Kent State Begins Road Test Week On Wednesday At Ohio
1/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Complete Notes (.PDF)
The Game
The Mid-American Conference teams with the two best overall records square off in a key league game showdown on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm as Kent State (12-4; 2-1) travels to Ohio (13-4; 1-2) for a SportsTime Ohio telecast. The game is the first of a challenging two game road swing for the Golden Flashes which also play at Akron on Saturday.
Kent State has won four of its last five and holds sole possession of second place in the MAC East Division following a 92-87 win over Bowling Green last Saturday. Named the MAC East Player of the Week for the 10th time in his career on Monday, senior forward Justin Greene paced the Golden Flashes offense in the win producing his second straight 23 point game while going over 1,300 career points in the process. Greene, the 2011 MAC Player of the Year, has elevated his game in conference play this season averaging a league best 20.7 ppg in MAC games while shooting 61 percent from the field.
Adding to the Golden Flashes highest scoring game against a MAC opponent since 2006 was senior guard Michael Porrini who scored a season best 19 points and junior guard Randal Holt who hit five threes on his way to 17 points. Porrini also had six rebounds to up his MAC season average to 7.0 rebounds per game.
Following a nine game winning streak Ohio has now dropped three of its last four, but still leads the league with 13 overall wins. The Bobcats are coming off a 68-63 loss at Akron from last Saturday. Guard D.J. Cooper had 13 points in the loss and leads the team with 14.1 points and 6.1 assists on the year. The Bobcats are 8-1 at home this season.
TV / Radio
SportsTime Ohio (Michael Reghi & Steve Mix)
ESPN3 Link
WNIR 100.1 FM (Ty Linder)
Next Up For Kent State
Kent State heads over to neighboring rival Akron on Saturday for a SportsTime Ohio contest at 6:00 p.m.
Quick Flashes
• Kent State is seeking its first three game winning streak in Athens in series history which dates back to 1930-31
• Justin Greene has 699 career rebounds, leaving him one shy of becoming the fourth player in school history to reach 700. His current total is the highest by a Kent State player in 25 years.
• Greene's 10 career MAC East POW honors are the most in school history
• Kent State has a league best 1.9:1 assist to turnover ratio (45 assists-24 turnovers) in MAC Play
• The Golden Flashes have had less than 10 turnovers in five of their last six games averaging only 8.7 turnovers per game during the stretch
• The Golden Flashes have won five of the eight games in which they have trailed at halftime
• Kent State is 9-1 this season when shooting more free throws than the opposition
• Kent State has scored 38+ points in the first half in four of the last five games
Kent State - Ohio Series Notes
• Kent State has won 10 of the last 13 regular season meetings, with both Ohio wins coming at home
• Ohio still leads the all-time series 88-43 which dates back to the 1930-31 season
• Ohio is 49-10 all-time at home in the series, but Kent State has won in Athens each of the past two years and four of the past six
• The Golden Flashes are looking to become the first MAC team since Western Michigan (1996-1997-1998) to win at Ohio in three consecutive years
