Men's Basketball Enters Stretch Run, Resumes MAC Play at Bowling Green Tuesday
2/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio The Kent State University mens basketball team winner of six of its last seven games resumes Mid-American Conference play Tuesday, Feb. 21, when it travels to Bowling Green State University. Tip-off at Anderson Arena is set for 7 p.m. The Golden Flashes look to maintain at least a share of the top spot in the MAC standings, which KSU currently holds with Akron. Kent State also looks to avenge a loss at home earlier this season to the Falcons, who knocked off the Flashes 79-74 in Kent, Jan. 26.
QUICK FLASHES
Mike Scott registered his first career double-double against Butler, totaling 17 points with 15 rebounds... It is the first 15-rebound game for KSU since Nate Gerwig had 15 at Akron, Jan. 23, 2003.
Kent State evened its record in BracketBusters games at 2-2 with its overtime win against Butler Saturday.
The Golden Flashes played back-to-back overtime games for the second time in school history, doing so for the first time since 1961.
DeAndre Haynes became Kent States all-time leader in assists Saturday against Butler, totaling five helpers to increase his career total to 596, moving past Ed Norvell into first place.
SCOUTING The Falcons
Bowling Green dropped its third straight, 70-51, against Wright State at home Saturday... Martin Samarco led the Falcons with 19 points, while Erik Marschall tallied 14 points and five rebounds... Bowling Green was limited to just 16 points in the first half.
On the year, Bowling Green is 9-16, 5-9 MAC and in sixth place in the MAC East Division... Samarco leads the MAC in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game and also adds 4.5 rebounds... He shoots 44.3 percent from three-point range, currently ninth in the country in three-point shooting... Steven Wright averages 11.7 points, while John Floyd totals 10.0 points.
Bowling Green is coached by Dan Dakich (Indiana 85), who is 143-117 (.550) in his ninth year with the Falcons.
Kent State-Bowling Green
Series History
The Golden Flashes and Falcons meet for the 136th time Tuesday, with Bowling Green holding a 77-58 edge in the all-time series... The Falcons have won two straight in the series, however, Kent State has won four consecutive games at Anderson Arena.
Bowling Green won the most reccent meeting between the squads, a 79-74 decision at the M.A.C. Center Jan. 26, 2006, when the Falcons went 34-of-35 from the free throw line (see page 3 for box score).
Bowling Green holds a 46-18 edge in the all-time series in games played in Bowling Green.
The first meeting between the teams was a 19-17 Kent State victory during the 1916-17 season.
Fourth-year head coach Jim Christian is 4-3 all-time against Bowling Green.
The Last Time Out:
Kent State 80, Butler 76 (ot)
KENT, Ohio Senior guard DeAndre Haynes probably wont remember Saturdays game against Butler for the milestone he set, becoming Kent States all-time assists leader. What hell likely remember is the three-pointer he buried from the top of the key 100 seconds after he became the career assists leader.Haynes triple with six seconds remaining in regulation sent the game into overtime, setting the stage for Kent States second dramatic comeback in the last three days, as the Golden Flashes rallied for an 80-76 victory against Butler in a BracketBusters presented by eBay game.
Trailing 67-66 with 11 seconds to play, Butlers A.J. Graves hit a pair of free throws to give the Bulldogs a 69-66 advantage. Haynes then took the inbound pass into the front court, and working off a screen drilled the three pointer that rattled around the rim before dropping through. Haynes had a similar shot at the end of regulation in Wednesdays double-overtime win at Buffalo that rattled in the cylinder but came out.
The Golden Flashes staged a late comeback for the second straight game as KSU trailed by nine points with 6:48 to play and by eight points with 4:26 to go. At Buffalo, Kent State trailed by 13 points with 5:31 remaining.
Senior wing Jay Youngblood kick-started the comeback attempt with a three-pointer that cut Butlers lead to 58-55, after the Bulldogs had led 55-46. From there, sophomore forward Mike Scott, who turned in a career performance, cut the lead to one on a lay up with 2:20 to play. Butler would manage to stretch the lead back out to five points, but junior guard Omni Smith nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead back to 66-64 with just under a minute to play.
After Butler made 1-of-2 free throws with 20 seconds remaining, Youngblood was fouled with 12 seconds to go. He made both of his free throws to make it a 67-66 Butler lead, setting the stage for the pair of Bulldog free throws, followed by Haynes heroics.
