Kent State University
Ohio University
Men’s Basketball Readies for Saturday Showdown with MAC East Rival Bobcats
1/15/2016 4:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Game Notes    Video       Live Stats        Audio
The Kent State men's basketball team aims to conclude a winning homestand and stay atop the Mid-American Conference East Division standings when it hosts Ohio (10-5, 1-2 MAC) at 7 p.m. Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center. The Golden Flashes (11-5, 2-1 MAC) are tied for first place in the division and a game behind Northern Illinois overall.
The Flashes have split their first two games of the current three-game homestand, falling to Buffalo, 76-67, on January 8 and regrouping to beat Miami, 76-68, Tuesday night. After allowing an early seven-point lead to disappear, Kent State had a strong finish to the first half and took a 34-27 lead into the locker room. The RedHawks fought back to tie the game at 41-41, but the Flashes responded with a 21-6 run for their largest lead, 62-47, with 5:30 remaining. Miami cut its deficit to just two points with 1:21 left, but Kent State took care of the ball and shot 10-for-14 at the charity stripe the rest of the way to secure the victory. Kellon Thomas continued his clutch play late in games, scoring six points in the final three minutes. Thomas scored 16 of his team-high 19 points after halftime and also handed out a team-high four assists. Jimmy Hall finished the game with 18 points and Chris Ortiz contributed 12 points and a team-high 8 rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.
The frontcourt of Jimmy Hall (15.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Khaliq Spicer (6.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Chris Ortiz (8.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg) has helped Kent State control play around the basket. The Flashes own a +4.2 rebounding advantage while outscoring opponents 35.6-26.2 in the paint and 12.1-9.4 on second chance opportunities.
Scouting Ohio
Ohio is coming off a 91-75 home loss to Bowling Green on Tuesday night. The Bobcats average 79.0 ppg and lead the MAC in field goal percentage (.469) and free throw percentage (.766).
Point guard Jaaron Simmons leads the MAC at 7.2 apg and is Ohio's top scorer along with Antonio Campbell at 15.1 ppg. Campbell leads the MAC at 1.93 bpg and adds 8.7 rpg. Kenny Kaminski (12.3 ppg), Treg Setty (10.7 ppg) and Jordan Dartis (10.4 ppg) round out a starting lineup that accounts for 79.7% of the Bobcats' scoring.
Quick Flashes
• Five Golden Flashes have scored at least 20 points in a game this season.
• Kent State has taken care of the ball and ranks 35th in the country in turnovers per game (11.1) and 95th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.20).
• The Golden Flashes rank 108th in the country in defensive rebounding percentage (.717), 59th in offensive rebounding percentage (.342) and 84th in rebound margin (+4.3).
• Jaylin Walker posted career-highs with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists vs. #18 SMU (Dec. 22) to become the first Kent State freshman with a 20-point performance since all-time leading scorer Trevor Huffman (21 vs. Miami, 1/20/99)
• The Golden Flashes outrebounded YSU, 53-34, on Saturday. The 53 rebounds are the most by a KSU team since Dec. 20, 2003 at Boston College.
• Senior Chris Ortiz was named MAC East Player of the Week on Monday after scoring 12 points and pulling down a career-high 16 rebounds.
• Redshirt senior Xavier Pollard had 15 points in Saturday's win vs. YSU extend KSU's streak to four consecutive years with a transfer scoring in double-figures in the season-opener.
• Graduate student Galal Cancer had six assists, which is the most by a transfer in his KSU debut since Carlton Guyton in 2010.
Series History
•  Kent State owns a 47-92 record all-time vs. Ohio.
•  The series dates back to the 1930-31 season and a 23-21 Ohio win in Kent.
•  Kent State is 32-36 as the home team in the series.
•  Kent State is just 2-9 in games that have gone to overtime.Â
FLASHback to Last Meeting
• Kent State secured just its ninth season sweep of Ohio University since 1951 and with a 65-51 road victory over the Bobcats on Saturday at the Convocation Center on February 21, 2015.
• The Golden Flashes used a 13-2 run over the final 3:32 of the first half to take a 36-25 lead into the break.
• A pair of free throws by Ohio's Antonio Campbell cut Kent State's lead to 41-39 with 14:31 on the clock.
• The Flashes answered with eight straight points to go ahead 49-39. Campbell ended the run with a layup, but a three-point field goal by Devareaux Manley at the 9:17 mark gave the Flashes a double-digit lead that it maintained the rest of the game.
• Manley scored 16 points to lead the Golden Flashes, drilling 5-of-12 from beyond the arc to pass Trevor Huffman for second place on Kent State's all-time three-point list with 211.
• Kris Brewer led Kent State to a 26-13 bench scoring advantage with 11 points.
• Jimmy Hall returned after missing the previous five games with mononucleosis and finished with nine points and four rebounds before fouling out in just 17 minutes off the bench.
• Derek Jackson pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and played excellent defense, limiting Ohio leading scorer Javarez Willis to only seven points on 2-for-11 shooting.
• Campbell led Ohio with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Stevie Taylor (13 points) Maurice Ndour (12 points) also scored in double-figures.
TV / Radio
Ty Linder and David Carducci will bring you the action on the Golden Flashes iHeartRadio channel and 640 WHLO.
Next Up For Kent State
The Golden Flashes hits the road for back-to-back road games next week against Ball State and Bowling Green.
