KENT, OHIO – The Kent State used a 21-2 run from the end of the first half to the beginning of the second half to defeat the Eastern Michigan Eagles 71-58 Saturday night at the MAC Center.
With the victory, Kent State (19-6, 8-4 MAC) picked up its fourth win In the last five games while avenging an earlier season loss to Eastern Michigan (11-14, 5-7) on January 12 in Ypsilanti, 96-61.
“We really competed at a high level tonight.” KSU head coach Rob Senderoff said. “To hold that team to 58 points was absolutely great. It was great to see everyone played well tonight. It was a good win for us.”
Junior Antonio Williams led all scorers in the game with 20 points, going 7-of-10 from the field with six rebounds and two assists. Fellow Junior Phillip Whittington notched 17 with 10 rebounds -- his seventh double-double of the season. Senior Jaylin Walker had 15 points, all coming in the second half.
McADOO LEADS EAGLES
EMU was led by sophomore Kevin McAdoo, who had 13 points. Redshirt freshman Tarik Silver came off the bench to score 10 points.
With the visitors holding a 22-15 lead at the 7:31 mark on a layup by senior James Thompson IV, the Flashes went on a decisive run. Whittington was a key, scoring eight points, while freshman Anthony Roberts added five and C.J. Williamson had four. His layup at the 7:16 mark started the rally.
At one point during the run, KSU scored 15 unanswered points until EMU ended the half on a slam dunk by Boubacar Toure. Kent State owned a 30-24 lead at halftime.
It was a lead they would never relinquish.
WALKER STRUGGLES EARLY
The Flashes had their lead at intermission despite Walker, who came into the game leading the MAC in scoring at 22.6 points per game, failing to score in the first 20 minutes. He went 0-of-9 from the field, missing all four of his shots from three-point range.
However, the senior managed to continue his streak of double figure scoring games -- now at 19 -- with 15 second half points.
At the start of the second period, KSU pushed the lead to double digits 37-26 and the lead remained in double figures. The largest lead of the contest was 16 points on two occasions, the last being 59-43 on a coach-to-coast layup by Walker.
The closest EMU would get for the rest of the game was nine points 37-28 with 16:34 remaining on a driving layup by sophomore Ty Groce.
To the visitors credit, they kept fighting until the end. However, KSU's decisive run was too much to overcome as the Flashes ended a three-game losing streak to EMU and improved their home mark to 12-3 (5-2 in MAC play).
KSU DEFENSE
Among the keys for Kent State was limiting Eagles senior Paul Jackson
to only two points -- the Eagles first basket of the game. He came into the contest averaging 13.8 points per outing.
When asked about the defensive job on Jackson, Williams said “I just forced him to the sideline and to the spots he didn’t want to go to.”
Jackson went 1-of-10 from the floor with a rebound, three assists and five turnovers. It ended a streak of 13 consecutive games scoring in double digits.
Another factor in the Eagles desmise on this evening was Thompson. The senior is averaging 10.7 points and 10.5 rebounds a game, finished the night with six points and nine rebounds marking the fourth time in the last five games he failed to score in double digits.
Kent State was also able to limit damage by Elijah Minnie, who came into the game leading the Eagles in scoring at 13.8 points per contest. He finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes. It was the first time in seven games he failed to score in double figures.
NOTES:
-- Both teams finished around 40 percent from the field -- KSU at 22-of-51 and EMU 20-of-48. However, the Flashes shot 11-of-18 from the floor in the second half.
-- The board battle was a 30-30 stalemate.
-- EMU committed 16 turnovers, with KSU converting them into 22 points. == The remainder of the stats broke pretty much even
NEXT:
Both teams return to action on Tuesday, with the Flashes traveling to Central Michigan while the Eagles return home to face Western Division leading Toledo.