Once in overtime, Scott put Kent State up 71-69 with two free throws, the Flashes first lead since 33-31 at the start of the second half. Avery Sheets answered with a three-pointer for Butler, but that would prove to be the last lead Butler would hold. Youngblood answered Sheets three with his third of the game to put Kent State back on top by three points.
Sheets came back to tie the game for the 11th time on a driving lay up, but Youngblood hit a jumper from the left elbow, then Haynes hit a pair of free throws to push Kent State out to a four-point advantage. After Butler cut it back to two points, the Golden Flashes hit two more free throws to seal the win.
Kent State would not have gotten the game to overtime without the effort of Scott, who posted career highs with 17 points and 15 rebounds, recording his first career double-double. But significantly for KSU, Scott was the main defender of Butlers leading scorer, Brandon Polk, down the stretch. Polk had scored 19 points in the games first 34 minutes. But he would score only two points a pair of free throws in the final 11 as Scott, with help from his Kent State teammates, held Polk in check.
Youngblood tallied his second straight 20-point effort, scoring a game-high 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. He scored 22 points in Wednesdays win at Buffalo. Haynes and Smith each totaled 14 points. Kent State shot 55.1 percent from the field, including 60 percent (12-of-20) in the second half.
Polk led Butler with 21 points, while Brandon Crone had 12 points and nine rebounds.
The milestone for Haynes, which he overshadowed with his game-tying three, came with 1:46 to play in regulation when he setup Youngblood for a lay up. It was the 595th assist of his career, passing Ed Norvell (1995-99) for first place on Kent States all-time list. Haynes added another in overtime and now has 596 assists to go along with his career record for steals (217) and his seat in 14th-place on KSUs all-time scoring list (1,144).
NOTES FROM Butler
It was just the second time in school history Kent State played back-to-back overtime games, happening previously Feb. 8 and 11, 1961, when KSU lost at Duquesne 79-77 and at Ohio 102-92.
Scotts previous career highs were 16 points (at Saint Marys [Calif.] 12/22/05) and 10 rebounds (twice).
Flash Figures
Kent State has shot better than 50 percent from the field in the last two games, connecting on 62-of-117 (.530) over the last two contests.
The Golden Flashes are shooting 27-of-60 (.450) from three-point range in the last three games, which is coming off a two-game stretch where KSU failed to hit 20 percent of its three pointers.
Kent State is averaging 95.5 points per game the last two outings and also has played an extra 15 minutes of basketball with three overtime periods in the last two games.
Senior guard DeAndre Haynes is averaging 17.3 points the last three games.
Junior guard Omni Smith is averaging 16.5 points the last two games, shooting 14-of-27 (.519) from the floor.
Look No Further Than the Road Record
If youre looking for insight into Kent States success in the Mid-American Conference this season, look no further than the Golden Flashes record on the, especially in places where KSU has struggled in recent years... Kent State is 6-1 in MAC road games, with just two remaining at Bowling Green and at Akron.
Of even greater note is Kent States winning at Buffalo, Miami and Ohio; road venues where the Golden Flashes have lost each of the previous two seasons... Kent State had lost those six games by a combined 88 points (and an average of 14.7), but this season KSU posted wins at Buffalos Alumni Arena (111-107), at the Convo in Athens (73-60) and at Miamis Millett Hall (53-46).
HAYNES Grabs Assists Mark
Senior guard DeAndre Haynes passed Ed Norvell Saturday against Butler and now owns the career assists and steals records at Kent State... Haynes tallied five assists and now has 596 in his career, while he also has 217 steals... Earlier this year he became the 23rd Golden Flash to eclipse 1,000 career points and now has 1,144 in his career.
Haynes also is the active leader in the MAC in assists and steals, and by passing Norvell, Haynes is moved into sixth all-time in the MAC in assists behind Earl Boykins... Haynes is eighth in the MAC all-time in steals.
Kent State in Overtime
The Golden Flashes played their second overtime game in as many contests, knocking off Butler 80-76 Saturday... Kent State had defeated Buffalo 111-107 in double overtime the previous game.
All-time, Kent State is 31-36 in overtime games... Under fourth-year head coach Jim Christian, the Flashes are 5-2 in overtime contests.
Scott Doubles His Pleasure
For the first time in his career, sophomore forward Mike Scott registered a double-double, tallying 17 points to go with 15 rebounds against Butler... It is the second straight game Scott has totaled double figures in scoring... The double-double was the fifth of the season by a Kent State player.
