Live Blog: MAC Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal vs. Akron

SECOND HALF

FINAL: Akron 53, Kent State 51

A back-and-forth game saw Kent State misfire on several late opportunities. Kris Brewer watched a driving layup hang on the rim and fall off, then missed a 10 footer. Both may have won the game for the Flashes.

Jimmy Hall fouled out with seven seconds to play and Akron's Evans split the pair to put the Zips up.

Brewer slipped and fell trying to get the ball back to Manley. He finally got it to Manley with a flip from his knees, and Manley drilled the three, but after the clock.

Kent State's season will continue in another tournament.

Akron scored the game's final 6 points.

Disappointing finish to the MAC tournament for the Flashes.

Up 13 in the first half, the Flashes took their foot off of the pedal and allowed the Zips to hang around.

3:43 ... Hall will head to the foul line trying to add to a 45-44 Kent State lead. Great effort by foul got him to the line. He had his 18 footer blocked by Forsythe, but he stayed with it, got the loose ball and drew the foul driving to the bucket.

On the previous possession for Akron, Hall stood his ground against Kretzer in the paint in a scary sequence. He avoided the foul, didn't bite on a series of moves, and forced a pass for a difficult miss.

Jackson has turned it on for the Flashes with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. His 12 footer off of a Khaliq Spicer steal gave KSU the lead back after Akron had pulled ahead briefly.

7:33 ... Jimmy Hall just picked up foul No. 4 after getting beat over the back for an easy layup by Forsythe.

The Akron center will go to the line trying to give the Zips their first lead since the first 23 seconds of the first half.

Hall needed to just let Forsythe lay it up after getting beaten on that over-the-top pass. He wasn't going to stop the layup, and Hall on the floor is more important at this point than that layup.

KSU seniors need to step up in last 7:33 ... Brewer and Manley are a combined 1-for-12 ... Add Jacskon and its a combined 5-for-23.

11:33 ... Akron has jump started its offense with dribble penetration by its guards.

After an 0-for-6 first half, Antino Jackson has a couple of driving layups and a long three. The Zips twice cut the KSU lead to two points, but driving layups by Brewer and Jackson (Brewer's turning into a three-point play) stopped the bleeding.

So often this season, Kent State's fortunes have followed the play of its senior guards.

Brewer and Jackson have big buckets in the last minute, but the Flashes guard trio are a combined 5-for-20. Brewer and Manley are 1-for-10.

The Flashes need to keep pushing the issue with those guards.

15:22 ... The KSU lead is just 29-22 at the media timeout.

Something to watch, the Flashes are on the bad end of a 4-0 foul differential. One of those includes a pretty poor block against Derek jackson heading into this break.

Awful offense on both ends, and the scary thing is that Kent State's spacing issues and poor shooting is allowing Akron to hang around. That's a bit scary. 

FIRST HALF

HALFTIME: Kent State 27, Akron 19

The Golden Flashes missed an opportunity to potentially put Akron away early, and it turned on a careless error in the backcourt.

KSU led by 13 and got a stop, but Craig Brown threw the ball out of bounds on what should have been an easy outlet pass. Dev Manley ran into Akron's Antino Jackson for a foul that gifted the Zips two free throws.

Instead of in possession of the basketball trying to add to a 13-point lead, the Flashes watched the Zips take a bit of momentum with a 5-0 run going into the half. Kwan Cheatham added a 3-pointer to that run.

Even with that Cheatham's three, Akron shot just 2-for-14 from the arc. That's only marginally better than its 7-for-29 (24.1 pct) first half from the field.

Isaiah Johnson is the only player who has given Kent State any real problems. He has 6 points and 4 rebounds, but watched a late shot get blocked by Jimmy Hall.

While the Flashes haven't been great offensively (37 percent), they do have points from eight different players. Jimmy Hall leads the way with 8 points and 6 rebounds.

And despite the low scoring, the two teams have combined for only four turnovers. Just a lot of missed shots.

3:22 ... This momentum has shifted to Kent State thanks in large part to Kris Brewer pushing the ball in transition and finding the Flashes' bigs running the floor right with him.

Spicer has a tip-dunk in transition. Seconds later, Brewer found Jimmy Hall to his left for a fast-break layup.

The Flashes led by 11 and had the Zips on a nearly six-minute drought until a second-chance layup by Johnson.

Akron is shooting 26 percent from the field and is 1-for-12 from three-point range.

7:45 ... The Flashes lead 15-12, which is a bit scary considering Akron is shooting only 26 percent from the field and 1-of-10 from three-point range.

Maybe a missed opportunity to blow the Zips off the floor.


11:26 ... A defensive battle so far as Akron leads 10-9 ... but Kris Brewer is heading to the foul line coming out of this media break.

Kent State is shooting 36.4 percent from the field while Akron is at 33.3 percent (16.7 from 3-point range).

A good sign for the Golden Flashes is McAdams 0-for-2 start, both misses coming from three. He was 5-for-6 from the arc against the Flashes on Friday.

The Flashes struggled for a bit while going small with Marquiez Lawrence playing out of position at the five and guarding the 6-foot-11 Forsythe for Akron. Forsythe has half of Akron's 10.

15:48 ... Kent State trails 5-4 at the first media timeout. The Flashes held Akron scoreless for first three-minutes-plus of this one before a Nyles Evans broke the ice for the Zips.

