Kent State University
Toledo
Flashes Welcome Toledo for MAC Home Opener
1/6/2020 4:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio-Â The Kent State men's basketball team will host Toledo on Tuesday night at the M.A.C. Center for its conference home opener. Tip time is 7 p.m.
THE GAME
Kent State (11-3, 1-0 MAC) vs. Toledo (8-6, 0-1 MAC)
Tuesday, Jan. 6 | M.A.C. Center  | Kent, Ohio | 7PM
BROADCAST
TV: ESPN+, Ty Linder (pbp) & Tanner Castora (color)
Radio: Dan Griffin (pbp), WHLO 640 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio
TOLEDO HEAD COACH
Tod Kowalczyk
Record at Toledo: 175-135 Â (10th season)
KENT STATE HEAD COACH
Record at Kent State: 172-112 (ninth season)
SERIES HISTORY
Toledo leads the all-time series with an 83-49 record.
Kent State is 3-2 when hosting UT at the M.A.C. Center.
Kent State is 5-5 against the Rockets under head coach Rob Senderoff.
LAST TIME OUT
The Kent State men's basketball team opened MAC play at Bowling Green with a 79-61 victory Friday. This was the first time Kent State has won at BG since 2017. The Flashes led wire-to-wire and opened the game with a 7-2 run, and never looked back, leading by as many as 22 points in the second half with the help from back-to-back 11-point scoring runs. Senior Antonio Williams led the way and tied his career-high with 22 points shooting 9-of-17 from the floor. Williams also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists. Senior Troy Simons also tied his career-high with 17 points, five rebounds, and one assist. Simons connected on 3-of-7 from shots beyond the arc. Junior Tervell Beck added a solid nine points and four rebounds coming off the bench.
Kent State shot 50 percent (30-to-60) from the floor and connected on 8 three pointers (47.1 percent). Defensively, Kent State held Bowling Green to only 3-of-23 (13 percent) shooting beyond the arc.
On the season, the Flashes are shooting 45.6 percent (407-892) from the floor and 126-369 (34.1 percent) from long range. Williams leads the team with 168 points (14.0 ppg) and Whittington leads the team in rebounds averaging 6.8 boards a game.
FLASH FACTS
- The Flashes have five players averaging in double-figure scoring with Troy Simons (12.5 ppg), Anthony Roberts (12.7 ppg), Antonio Williams (14.0 ppg), Danny Pippen (13.9 ppg), and Phil Whittington (11.0).
- Kent State ranks 33rd in the country and third in the conference in fewest turnovers (163).
- As a team, Kent State ranks 40th in the country and leads the conference with 4.7 blocked shots per game.
-Kent State ranks 30th in the country in scoring offense (80.1), ranking third in the conference.
- Danny Pippen leads the team with 30 total blocks, five of which he had against Towson. Kent State ranks 48th in the nation in total blocked shots (66) and lead the conference. Pippen also ranks 41st in the nation and is second in conference stats averaging 2.14 blocked shots per game.
- Troy Simons ranks 26th in the nation in 3-point FG per game (3.07) and is second in conference stats.
- As a team, Kent State ranks 72nd in field goal percentage defense limiting teams to 39.7 percent from the field. Â
-Flashes rank 30th in the country and lead the conference with a +12.9 scoring margin. Kent State ended the non-conference schedule with the highest scoring margin during the non-conference schedule in 20 seasons. (+12.5).
- Defensively, the Flashes have held its opponents to 67.3 points per game on 39.7 percent shooting from the field and 31.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
- Kent State has forced 213 turnovers (15.2 tpg) while collecting 107 steals (7.6 stl/g). On the glass, the Flashes have out re-bounded their opponents 529-498Â for a +2.2 margin.
SCOUTING TOLEDO
The Rockets, stand 8-6 overall and 0-1 in MAC play under 10-year head coach Tod Kowalczyk. UT dropped its conference-opener with Ball State, 61-57 on Friday. Toledo rallied from 12 points down to take a one-point lead in the second half but couldn't complete its comeback. Willie Jackson tallied a team-high 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Rockets for his eighth double-double of the season. Luke Knapke and Marreon Jackson joined him in double figures with 11 and 10 points. The Rockets are led by Jackson (16.6 ppg) while Jackson paces UT averaging 12.2 boards per game.
Defensively, UT has held its opponents to score 67.1 points per game on 39.0 percent shooting from the field and 32.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Rockets have 187 turnovers (13.4 tpg) while collecting 109 steals (7.8 stl/g) On the glass, UT has out-rebounded their opponents 571-527 for a +3.1 margin.
FOLLOW ALONG
Flash fans unable to attend the game can watch the game on ESPN+, listen through iHeart Radio and Tune-In and follow along with live stats via sidearm. All the links are located below.
Watch: https://www.espn.com/watch/search/kent%20state
Listen: https://www.iheart.com/live/640-whlo-3520/
Live Stats: https://bgsufalcons.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
