Kent State University
Bowling Green
Men’s Basketball Falls in MAC Opener Against Bowling Green
1/5/2019 10:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio- The Kent State men's basketball team (11-3, 0-1 MAC) began Mid-American Conference play with a loss to Bowling Green (9-5, 1-0 MAC) Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center, 86-64.
Kent State was outshot by Bowling Green, shooting 38.7 percent (24-of-62) from the floor compared to the Falcon's 50.7percent (36-of-69). However, the Flashes shot 72.7 percent (8-of-11) to BGSU's 63.6 percent from the charity stripe. On the glass, Kent State was slightly edged by the nation's leading rebounding team, 38-32.
From long distance, neither team was able to find its rhythm going a combined 17-of-50 from behind the three-point line. Kent State forced the Falcons to commit 14 turnovers on the night, scoring nine points off those turnovers.
Leading the way for the Flashes was freshman Anthony Roberts with a career-high 17 points. Senior Jalen Avery added 13 points, while senior Jaylin Walker and junior Philip Whittington rounded out Kent State's double-figure scoring with 11 and 10. Walker's 11 points moved him into the top-10 of Kent State's record books for career-points, passing Director of Player Development at 1, 425 points.
Roberts' 17 points came on 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) shooting from the field to go along with 2-of-6 (33.3 percent) from long range. The freshman also led the team with two assists and three steals.
Fresh off his double-double performance against Oberlin, Whittington led the team with nine rebounds. Whittington led the Flashes in the opening half efforts with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting and five rebounds.
Bowling Green started the first half with a 7-0 run before Avery drained a 3-pointer for the Flashes' first points of the game. The Falcons continued to pull away and used a 9-2 run that put them ahead 16-7.
Avery hit his second shot beyond the arc that trimmed BGSU's lead to 18-10 with 11:17 left to play in efforts to keep within striking distance. Back-to-back layups from Whittington cut the Falcon's lead to 23-14, but Bowling Green continued to answer back with a basket.
The Falcons would keep the Flashes scoreless for 2:15 and headed into the break with a 42-28 lead.
The Falcons started the second half with a 9-2 scoring run that extended their lead to 54-33. After both teams were held scoreless for over two minutes with 12 minutes left to play, Roberts stopped the drought with a 3-pointer.
The two team's traded back to back scoring runs with under five to play, but it wasn't enough for the Flashes as BGSU came away with the 86-64 victory.
The Flashes return to the court Tuesday, Jan. 8 as they host Western Michigan in the M.A.C. Center at 7 p.m. Tuesday's game will be available on ESPN3.
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