Kent State University
15-6, 6-2MAC
University at Buffalo
14-6, 5-3MAC
Six-game winning streak comes to an end in Buffalo
1/31/2015 1:05:00 AM | Men's Basketball
AMHERST, N.Y. – Kent State watched its six-game winning streak come to an end in an 80-55 loss to the University at Buffalo on Friday night.
The night started off on a bright note for the Golden Flashes (15-6, 6-2) as a Chris Ortiz layup, a Khaliq Spicer jump hook, and a Jimmy Hall runner put Kent State on top 6-0 out of the gate.
It didn't take long for Buffalo (14-6, 5-3) to flip the script. The Bulls took advantage of a sloppy stretch on both ends of the floor by Kent State during a 17-2 run that turned the momentum for good. From there, things started to snowball for the Flashes, who found themselves down 45-25 at halftime.
"They had a lot of guys who played well, and we didn't," said Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff. "They really hurt us in transition. That's how they got 80. Our team has been winning with defense. It's not going to score 80 very often, so that's a number we can't give up. But it's one game and we But it's one game and we have to move onto the next one."
One of the bright spots for Kent State was Hall, who scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbed five rebounds in 30 minutes. The rest of the Flashes shot a combined 26 percent (11-for-41) from the field.
Xavier Ford enjoyed a career game for Buffalo with 25 points. The 6-foot-7 junior came into the game shooting just 3-for-9 from three-point range on the season. He was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc on Friday and added two tip dunks as Buffalo seized control midway through the first half.
Keeping Buffalo off of the offensive glass was an issue all night for the Flashes, who lost that rebounding battle by a respectable 37-32 margin, but were outscored 24-17 on second-chance points, including a 13-5 difference in the first half. Kent State was also active on the offensive glass, rebounding 17 of its misses. SPicer pulled down five of his team-high six rebounds on the offensive end and Craig Brown added four offensive rebounds. Spicer aso had three blocked shots.
The Flashes did better Buffalo 21-15 in bench scoring behind 8 points from Kris Brewer and a career-best 6 points from freshman Raasean Davis.
Buffalo added 13 points and nine rebounds from Justin Moss and 12 points from Shannon Evans.
Kent State stays on the road with a game at Western Michigan on Wednesday night before returning home to face Miami University on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the Golden Flashes remain in first place in the Mid-American Conference's East Division, a half game ahead of both Bowling Green and Akron. Bowling Green is at Central Michigan on Saturday while Akron travels to Ohio University.
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