Men's Basketball Advances to Blue and Gold Pepsi Classic Final with 77-52 Victory Against Binghamton
11/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score
MILWAUKEE, Wis. The Kent State University mens basketball team (1-0) opened the 2004-05 season with a 77-52 victory against Binghamton University (0-2) in the opening game of the 43rd Annual Blue and Gold Pepsi Classic here at the Bradley Center tonight (Nov. 19). The Golden Flashes will play the winner tonights second game, host Marquette vs. Sam Houston State tomorrow, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. CT.
Kent State was led by sophomore guard Armon Gates and junior-transfer guard Jay Youngblood, who each scored 14 points in the contest. Youngblood also added a game-high seven rebounds. The Golden Flashes connected on 14-of-31 (.452) three-point field goal attempts, the second most makes in school history and two shy of the record.
Freshman guard Marcus Crenshaw and junior guard DeAndre Haynes also scored in double figures, totaling 12 and 10 points respectively. Haynes also contributed six assists and five rebounds. Junior-transfer center Kevin Warzynski tallied nine points, while senior guard Jason Edwin had seven points and five rebounds.
Kent State dominated in the second half after leading by just five points, 38-33, at halftime. The Golden Flashes outscored Binghamton 39-19 in the second half, holding the Bearcats to 7-of-28 (.250) shooting in the period, as Binghamton had more turnovers than field goals in the half. KSU started the second half with a 16-6 run and never looked back, making the opening three-point field-goal attempt 12 seconds into the half and capped by a 15-foot jumper from the right wing by Haynes.
"I thought our team played very unselfishly in the second half," Christian said. "Characteristically, we do not want to take 31 three-point shots, but we did a great job moving the basketball and I thought the threes we took were very good ones."
The Kent State bench outscored Binghamtons 31-16, paced by the 26 points from Gates and Crenshaw. "It was great to get the production off our bench that we did tonight.
"We had not played yet this season, so it was great to get a lot of new guys some experience," Christian continued. "Im also very proud of our defensive effort."
The Golden Flashes, while at a height disadvantage across the front line, outrebounded Binghamton 40-31 in the contest. Defensively, the Golden Flashes forced 11 steals the Bearcats committed 16 turnovers that led to 15 Kent State points. Offensively, the Flashes recorded 17 assists on 25 field goal attempts (68.0 percent).
Kent State also made 13-of-16 (.813) free throw attempts.
The first half of the contest was a back-and-forth affair that saw six ties and six lead changes. The largest lead Kent State built in the half was a seven-point advantage with 2:44 remaining when Crenshaw connected on his first career three-pointer. Binghamton cut the lead to three with under a minute to go, but a pair of free throws by Crenshaw pushed the lead to five before the break.
Kent State won its sixth straight season lidlifter and 14 of its last 16. The Flashes also won their third consecutive road opener.
GAME NOTES: Kent State is playing in its second Blue and Gold Classic, finishing third in 2000... Binghamton opened the game 6-of-8 (.750) from the field in the first five minutes, but from there, KSU held the Bearcats to 13-of-48 (.271) from the floor... Kent State had six newcomers on the scoresheet tonight... The contest was the first ever between the teams... Gates 14 points were one shy of his career high of 15... Sophomore guard Demetrius Johnson had a career-high six rebounds... Of Kent States 25 field goals, 14 were three-pointers and the Flashes actually shot better from long range (.452) than from the floor overall (.417).
