Kent State University
Northern Illinois
Flashes Ready For Rematch With Northern Illinois
2/6/2020 4:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
KENT, Ohio-Â The Kent State men's basketball team wraps up its two-game cross-divison Mid-American Conference series with Northern Illinois on Friday night at the Convocation Center in Dekalb, Ill. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m CT and will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
THE GAME
Kent State (16-7, 6-4 MAC) vs. Northern Illinois (14-9, 7-3 MAC)
Friday, Feb. 7 | Convocation Center  | Dekalb, Ill.  | 7:00 PM ET / 6:00 CT
BROADCAST
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: Ty Linder (pbp), WHLO 640 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio
NORTHERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH
Mark Montgomery
Record at NIU: 119-158 (9th season)
KENT STATE HEAD COACH
Record at Kent State: 177-116 (9th season)
SERIES HISTORY
Kent State leads the all-time series with a 38-22 record.
Kent State is 15-15 when playing in Northern Illinois
Kent State is 7-5 against the Cardinals under head coach Rob Senderoff.
The Flashes and Huskies met earlier in the season (Jan. 21) at Kent. The Huskies defeated the Flashes 76-69, giving Kent State its first home loss of the season.
LAST TIME OUT
The Kent State men's basketball team dropped to 16-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play after a 62-54 loss to Ball State at home. Ball State's defense limited the Flashes' perimeter offense to 1-of-10 from beyond the arc. The Flashes took a 22-9 lead in the first half from a 15-2 scoring run, but the Cardinals countered with a 23-2 run that trickled into the second half to go up, 38-28, a lead they would not relinquish. The Flashes were led by senior Phil Whittington who scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds. Roberts rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 points. Junior Danny Pippen grabbed a team-high 12 boards.
On the season, the Flashes are shooting 45.3 percent (642-1417) from the floor and 200-570 (35.1 percent) from long range. Pippen leads the team averaging (14.0 ppg) as well in rebounds averaging 7.3 boards a game.
FLASH FACTS
- The Flashes have five players averaging in double-figure scoring with Troy Simons (13.0 ppg), Anthony Roberts (12.1 ppg), Antonio Williams (13.8 ppg), and Danny Pippen (14.0 ppg), and Phil Whittington (10.0 ppg)
- Kent State ranks 35th in the country and third in the conference in scoring offense (77.8 ppg).
- As a team, Kent State ranks 37th in the country and leads the conference with 4.7 blocked shots per game.
- Danny Pippen leads the team with 41 total blocks, five of which he had against Towson. Kent State ranks 31st in the nation in total blocked shots (103) and lead the conference. Pippen also ranks 46th in the nation and is second in conference stats averaging 1.86 blocked shots per game.
- Troy Simons ranks 20th in the nation in 3-point FG per game (3.09) and leads conference stats.
-Kent State ranks 41st in 3-point FG per game (9.0) and ranks 3rd in conference stats.
- In conference stats, KSU is first in FG percentage (45.6) and ranks 78th in the country. Â
-Flashes rank 50th in the country and lead the conference with a +9.0 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 68.6 points per game on 40.5 percent shooting from the field and 33.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
- Kent State has forced 335 turnovers (14.6 tpg) while collecting 170 steals (7.4 stl/g). On the glass, the Flashes have out re-bounded their opponents 842-828Â for a +0.6 margin.
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Huskies, stand 14-9 overall and 7-3 in MAC play under nine-year head coach Mark Montgomery. NIU earned its fi fth consecutive victory, 66-61, at Toledo on Tuesday night (Feb. 4). Eugene
German scored a game-high 25 points while Darius Beane added 11 for the Huskies. Lacey James added eight points against the Rockets and tied a season-high with 13 rebounds. With the win, NIU has the longest win streak in the conference (5 games). The Huskies are led by the leagues' top-scorer German who averages 19.8 points a game.
Defensively, NIU has held its opponents to score 63.8 points per game on 39.3 percent shooting from the field and 29.8percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Huskies have 288 turnovers (12.5 tpg) while collecting 130 steals (5.7 stl/g) On the glass, NIU has out-rebounded their opponents 918-796 for a +5.3 margin, which leads the MAC. NIU leads the conference in 3pt defense,rank second in rebounding defense (33.7 rpg).
FOLLOW ALONG
Flash fans unable to attend the game can watch the game on the CBS Sports Network   listen through iHeart Radio and Tune-In and follow along with live stats via sidearm. All the links are located below.
Listen: https://www.iheart.com/live/640-whlo-3520/
Live Stats: https://niuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
