Kent State University
Buffalo
Flashes Host Buffalo For Nationally Televised Game
2/20/2020 2:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio-Â The Kent State men's basketball team will close out the series with Buffalo on Friday night at the M.A.C. Center at 7 p.m. Friday's game will be nationally televised on ESPN2. In the first meeting between the two schools, Flashes came away with a 70-66 victory in Buffalo.
THE GAME
Kent State (17-9, 7-6 MAC) vs. Buffalo (17-9, 8-5 MAC)
Friday, Feb. 21 | M.A.C. Center  | Kent, Ohio  | 7 PM
BROADCAST
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Ty Linder (pbp), WHLO 640 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio
BUFFALO HEAD COACH
Jim Whitesell
Record at UB: 17-8 (1st season)
KENT STATE HEAD COACH
Record at Kent State: 178-118 (9th season)
SERIES HISTORY
Kent State leads the all-time series with a 33-19 record.
Kent State is 17-5 against UB when playing at the M.A.C. Center.
Kent State is 8-12 against the Bulls under head coach Rob Senderoff.
Earlier this season Kent State came away with a 70-66 victory over Buffalo on the road. Danny Pippen led the Flashes with 20 points and hit six-straight free throws to give the Flashes the win.
LAST TIME OUT
The Kent State men's basketball team dropped to 17-9 overall and 7-6 in conference play after a 70-49 loss on the road to Eastern Michigan. The Flashes struggled offensively on Tuesday night as KSU shot just 29.1 percent. Kent State was unable to find its shooting touch all night as the Flashes shot 5-of-31 from three-point range and went 12-of-20 from the charity stripe. Danny Pippen led the Flashes recording his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Mitch Peterson added eight points, while seniors Troy Simons and Antonio Williams each scored five points.
On the season, the Flashes are shooting 44.7 percent (702-1570) from the floor and 228-656 (34.8 percent) from long range. Pippen leads the team averaging (13.8 ppg) as well in rebounds averaging 7.3 boards a game.
FLASH FACTS
- The Flashes have four players averaging in double-figure scoring with Troy Simons (13.1 ppg), Anthony Roberts (12.1 ppg), Antonio Williams (13.2 ppg), and Danny Pippen (13.8 ppg).
- Kent State ranks 77th in the country and fifth in the conference in scoring offense (75.2 ppg).
- As a team, Kent State ranks 55th in the country and seconds the conference with 4.3 blocked shots per game.
- Danny Pippen leads the team with 43 total blocks, five of which he had against Towson. Kent State ranks 53rd in the nation in total blocked shots (112) and second in the conference. Pippen also ranks 46th in the nation and is second in conference stats averaging 1.75 blocked shots per game.
- Troy Simons ranks 18th in the nation in 3-point FG per game (3.08) and leads conference stats.
-Kent State ranks 41st in 3-point FG per game (8.8) and ranks 3rd in conference stats.
- In conference stats, KSU is first in FG percentage (44.7) and ranks 78th in the country. Â
-Flashes rank 55th in the country and are second the conference with a +6.9 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 68.3 points per game on 41.0 percent shooting from the field and 33.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
- Kent State has forced 378 turnovers (14.5 tpg) while collecting 185 steals (7.1 stl/g). On the glass, the Flashes have out re-bounded their opponents 943-933Â for a +0.4 margin.
SCOUTING BUFFALO
The Bulls, stand 17-9 overall and 8-5 in MAC play under first-year head coach Jim Whitesell. UB is coming off a 72-59 win against Ball State and is currently on a three-game win streak. The Bulls allowed a season-low 59 points to the Cardinals. The Cardinals cut the Buffalo lead to 50-48 with 8:02 left when the Bulls went on a game-changing 12-2 run to put the game away. The Bulls had five players in double figures, combining for 70 of their 72 points. Sophomore Josh Mballa had 16 points and 15 rebounds off the bench, including seven offensive boards. Mballa added three blocks and a steal.
UB has five players averaging in double-figures with Graves (16.6), Williams (12.0), Jordan (11.2), Johnson (10.8), and Mballa (10.5).
Defensively, UB has held its opponents to score 74.0 points per game on 43.3 percent shooting from the field and 30.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Bulls have 368 turnovers (14.2 tpg) while collecting 215 steals (8.3 stl/g) On the glass, UBhas out-rebounded their opponents 1112-976 for a +5.2 margin, which leads the MAC. The Bulls lead the conference in assists per game (15.3) and are also the league's top rebounding offense (15.00) and total rebounds (1,112).
FOLLOW ALONG
Flash fans unable to attend the game can watch the game on ESPN2, 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?id=88aa4543-2994-4acf-9a6a-31dbc0ead981
Listen: https://www.iheart.com/live/640-whlo-3520/
Live Stats: https://kentstatesports.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