A clear travel by Isiaiah Johnson didn't draw the whistle. Johnson flipped in the layup vs. Spicer to give the Zips this lead.

Derek Jackson is in fact matched up with freshman Antino Jackson, as expected, after drawing Evans in the first game. 

Derek Jackson gave the Flashes the early lead on possession No. 1, and Jimmy Hall has a 15-foot jumper.

PREGAME

It's 5:30 p.m. and Ty Linder and I are already all set up for the Kent State-Akron broadcast in the front row of what used to be the Joe Tait perch in the club section of Quicken Loans Arena.

While we like to be courtside if possible, the view from this spot is pretty fantastic. And it's made even better by the Q's enormous new video screen.

I have talked to several Kent State fans today who said they would have loved to play Western Michigan after watching the Broncos struggle in last night's second-round game with Akron. The Broncos were awful, but some of that was due to Akron's effort in the half court.

If you are a Flashes fan, you hope that playing the third game in four nights will have the Zips showing some wear. Akron struggled a bit on the offensive end last night, missing some shots they usually knock down. Isaiah Johnson missed a few point-blank looks. Defending him could be a key tonight. The Flashes' bigs struggled with keeping the 6-foot-10 sophomore from getting deep touches last week in Kent until Jimmy Hall took over the defensive assignment.

Keeping Hall out of foul trouble will be important, so if they can, the Flashes would probably benefit by avoiding that matchup. Khaliq Spicer found himself in some early foul trouble on Friday. KSU needs to be able to keep him on the floor and give him some help defensively against Johnson, who can struggle with his decision making against a hard double team.

It will be interesting to see how much of an impact Pat Forsythe has on tonight's game. After missing Friday's game in Kent due to turf toe, the 6-foot-11 junior has seen limited action for Akron in its first two MAC Tournament games. Hall, Spicer, Ortiz and the rest of the Flashes front line players need to attack when Forsythe is on the floor, and guards need to penetrate and force him to move laterally. Forsythe struggled against Western Michigan, picking up some quick fouls as he looked a step slow.

The Flashes also need to be aggressive defensively against freshman point guard Antino Jackson. Having almost a full week off should benefit Derek Jackson in that matchup. Speeding up Antino Jackson should be a goal. Last week, Derek Jackson spent most of the game matched up against Nyles Evans.

Kwan Cheatham and Reggie McAdams gave Kent State all kinds of problems on Friday. The Flashes should adjust by doing a better job of closing out and forcing contested twos rather than allowing open threes.

Defending the three has been such a staple of Kent State's season. But it has been a weakness over the last few weeks, starting with the final nine minutes at Oxford on Feb. 7.

If Akron gets hot in this one, anything is possible. Kent State will probably try to force the issue to test the Zips' legs. Akron is as good a half-court defensive team as there is. To counter that, Kent State needs turn defensive stops into transition opportunities. Akron is shorthanded and playing its third game in four nights. Force the Zips to defend in transition.

Live Blog: Men's Basketball Senior Night vs. Akron

SECOND HALF

FINAL: Kent State 79-77

Kris Brewer with a driving layup at the buzzer wins it.

The Golden Flashes are regular-season co-champions of the Mid-American Conference.

For the minute-by-minute, check the @CarducciKSU and @KentStMBB twitter accounts.


1:55 ... First Ibitayo fouled out for Akron. Now the Zips have lost Isaiah Johnson to his 5th foul. Johnson has been very good tonight with 14 points and 6 rebounds.

Kris Brewer has 16 points, all in the second half.

Jimmy Hall's defense has been possibly the biggest key to the Flashes owning a 70-67 lead at this point, blocking five shots to go with his 15-point, 6-rebound night.

Manley will go to the line, trying to add to this 3-point lead.

4:00 ... Kent State built an 8-point lead on a 10-0 run, but Akron has answered with back-to-back threes by Antino Jackson and Reggie McAdams.

Akron back within 2 at 67-65 after just being up 8.

Senderoff just took a timeout.

6:18 ... Kris Brewer was scoreless at halftime. He now has 11 points, including a transition 3 pointer that made Kent State the first to get to 60 with a 61-59 lead

First team to 60 in this rivalry has won 33 of last 35 in series.

Flashes are on a 6-0 run that includes some good work by Chris Ortiz, going 3-for-4 from line and adding some good work on the offensive glass.

Dambrot took this timeout.

Can the Flashes turn this 6-0 spurt into a bigger run and take control of this game?

Crowd has gone from scared to louder than at any time tonight and into this game!

This run started after Johnson picked up his 4th foul for Akron. Having his big body out has been a big key.

7:55 ... A driving layup by Ibitayo drawing a foul has given Akron a 59-57 lead at the timeout.

Kent State coaches are insisting an Akron player touched the rim before the ball fell in, but the officials are not going to look at it.

Ibitayo can put the Zips up by 3 if he makes the free throw with 7:55 to go.

11:18 ... Akron showing a great deal of fight.

Defense has not been good over last five or six minutes as Akron is getting what it wants at the rim, and now mixing in some threes.

Flashes need to pull it together as Akron is playing free and loose while the Flashes are playing like every possession means the season.

Right now it is tied 51-51.

15:46 ... Kent State up 43-36 at the first media timeout of the second half. 

