spg) .    

Northern Illinois has lost four straight and six of seven following an 84-72 defeat at Miami on Wednesday.  Senior guard Xavier Silas leads the MAC and ranks fifth in the nation with 23.7 ppg.             
 
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Next Up For Kent State
Kent State continues the four-game road swing on Wednesday, February 16 at Miami.  Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Quick Flashes
•    Rodriquez Sherman needs 10 points to become the 27th player in school history to score 1,000 points.
•    Kent State is the only team in the MAC with five players averaging more than nine points per game.  
•    Including the MAC Tournament, Kent State has won 21 straight games against MAC West opponents.  The last loss was a 56-51 defeat at Toledo on Feb. 2, 2008.
•    The Golden Flashes have won 12 straight and are 14-1 this season when scoring at least 30 points in the paint.  During the five game win streak Kent State is out scoring opponents by an average of 35.2 - 25.6 (+9.6 ppg) in the paint.  
•    Kent State leads the MAC in field goal percentage defense holding opponents to just 40.5 percent shooting.  Northern Illinois meanwhile ranks 11th at 45.3 percent. 

Kent State - Northern Ill. Series Notes
•    Kent State leads the all-time series 30-17 having won nine straight and 13 of the last 14.
•     The Golden Flashes last trip to DeKalb ended in an 86-83 double-overtime victory.

Recapping Eastern Mich. (2/9/11)
Kent State 80 - Eastern Michigan 70    
Kent State fell behind 10-2 at the start of the game, but took the lead for good with 5:26 left in the first half on a jumper by Justin Greene.  
Greene totaled 19 of his team-high 23 points in the first half to lead four players in double-figures for the Golden Flashes.
Kent State opened the second half with a 9-0 run to build a 16-point lead with 16 minutes remaining.  Eastern Michigan would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.