Not an in-depth preview like Dick usually does, but I didn’t see a thread yet, so here we go. Game starts at 8:00pm and will be nationally broadcast on CBS Sports.
Kent is 18-8 overall, 8-5 in the MAC. They are tied for 4th with Ohio, but I believe they hold the tie-breaker for the #4 seed (not that it matters since the 4 and 5 seeds are essentially the same given that all tournament games are played on a neutral court). The Flashes have won 4 straight conference games and 5 straight overall. They seem to be peaking at the right time after a slow start.
Meanwhile, Miami is 19-7 overall, 2nd in the MAC at 10-3. We are coming off back-to-back road losses to WMU and EMU in which we frankly looked awful. This is our first 2-game losing streak of the year.
The RedHawks won their first matchup against Kent up at their place, winning 70-61 after trailing by 9 at the half. We need to recapture the confidence we had before this current skid, as this is a very important game. We’ve already punched our ticket to Cleveland, but winning tonight would go a long way toward securing the rather important #2 seed.
Vegas sees this as essentially a coin-flip, with Miami favored by 1.5. We are 12-1 at home this season, and the Golden Flashes are 7-3 in true road games.
Beat me to it as have my desktop in repair. Excellent report. I will try to mention a couple of other things. Kent has been a dominant MAC program for at least 25 years and is always a major MAC tournament force, certainly helped by the closeness to Cleveland. Rob Senderoff, a former Miami assistant, is in his 14th year and has a Kent record 264 wins.
Kent started the year with the best power rankings in the MAC, but went through a down period during which we beat them 70 to 61 in January. Byers, Elmer, Cooper, and Woolfolk were all in double digits. Seneroff adjusted playing time and Kent has been surging lately with 5 consecutive wins including a 91 to 84 win at BG Tuesday.
6-5 SR Von Cameron Davis was a preseason 1st team all MAC pick and averages 15.6ppg. 5-10 SR Jalen Sullenger was a 2nd team All MAC pick and averages 14.3 ppg. He had 32 Tuesday. Since we played them 5-11 sophomore Cian Medley, 6-4 senior transfer Marquis Barnet, 6-8 junior Delrecco Gillespie, and 6-3 rs sophomore Jamal Sumlin have been bigger contributors and added speed and athleticism to the Flashes.
Here are the current Net rankings of the top MAC teams:
Akron. 92
Kent 129
Miami 157
Ohio 168
Toledo 214