A few questionable calls have hurt the Flashes here as the officials missed an obvious five-second call on a double team of Isaiah Johnson in the left post. Johnson was closely guarded on a double team for more like 11 seconds. The no call turned into a 3-pointer by Antino Jackson.

Derek Jackson has 21 points on a steal and a layup to kick the lead back out to 7 points.

The officials also got razzed by the fans for a questionable call claiming Derek Jackson stepped out while saving the basketball on the baseline, robbing the Flashes of a 3-pointer that would have the Flashes up by double digits.

Second half is clearly going to be a war.

Akron showing a great deal of heart shorthanded.

FIRST HALF

HALFTIME: Kent State leads 37-29

And how about this ... late in the first half at Kalamazoo and Buffalo, Western Michigan has a double-digit lead on Central Michigan and Bowling Green has a double-digit lead on Buffalo.

If all of these scores hold up, Kent State would have the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament and claim the overall MAC Regular Season Championship.


3:16 ... Jimmy Hall just gave a Dikembe Mutombo finger wave after easily blocking a Antino Jackson layup on the fast break.

The young Jackson needed to better aware of what was going on as he tried to go coast-to-coast on a 1-on-4 that had Hall in front of him and Spicer chasing down a block of his own.

The KSU lead is 33-25.

Jackson has 19 points. He drilled three free throws after getting whacked on another three-point attempt.

6:12 ... Derek Jackson is on fire. He has 16 points on 5-for-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range, and the Flashes take a 25-18 lead into the timeout.

The Flashes watched Akron pull within 4 points at one point as the Flashes settled for a few quick shots.

That happens sometimes when you start out as hot as KSU did in this one. You start to think you can make everything and stop running your stuff in favor of that first look. You almost can't wait to get the ball up to the rim.

Since that little stretch, though, the Flashes have settled down a bit. KSU is 8-for-16 from the field and 4-of-8 from three.

Akron is 7-for-16 overall and 3-of-9 from the arc.

Cheatham has 8 of Akron's 18 and is playing very well.

11:58 ... An 18-3 run by the Golden Flashes  after the 6-0 start for Akron has the Zips looking a bit rattled.

Nothing is coming easy for Akron on the offensive end. Kent State is getting great looks on the other end, going 6-for-9 from the field and 3-for-5.

The last 3-pointer turned into a 4-point play as Derek Jackson hit from 22 feet while getting whacked by Akron's Isiah Johnson.

KSU is 6-for-9 from field and 3-for-5 from three-point range.

15:11 ... Kent State takes a 10-9 lead into the first break, handling a quick 6-0 start by Akron on threes by Jake Kretzer and Kwan Cheatham.

Kent State is getting some good looks inside with some nice passing and with guards like Derek Jackson in attack mode. 

Devareaux Manley became the first Kent State player to make 100 threes in one season with a connection at around the 19-minute to get the Flashes on the scoreboard.

Spicer has a big two-handed dunk on a great find by Kris Brewer.

The Flashes are shooting 4-for-6 from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point range.

PREGAME

On paper, Kent State has to like its chances against a University of Akron team that has taken some significant hits to its roster due to injury.

This is a rivalry game, though, and anything can happen. It's also a rivalry game with one of the best coaches in mid-major college basketball on the opposite sideline.  My bet is Keith Dambrot finds a wrinkle that will keep this game close. He won't have any trouble motivating the Zips, even with key players like center Pat Forsythe (foot) and Noah Robotham (knee) missing.

Without Forsythe, the Zips will likely focus even more on three-point shooting. They already rank 1st in the MAC and 4th nationally in terms of percentage of points coming from beyond the three-point arc at 42 percent.

If Akron gets hot, anything is possible. The Flashes need to close out in control, challenge every three, and force the Zips into contested twos.

Freshman point guard Antino Jackson is capable of hurting the Flashes from long range. He shoots the three at 32 percent. Nyles Evans is a 39 percent shooter who can also hit the three off of ball screens and switches. Aaron Jackson is the third guard in the starting lineup, and he hits his catch-and-shoot threes at a 33-percent clip. Jake Kretzer starts at the four and shoots the three at a little better than 32 percent. Off the bench, Reggie McAdams is a worry. The 6-foot-7 junior shoots 42 percent from beyond the arc and can sizzle off the bench. He has a 31-point night this season.

Akron attempts 28 threes per game this season. It could shoot as many as 40 tonight.

The Zips are also a very good defensive team in the half court, but without Forsythe, it will be interesting to see if they can defend post ups as well as they have all season (9th nationally this season).

Look for KSU to test that interior defense by going inside to Jimmy Hall early and often. Remember, Hall was missing when the Zips beat the Flashes in Akron last month.

KSU will need to try to get easy baskets in transition.

It's senior night for Devareaux Manley, Kris Brewer and Derek Jackson. They should be ready for this one, although we've seen seniors struggle before under the pressure of playing in front of friends and family in their last game at the M.A.C. Center. Hit a few early and that pressure should be ease.

Live Blog: Men's Basketball at Bowling Green

SECOND HALF

FINAL ... Kent State 81, Bowling Green 80

Crazy finish ... Check out @CarducciKSU and @KentStMBB for the updates.

Manley 3 late gave KSU the lead. Free throws by Manley and Hall clinched it.

