Defense Leads Kent State To 63-57 Win At Morehead State
11/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Golden Flashes hold Eagles to 36 percent shooting
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Kent State (5-2) put together another strong defensive effort on the road to earn a 63-57 win at Morehead State (1-3) on Sunday night. Holding the Eagles to just one field goal in the last five minutes, the Golden Flashes improved to 5-2 on the year, including a 2-1 record on the road.
Redshirt junior Rodriguez Sherman (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis) recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five steals and three assists. Senior Anthony Simpson (Rockford, Ill./Highland C.C.[Ill.]) led four KSU players in double figures with 17 points while adding eight rebounds.
Down 42-33 with just under 14 minutes remaining, senior Mike McKee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) got hot and canned three, three-pointers in the next eight minutes to help the Golden Flashes climb back into the game. After Simpson tied the game at 50-50, Justin Greene (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Lincoln) made the first of two free throws to give KSU just its second lead of the half at 51-50.
"I started off kind of slow, but Coach Ford told me to shoot the ball with confidence and that is what I did," said McKee, who would finish with 10 points in the game.
The Golden Flashes still had a one-point lead when Delmonte Harper scored with 5:18 remaining to put the Eagles on top 55-54. The Kent State defense would take over from there forcing four of Morehead's 16 turnovers in the next three minutes. Sherman swiped three of his career high five steals during the stretch. During the defensive stand, KSU also forced four missed field goals, allowing only one offensive put back lay-in during the final five minutes of the game.
"We tried to give them some different looks in zone, because when we played them man-to-man (Kenneth) Faried (12 points - 15 rebounds) would score," said Head Coach Geno Ford. "Rod (Sherman) had a huge steal in the high post down the stretch and a couple of possessions later he poked another one away that McKee came up with."
Frank Henry-Ala (Pasadena, Calif / Motlow C.C. [Tenn.]) would put the Golden Flashes up to stay with an offensive put back at 4:08. Greene, who ended with 10 points for the contest, followed with the next five points before KSU put the game away with two free throws in last 30 seconds.
At the start of the game Kent State was down three before a 13-3 run gave KSU a 17-10 advantage. Simpson scored seven points during the run which was capped off by a three from Sherman. Morehead State would fight back and take a 26-24 lead after a three-pointer from Maze Stallworth. Evans quickly answered on the other end for KSU to set up a back and forth game over the final four minutes of the half. The teams would head into the break deadlocked at 30-30.
Kent State recorded it best defensive effort of the season as it held Morehead to just 36 percent shooting, including a 25 percent (6-24) performance from three. KSU shot 40 percent for the game, but struggled from the foul line connecting on just 14-26 (53 percent).
KSU travels to Xavier on Friday for a game that will be broadcast on Fox Sports Ohio. The contest is scheduled for a 7:30 pm start.
NOTES:
- Simpson is the sixth different Kent State player to lead the team in scoring this season (seven games).
- Second career start for Frank Henry-Ala.
- Sherman is the first KSU guard to have a double-double since Chris Singletary (vs UNC Greensboro, 12/18/08).
- Head Coach Geno Ford now has 75 wins in his coaching career.
- Kent State has scored more points off turnovers than the opposition in all seven games this season.
