KENT, OHIO – The Kent State Golden Flashes played arguably their best basketball game of the season as they routed the Pirates from Hampton University 103-64 Saturday night at the MAC Center.
Kent State (10-2) rebounded from splitting a pair of games at the Westar Don Haskins Tournament in Texas (losing to UC-Irvine before beating North Carolina A&T in overtime) and remained perfect at home with a 7-0 record. In addition, the victory marked the first time in school history that KSU has reached 10 wins before Christmas.
“A complete game by us tonight” KSU head coach Rob Senderoff said. “We did not play our best in Texas, but we came back and we played where we are capable in playing.”
Junior Danny Pippen led five KSU players in double figures with 21 points, going seven-of-nine from the field. Sophomore Anthony Roberts added 19 after hitting five-of-six from three-point range. Troy Simons scored 13, while C.J. Williamson and Antonio Williams came off the bench to notch 10 points each.
Big South Conference member Hampton (2-11) dropped its seventh game in the last eight outings. Sophomore Ben Stanley led all scorers in the contest with 28 points going 11-for-20 from the floor. He was the lone HU player in double figures.
The contest was decided in the opening 20 minutes as the Flashes led from the opening basket. They broke the game open with the help of four consecutive three-pointers, opening a 16-4 lead at the 15:42 mark when Anthony Roberts drained a trey from the right arc.
KSU continued to pour it in, building a 60-29 lead at halftime. The Flashes shot a sizzling 72.4 percent from the field, going 8-of-13 from beyond the arc and hit 10-of-11 foul shots.
The defense also was factor as Kent State owned a a 19-10 rebounding edge and held the Pirates to just 9-of-26 from the floor (34.6 percent).
It was more of the same in the second half as the Flashes opened their biggest lead of the evening at the 12:16 mark before winning by 39 points. It was their largest victory margin of the season as they reached the century mark for the first time since November, 2018 when they scored 103 against Savannah State.
In the final numbers it was all KSU as the hosts went 57.4 percent from the field (35-of-61), dominated the glass 42-22, and turned the ball over just six times. Hampton shot better in the second half at 46 percent. However, it finished the 40 minutes at 40.4 percent (21-of-52).
After the Christmas holiday. KSU travels to Mississippi State on Monday March 30th before starting MAC play on Saturday January 3 at Bowling Green.