2:24 ... Threes by Derek Jackson and Kris Brewer have cut the BGSU lead to just 2 points.

The Flashes just got a 35-second violation on the other end to get the ball back.

3:43 ... Officiating has been tough for Kent State. BGSU getting a ton of calls. Kent State can't get one.

Flashes down 6 at 3:36.

6:20 ... Kent State showing some heart as Jackson has cut the BGSU lead to just two with a pretty driving layup, finishing on the other end of the rim.

The Falcons are getting quite a bit out of crashing the boards and not getting called for over the back. KSU needs to be just as aggressive on the other end since there are no whistles coming.

David Joseph, who is extremely limited offensively at 3.9 ppg and 27.5 pct from field (18pct from three), has really hurt the Flashes. The point guard is 2-for-2 from three and 4-for-5 overall with 10 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds.

For the second game in a row, the Flashes are watching the unexpected players give them trouble.

9:09 ... Kris Brewer just drilled another three to force a BGSU timeout.

Great drive and kick by Jackson on the play, bringing some movement back to the Flashes offense.

Brewer is 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.

11:43 ... Brewer with a driving layup and Jimmy Hall with a 15-footer have helped Kent State somewhat stem the tide of a big Bowling Green run.

After being down 11 in the opening minutes, the Falcons surged into a 6-point lead at around the 13-minute mark.

Brewer just hit a driving layup while drawing a foul. The missed attempt to convert the three-point play was the Flashes first miss from the foul line tonight, but KSU still managed to maintain possession as BGSU knocked the ball out of bounds.

Unfortunately, Manley traveled while on a handoff in front of the KSU bench, giving the ball back to the Falcons after this timeout.

Defense has really turned up a notch for BGSU.

16:40 ... Kent State lead is down to 1 at 47-46 with the Flashes inbounding after this media timeout.

Sadly, the lead is down to 1 after it had swelled to 11 following back-to-back 3's by Manley and Jackson to open the half.

Just as they did against Buffalo early in the second half, the Flashes have committed a few careless turnovers ... back-to-back by Manley and Jackson again, and the Falcons took advantage in this 10-0 run.

Holmes now has 19 points. And he is being guarded by Jimmy Hall now after foul trouble for Khaliq Spicer.

Senderoff received a bench warning heading into the timeout.

FIRST HALF

HALFTIME ... Kent State takes a 41-36 lead into the half. It was almost 41-33, but BGSU's Clarke hit a three-quarter court prayer at the buzzer to answer a corner three by Dev Manley with 4 seconds to go before halftime.

Hall checked back in late and picked up his second foul. He still should be fresh for the second half.

Manley leads the Flashes with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range.

Brewer has 9 and Jackson 7 in a balanced scoring effort that has several Flashes with multiple buckets.

Holmes has been a load for BGSU with 14 points.

Key numbers: Flashes shooting 50 pct from the field (14-for-28), 58.3 pct from 3 (7-for-12) and a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.


3:12 ... Criag Brown with a 15-footer followed by a stop and a Derek Jackson 3-pointer.

The Flashes take  34-27 lead and force BGSU to take a timeout.

The good news is this little run has come with Jimmy Hall getting an extended rest on the bench.

A 19-6 run.

6:10 ... Kris Brewer with three consecutive three-pointers, all from the top and all hitting nothing but net, has kept Kent State in this one, breaking the team out of an offensive funk.

The Flashes don't have an answer on the other end, though, for Holmes, who is 5-for-9 from the field and has 12 points. Maybe the double has to come a little sooner. Get the ball out of his hands earlier in the possession.

Kent State's defense has been better with the exception of allowing a few baseline drives by Falcons guards.

11:06 ... Kent State survived an extended stretch with Jimmy Hall on the bench. Down just 17-15 now, but with the ball coming out of this timeout. Hall is checking back in along with the rest of the starters.

The Flashes spent that time with Hall out playing 1-3-1 with Lawrence at the top of the defense, trying to create some havoc.

15:34 ... Bowling Green comes in ranked 10th in the MAC in 3-point shooting and 235th in the country at 32 percent... but the Falcons are already 3-for-4 tonight and that's why they are up 13-11.

Even David Joseph at 18-pct from the season has hit a wide-open 3 after Richaun Holmes found him out of the double team. Holmes is 2-for-2 from the the top of the circle.

Manley is off to a good start for the Flashes, hitting a 3 on the first possession for Kent State. He has 5 total. Jimmy Hall has 4 points on a 2-for-2 start.

PREGAME

Another big game for the Golden Flashes, who as everyone knows by know sit one game behind Bowling Green in the East Division standings and also in a bunch that has five teams all within one game in the Mid-American Conference's overall standings.

The task is pretty simple for the Flashes. Unless they want to rely on getting a whole lot of unlikely help, win tonight and then again on Friday at home against Akron to get a top 4 and possibly even a top 2 seed in next week's MAC Tournament.

If you've watched this team over the last few weeks, you've seen how extended minutes have impacted the stamina of its senior guards. It's hard to blame Derek Jackson, Devareaux Manley and Kris Brewer for being gassed as the loss of Kellon Thomas and a decision to redshirt several players has left an already slim roster with only the three guards on scholarship. Without at least one bye as a top-4 seed, its hard to imagine already tired legs having the ability to win five games in six days next week as a play-in to Cleveland. It's just a whole lot to ask.

