Kent State University
Cleveland State University
Men’s Basketball to Battle Cleveland State at The Q in First of Two Games in Three Days
12/4/2015 3:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes Video Live Stats Audio
Kent State (3-2) looks to seeks its first road victory of the season against Cleveland State (2-5) in a 3 p.m. contest that will be played at Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Mid-American Conference Tournament, on Saturday.
The Flashes are coming off a solid performance in an 85-76 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Redshirt senior Xavier Pollard played his best game in a Kent State uniform with a game-high 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting to go with five rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. Redshirt junior Jimmy Hall had 21 points, seven rebounds and matched his career-high with four assists to lead a Flashes frontcourt that bested the Panthers. Kent State outrebounded a Pittsburgh team that was fourth in the country in rebound margin, 33-26, and also led in offensive rebounds (14-5), second chance points (12-11) and points in the paint (36-28).
The frontcourt of Jimmy Hall (17.0 ppg, 8.2. rpg), Khaliq Spicer (8.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and Chris Ortiz (7.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg) have helped Kent State controlled play around the basket. The Flashes own a +10.2 rebounding advantage while outscoring opponents 36.0-24.0 in the paint and 14.0-8.6 on second chance opportunities. The trio has combined for 45 offensive rebounds, which is 14 more than Kent State has allowed.
Redshirt junior Kellon Thomas has displayed more of a scoring mindset in his return to action and is averaging 12.4 points per game. Graduate student Galal Cancer has provided a good all-around floor game with 5.6 points, 2.8 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game in addition to stretching defenses with a 46.2 percent three-point accuracy. Freshman guard Jaylin Walker (5.6 ppg) has averaged 8.5 points per game since being inserted into the starting lineup.
Scouting Cleveland State
Cleveland State has lost three straight games and is 0-2 vs. MAC schools. The Vikings have struggled on offense and rank in the bottom 35 of the country in scoring (58.7 ppg), field goal percentage (.387) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.59). points per game while holding opponents to just 57.0 points per game. They do, however, averaged 11.9 offensive rebounds per game.
Forward Demonte Flannigan leads the Vikings in scoring (11.4 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). Guard Rob Edwards, who was named Horizon League Freshman of the Week, adds 11.3 ppg and a team-high 2.3 spg.
Last Meeting
• Kent State fell to a hot-shooting Cleveland State team, 78-70, at the M.A.C. Center on December 28, 2013.
• The Vikings shot 25-for-46 (54.3%) from the field and 7-for-14 (50.0%) from behind the 3-point line.
• Kent State went cold from the outside and finished just 7-for-27 (25.9%) from the three-point line.
• After trailing most of the first half, the Flashes pulled ahead on a pair of free throws by Derek Jackson before Bryn Forbes connected on a 3-point shot off an inbounds play at the buzzer for a 30-28 CSU halftime lead.
• An 8-1 run gave CSU its largest lead at 66-55 with 4:15 to play, but KSU refused to go away. The Flashes got within three points, but Trey Lewis delivered the dagger with a well-contested 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock with 2:39 left.
• Derek Jackson led KSU with 18 points. Mark Henniger and Darren Goodson scored 14 points each. Henniger had a game-high 8 rebounds.
• Bryn Forbes and Sebastian Lewis led CSU with 14 points each.
• Trey Lewis (12 points), Anton Grady (12 points) and Marlin Mason (10 points) provided the Vikings with balanced scoring.
Next Up For Kent State
Kent State will have a quick turnaround with a game at NJIT on Monday at 7 p.m.