Youngblood MAC East POTW
For the second time this season, senior wing Jay Youngblood was named MAC East Player of the Week, following his 23.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in leading KSU to a pair of overtime victories last week... He shot a combined .696 (16-of-23) from the field and 5-of-8 (.625) from beyond the arc.
Earlier in the year, Youngblood averaged 20.0 points and 5.0 rebounds, shooting a combined 59.3 percent from the field in two Kent State victories to earn MAC East Player of the Week Jan. 23.
Junior guard Omni Smith averaged 18.0 points, including a career-high 24 points against Ball State, and shot 57.1 percent from the field to earn MAC East Player of the Week honors Jan. 16.
Kent State-Miami, Kent State-Akron Picked as MAC TV Games of the Week
The Kent State-Miami contest, Saturday, Feb. 25, and the Kent State-Akron game Saturday, March 4 have been slated as MAC TV Games of the Week and will air on Fox Sports Net Ohio, Comcast Local, Chicago Sports Net and Adelphia 13... The game time of the Miami game has been moved to 2 p.m., while the game at Akron is now a noon start.
This 70s Show
Scoring 70 points in a contest has been a magical number for Kent State under fourth-year head coach Jim Christian. The Golden Flashes are 63-11 (.851) when scoring 70 points or more in a game under Christian.
This season Kent State is 16-1 when scoring 70 points or more and 4-6 when posting less than 70 points.
High Scoring Affair
The 111 points Kent State scored in Wednesdays win at Buffalo were the sixth-most points scored in a single game by a KSU team... The school record is 119 points, accomplished twice against Wayne State (12/1/64) and against St. Josephs (Ind.) (12/9/98).
The two teams combined for 218 total points in the game Wednesday... It tied the Kent State record for most combined points, first set in a 110-108 loss during the 1955-56 season.
Big M.A.C.C. Attacc
Kent State has made the M.A.C. Center a tough place to play since the start of the 1998-99 season. The Golden Flashes have posted a 92-16 (.852) record at home during the last seven seasons.
Breaking Into the 20s
Senior wing Jay Youngblood posted his eighth 20-point effort of the season with 25 points against Butler.
The last Kent State player with more than six 20-point games in a season was current San Diego Charger tight end Antonio Gates, who had 20 such games in the 2002-03 season.
Kent State has had 13 20-point games this season, with senior guard DeAndre Haynes (3) and senior forward Kevin Warzynski (2) the only other Flash with multiple 20-point games.
Bench Contributions
The Kent State bench has been a significant factor in the Golden Flashes success this season... KSU is 16-4 when its bench outscores the oppositions and 10-2 when the Kent State bench scores 30 points.
When the bench records 20 points or more this year, Kent State is 15-3... Under 20 points, 4-4... The teams leading scorer has come from the bench in eight games this season.
12 MAC Victories Pretty Rare
For just the ninth time in its history in the Mid-American Conference, Kent State has compiled 12 league victories... Seven of those 12 MAC-win seasons have come in the last eight years, with just two prior to 1998.
Since the start of the 1998-99 season, Kent State has averaged 13.0 MAC victories per season... In the 46 seasons prior to 1998, the Golden Flashes averaged 5.4 conference wins per season.
KSU Posts Best Start to MAC Season
With a 7-0 run to start the MAC schedule, Kent State posted the best start to open the conference season in school history... Fourth-year head coach Jim Christian now boasts the two best conference starts in school history, as the previous best start was by the 2003-04 team, which started the season 4-0.
Christian not only has the best unbeaten start to league play in school history, but also owns the second- and third-best one-loss league starts, going 13-1 in 2003-04 and 10-1 in 2002-03... This years 10-1 start matched the third-best in school history.
KENT STATE WITH ELITE COMPANY
Kent State is one of just 12 NCAA Division I mens basketball teams with 20 wins each of the last seven years.
The teams that make up the list have combined for 18 national championships and 61 appearances in the Final Four.
Kent State is edging closer to 20 wins again this season, needing two more victories to make it eight straight years.
Winningest KENT STATE SEASONS
Kent State boasts 10 seasons of 20 wins or more in its history, including each of the last seven in a row.
During Kent States streak of seven-straight 20-win seasons, the closest similar run in the MAC is Western Michigans current streak of three 20-win seasons in a row.
COMING UP NEXT
Kent State is next in action when it hosts Miami University, Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m... The game is a MAC TV Game of the Week.
The RedHawks (15-8, 11-3 MAC) are third in the MAC East Division and host Akron Wednesday.
Check out the RedHawks on the Internet at
www.muredhawks.com.