So, how do you win these next two games, and specifically tonight at the Stroh Center, where the men's team has never won?

First, the Flashes have to get back to playing the defense that had them in the driver's seat to claim the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament just one week ago. Boy, that seems like a long time ago, doesn't it. So much has changed since Miami scored on its final 16 possessions while coming back from a 19-point second-half deficit in Oxford. Ken Pomeroy's website determined the odds of that comeback as 0.6-percent.

Once again, KSU faces a team that will try to score in transition. The Falcons backcourt doesn't do a great deal of scoring, but it pushes the ball, and the bigs run the floor. 

Attention obviously must be paid to Richaun Holmes, who averages 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per night and scored 20 points with 5 rebounds and 4 assists against the Flashes back in January. Holmes will turn the ball over, however, so the Flashes need to be aggressive with double teams and help Khaliq Spicer every time Holmes gets the ball in the post. 

Jackson may get a bit of a break against David Joseph, the Falcons point guard, who is strictly a pass-first point guard averaging 3.9 points per game and shooting only 27.5 percent from the field and 17 percent from three. Considering his inability to score, the opportunity is there to sit back and keep him out of the paint, where he is most dangerous on drive-and-kicks to teammates.

Jehvon Clarke, Anthony Henderson and Spencer Parker make up the rest of an undersized lineup that along with Joseph stands 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 and 6-7 from 1-to-4 along with Holmes' 6-8. Zack Denny, a 6-2 sophomore, provides some pop off the bench, averaging 9.7 points per game and shooting it at around 40-percent from both the field and three. 

At 32 percent, this is one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country, and the Flashes have to keep them below that average. The Flashes gave away a big lead to BGSU in Kent in large part because of unexpected late threes by Falcons bigs. Surprises like that tonight could end KSU's hopes for a bye.

Spencer Parker came into that game averaging 7 ppg and scored 16. He's bettered that total only once all year. The Falcons were also 8-for-15 from the arc against the Flashes in January, and four of those threes were uncontested.

The Falcons are as good as it gets defensively in the MAC, ranking No. 1 in the league in defensive efficiency, No. 15 in the nation in half-court efficiency, and 10th in the country in press defensive efficiency. With the rate at which the Falcons turn teams over (21 percent), KSU's basketball IQ has to be higher than it has been in the last week.

Another 14-turnover game like the one the Flashes suffered through against BGSU in January would be disastrous. 

Jimmy Hall had a big game against the Falcons with 25 points and 7 rebounds in his MAC debut. Look for him to be the focal point of the offense tonight. The Flashes have gotten into trouble at times when they have stopped running the offense through him in the post. Hall was one of the few players to really show some fire last week against Buffalo. Watching him even now in pre game, you get the feeling that the sophomore is taking the last week personally.

Remember, the Flashes didn't have Derek Jackson the last time they faced BGSU. I have a feeling he'll be ready for this one. According to Senderoff, Jackson feels like he "let the team down" by not being available for the January game. He's looking to make up for that. 

Live Blog: Men's Basketball vs. Buffalo at the M.A.C. Center

SECOND HALF

FINAL: Buffalo 71, Kent State 65

The Golden Flashes put together a run that was simply too little, too late.

A difficult loss. This is one of those games where you could say that the seniors need to take a look in the mirror and decide what they want from this season ... but that may not be fair.

It was pretty clear that senior guards Devareaux Manley, Kris Brewer and Derek Jackson are simply tired. They are the only scholarship guards available, and they keep playing big minutes as the Flashes often play three-guard lineups.

Manley finished with 19 points, but missed his first nine three-pointers, shot 4-for-18 from the field, 2-for-12. Brewer was 1-for-8. And any time Jackson has a hard time keeping opposing guards in front of him, you know stamina has to be a factor as he has been the best defender in the MAC all season long.

5:01 ... Everything has been a struggle for the Flashes. The senior guards simply look gassed. They have logged a lot of minutes as the only three scholarship guards available.

Buffalo's guards are getting to any spot they want on the floor.

Brewer just missed 2 free throws with a chance to cut into Buffalo's 12-point lead.

The Flashes are in trouble.

11:28 ... Kent State trails 50-41 and is in a bit of trouble as Jimmy Hall is having a difficult time getting touches, and the senior guards continue to struggle on both ends of the floor.

The Flashes had 4 turnovers in the first half. Already four in the second half.

15:32 ... Not a great start for Kent State in the second half, but still in this one, trailing 43-37.

Khaliq Spicer is back on the bench again with his 3rd foul, which is a shame as he was having an impact with an offensive rebound and put back and a two-handed dunk in the first 2 minutes of the half.

Kris Brewer just hit a 15 footer that hopefully will get the senior guard trio going. Brewer played only 3 minutes in the first half. Jackson and Manley are a combined 1-for-11 from three-point range to this point.

Two turnovers on the first two possessions got this half off to a difficult start for the Flashes. Both turned into easy dunks on the other end for the Bulls.

FIRST HALF

Buffalo will take a 34-31 lead into the break.

The Flashes battled back, but struggled in the closing minutes as Buffalo used a mini run to jump back on top.

Hurley's battles with the officials haven't done him or his team any favors.

Officials refused to give the Bulls several calls in the last five minutes of the half, including an obvious foul on a half-court shot at the buzzer ... and it's pretty clear they are sending the coach a message.

Kent State is fortunate to be in this one after shooting 36.4 pct from field, including 1-of-12 from 3-point range.

Hall has 11 points and 5 rebounds.

Skeete leads Buffalo with 12, but hasn't scored since his opening 4-for-4. He also has not returned after a hard fall on a defensive rebound late in the first half.


3:43 ... Some sideline antics by Bobby Hurley have helped Kent State get back into this ball game.

The Flashes now lead 31-30.

The Bulls bench first got a sideline warning, and then Hurley got hit with a technical foul from about 90 feet away by official Chris Beaver after Hurley waved his hands in disgust following an offensive foul whistled against Raheem Johnson.

Chris Ortiz hit 4-for-4 from the foul line in a matter of seconds to cut the Buffalo lead to 1.

Then after a steal, Dev Manley faked a three and calmly found Marquiez Lawrence alone on the right block for a layup that also drew a foul.

Up 1 now, Kent State will try to add to the slim advantage with Lawerence at the line.

6:30 ... Flashes are starting to get the some hustle plays to get back into this one.

Derek Jackson with a steal led to a Dev Manley driving layup that could get him turned around. He is currently 1-for-7 from the field.

Jackson also added a 3-pointer to cut the Buffalo lead to 5.

Craig Brown has been active on the boards. He had 3 offensive rebounds on one possession, but the Flashes couldn't convert. Lots of hustle by Brown has him with 6 rebounds.

9:35 ... Jimmy Hall is single handedly keeping Kent State in this.

The Flashes trail 25-16.

Hall is 5-for-6 from the field. The rest of the team is 2-for-11. Hall also has 4 of the 9 rebounds.


15:25 ... A tough start for Kent State as Jarryn Skeete lights up Kent State by hitting his first four 3-pointers ... and Buffalo's first four shots.

Jimmy Hall answered with a 3-for-4 start. But Kent State is just 4-for-9 overall and 0-for-4 from three-point range.

The Flashes find themselves down 18-9.

PREGAME

RADIO: WHLO 640 AM

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We are tracking towards the best atmosphere of the season tonight. An hour before tip-off and already fans are arriving early for the better seats in the upper deck. Usually the sign I look for to predict a big crowd is fans scoping out their upstairs seats about a half hour before tip.

Buffalo's students are already here and loud, sitting in the upper deck of the west stands.

This is becoming a pretty good rivalry. Part of it is because of the Buffalo students who made the game in Amherst such a great college basketball atmosphere in January while also making life very difficult on the Flashes. In my opinion, it was by far the most challenging road setting KSU has faced this season, and that includes the trip to Kansas.

The Bobby Hurley factor also makes this and every rivalry for the Bulls in the MAC a little more interesting. Hurley's sideline demeanor and the sense of entitlement with which he carries himself have made him a natural villain within the league, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It keeps the MAC from being bland. There haven't been a great deal of interesting personalities in the league over the years. Charlie Coles was a larger than life figure within the MAC, but he was pretty much universally loved. He was all class. Hurley is something else.

And while Hurley may not have a likable quality, he appears to be on his way to becoming a pretty good coach. He has the Bulls playing well. He had them whipped into a frenzy when they embarrassed Kent State on Jan. 30.

Transition points were a key to that game. The Bulls forced turnovers and turned them into easy layups. While the Flashes have struggled at times this season with defending in transition, it has usually been for other reasons. Lack of communication and failing to match up were keys to Miami outscoring Kent State 22-0 in transition in a Tuesday loss that was almost as embarrassing as that January trip to Buffalo.

There is a feeling that the Flashes will be playing to atone for quite a bit tonight as they have a long memory to that Buffalo game and the sting of Tuesday could still be very real.

In addition to transition, Kent State's defense needs to be physical without fouling in the paint. Buffalo is No. 1 in the country in scoring around the basket. A good deal of those points also come on offensive rebounds, where the Bulls also rank No. 1.

The matchup between KSU's Jimmy Hall and Buffalo's Justin Moss should be a good one. Moss, of course, leads the MAC in scoring (18.7) and rebounding (9.3).

Hall could actually see most of his minutes on defense matched up with Xavier Ford, who was a nightmare for Kent State in January with a career-high 25 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Khaliq Spicer will get the assignment on Moss, where the Flashes hope to see Spicer's length create some problems for the 6-foot-7 Buffalo junior.

The Bulls are not a particularly good perimeter team, but they can be streaky.

Derek Jackson has looked tired of late, and who can blame him with the minutes he has been logging. The Flashes need the senior to come out and dominate his matchup with Buffalo freshman Lamonte Bearden. Devareaux Manley also needs to match the Shannon Evans, who is an athletic combo guard and averaging 15.1 ppg coming into this one.

We've been saying it all week. This is a big game. But all three remaining regular-season games are big for Kent State as the Flashes come into the day tied for first place in the East Division with BGSU (a winner of Miami about an hour ago), both one game ahead of Buffalo in the East and one behind Central Michigan for the MAC's best overall record.

If you are Kent State, you know it's just a matter of winning to control your own destiny for a division championship and byes in the MAC Championship. That's a good position when you have five teams at the top of the overall league standings and all separated by only one game.

Live Blog: Men's Basketball at Miami ... Looking for win No. 20

SECOND HALF

OVERTIME

Miami 86, Kent State 81

An awful finish for Kent State.

The Flashes gave away a 19-point lead. Miami with great heart comes back to spoil win No. 20.

Kent State needs your help against Buffalo at home on Saturday.

END OF REGULATION...

Some craziness to end regulation ... Check out @CarducciKSU and @KentStMBB on Twitter for the play by play...

... But we have overtime

Tied at 77-77.


1:06 ... What seemed like a cakewalk with kent State up 19 at 8:21 is now a grind.

The Flashes lead has evaporated as the Flashes can't make anything and Miami is rolling.

Back-to-back transition 3's by Sullivan and Eustace make it 73-71.

Just a 2-point lead.

7:09 ... Three free throws by Derek Jackson after getting hammered at the top put Kent State ahead 64-45.

Miami has answered with two quick scores, but the Flashes still in complete control of this one. Just need to handle seven minutes of full-court pressure to secure win No. 20.

8:32 ... Flashes now in complete control.

Manley has another 3 on a nice baseline drive and find by Kris Brewer.

Brewer has added his own 3-point play on a driving layup with a little more than 9 minutes to go.

The Kent State lead is now 61-45.

11:55 ... The Flashes are doing a great job of not allowing the officiating to get to them. In what has to feel like playing 8-on-5 basketball, the Flashes have a 52-43 lead after Dev Manley added to his single-season record with 3-pointer No. 91 from the top of the key. Manley was wide open after some great ball movement.

The free-throw situation is really pretty crazy.

Miami is 22-of-28.

Kent State is outscoring the RedHawks in the paint to the tune of 26-14, but not getting the calls.

But no frustration shown by the players (coaches are another story). Flashes keep answering Miami mini runs.



15:14 ... Kent State has a 47-34 lead at the 15:14 timeout.

Miami scored the first bucket of the half, but that was followed by a run that has the Flashes in control.

The big news, though ...

FIRST HALF

HALFTIME: Kent State 38-30 lead at the break

How the officials missed an all-out tackle by Miami's Chris Bryant on Kris Brewer just before the halftime buzzer is beyond me.

It's hard to have a whole lot of issue with Miami taking 23 FT's in the 1st half. Kent State had trouble stopping Eric Washington and did commit quite a few fouls right at the rim.

But it's hard to believe Mike Sanzere, Jim Schipper and Rob Kruger missed such an obvious call when it's that hard.

Kent State's entire coaching staff gave the officials an earful heading off the floor.

Jimmy Hall was fantastic in the first half, going 7-for-11 with 15 points and 4 rebounds in 13 minutes.

Miami shot just 28 percent from the field 6-for-21, but stayed in the game by shooting 17-for-23 from the foul line.

Kent State is 5-for-10.

2:39 ... Kris Brewer doesn't have big numbers, but he's playing a very good floor game. His combination of aggressiveness and patience has helped the Flashes handle Miami's full-court pressure.

In half court, he is getting into the lane and finding open shooters. Khaliq Spicer also now adding quite a bit on both ends. A 2-hand dunk on one end, blocking two shots on the other.

Only free throws keeping Miami in this one.

7:53 ... Kent State has settled down after a stretch of rocky play against Miami's 2-2-1 and man full-court pressure.

Now that the Flashes have found a way to get into their offense, they are working Miami over inside with Jimmy Hall. The sophomore has 10 points already and will be trying to complete a three-point play out of the break.

One developing story, though, as Derek Jackson picked up two quick fouls – the second a phantom foul by Jim Schipper after Miami's Eric Washington slipped without contact and lost the ball out of bounds.

11:43 ... A slim 12-10 lead for the Flashes with Craig Brown heading to the line after this break.

I like the look for Kent State defensively over the last few possessions with a 1-3-1 zone featuring Marquiez Lawrence at the top. His length and athleticism can be disruptive in that role, and it has already paid off with a string of stops, including a turnover on the very first look. Unfortunately, Lawrence turned it right back over, losing the ball on a chance for a bust out.

Miami is 3-for-10 from field but 4-for-4 from the foul line.

Jimmy Hall has 6 and Ortiz 5 for the Flashes.

15:49 ... Kent State leads 7-4 at the first media timeout.

Jimmy Hall got the start as expected and so far he is playing well on both ends, having his way against Miami's Chris Bryant in the block offensively while also doing well shutting down point guard Eric Washington on two switches defensively.

Chris Ortiz has an early three to break the 4-4 tie.

Defense has been very good, as expected, with the exception of a good hard cut by Will Sullivan that led to an easy layup for the RedHawks.

Miami is just 1-for-5 from the field.

PREGAME

The Golden Flashes have quite a bit on the line tonight as they prepare to play Miami University at Millett Hall. A win would get Kent State back into the 20-win club. It would also secure a season sweep of the RedHawks for just the 10th time dating back to 1951. After completing the rare season sweep of Ohio University in Athens on Saturday, the Flashes have a chance to go 4-0 against Miami and Ohio in a regular season for just the third time ever. The last two times that happened (2002 and 2008) were MAC Championship seasons for Kent State, both in the regular season and the tournament.


It will be interesting to see just how road weary the Flashes are. They have been away from home since leaving for Athens on Friday afternoon. Following the win over Ohio on Saturday, the Flashes drove directly to Oxford. They practiced at Xavier on Sunday, then chose not to go to a movie that night in favor of a team bonding trip to the bowling alley. The coaches, led by Mike McKee's 200-plus game, were the winners. McKee is one of those guys who is good at just about every sport he tries. I played the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland with him almost two years ago and watched him nearly drive the famous Road Hole 17th. He used driver-putter to reach the green. Pretty impressive.

The good news with regard to the trip is that Jimmy Hall has had no ill effects from his first game back from mononucleosis. Rob Senderoff said Hall told him he wasn't a bit winded after the game.

While he isn't listed currently in the starting lineup, look for Hall to be on the floor for the opening tip.

Stopping Miami's guards will be the key for tonight, and in particular keeping point guard Eric Washington and two-guard Geovonie McKnight from getting into the lane and creating for themselves and others. Their ability to disrupt Akron with penetration was a key to the RedHawks overtime win over the Zips on Saturday. Will Sullivan (10.5 ppg) is the third Miami player averaging in double figures this season, joining Washington (14.3) and McKnight (10.9), and he is the outside threat.

The Flashes need to keep Miami's guards out of the paint and from driving baseline, but also be aware and ready to find Sullivan on the perimeter.  They also need to get back in transition, which was an issue at times in Kent State's 61-60 win over Miami at the M.A.C. Center at the M.A.C. Center.

Kent State did not have Hall in that game. Ortiz played very well at the four spot in Hall's place in the last meeting. But with Hall's return, Chris Ortiz slides back to the three to start tonight' game, but look for him to get most of his minutes at the four with Hall moving to the five after Kent State's first subs come in.

Miami starts with two bigs on the floor, but only plays around 14 minutes per night with that unit. The RedHawks play about 26 minutes with essentially five guards on the floor at the same time, so look for Derek Jackson, Devareaux Manley and Kris Brewer to be on the floor most of the night with Gary Akbar joining Ortiz with big minutes at the four. Hall, while starting at the four, is essentially also Khaliq Spicer's backup at the five tonight. After 18 minutes on Saturday, we'll see how Hall handles bigger minutes tonight. The belief is that he is ready.

Hall and Ortiz can have their way with Miami inside as the RedHawks have no go-to bigs. They start with 6-foot-8 Chris Bryant and 6-foot-9 Logan McLane, who average a combined 8 points per game. Off the bench, 6-foot-10 L.J. Livingston brings some size, but he averages less than 5 per game.

Something to watch ... with his first 3-pointer, Devareaux Manley will tie Randal Holt's single-season record at 89. My guess is we will see that happen early.

Live Blog: Men's Basketball at Ohio

FINAL: Kent State wins 64-51.

Click HERE for a link to the game story.

Ohio is struggling, but as a wise man once told me, never take a win in Athens for granted!

The season sweep of the Bobcats is secure and the Flashes are now alone in first place in the MAC East. A chance for 20 wins and possibly to lock up a bye in the MAC tournament awaits on Tuesday at Miami.

4:30 ... Kent State has the ball out of this timeout, up 58-46.

With Bowling Green losing at the moment to Buffalo, the Flashes have a chance to move into first place all by itself in the Mid-Ameican Conference East Division.

7:22 ... The Kent State lead is 56-44. A Devareaux Manley 4-point play has helped the cause ... as has an old-fashioned 3-point play by Jimmy Hall on an offensive rebound and putback around the 10-minute mark that led to a double fist pump that said "I'm back."

Hall has 9 points and 3 rebounds.

12:49 ... Ohio cut the Kent State lead to 2 points, but the Flashes have answered the run.

Khaliq Spicer has four quick points heading into this timeout – a pretty jump hook from the right block and a nice adjustment in the air, flipping in a layup on the previous possession.

Spicer also blocked a jumper by Willis with a nice switch off a screen.

Kris Brewer has also been more aggressive going to the basket in the last few minutes.

15:41 ... The Flashes lead 41-34, but Ohio has Khari Harley going to the line trying to finish off a thee-point play out of this timeout.

Manley was whistled for the foul on the fast break, but it didn't look like there was contact on the play.

Some foul trouble now for the Flashes. Manley has 3 as does Jimmy Hall.

Senderoff will stick with Manley on the floor coming out of this timeout. Manley has nine points on 3-of-7 from three-point range.



HALFTIME ... Kent State 36, Ohio 25

Kent State used a 13-2 run to take a double-digit lead into the half.

The offense has picked up. It's been a struggle offensively most of the way, though, shooting 38.7 percent.

Lots of balance with 8 different Flashes in the scorebook, led by Ortiz and Manley's 67 points.

3:50 ... Jimmy Hall just drew a charge ... well, at least he should have. Officials called a block on a call that had Rob Senderoff incensed heading into the timeout.

Hall is moving better and playing better in an extended shift. He has 4 points and 4 rebounds.

Shooting still very poor on both ends. Flashes and Bobcats both at 29 percent. Both teams also have 19 rebounds.

7:29 ... Ohio and Kent State are tied up at 19-19. The Flashes offense has struggled, but work on the offensive glass has helped make up for early misses.

The Flashes are 7-for-24 from the field, but have grabbed the offensive rebound on 7 of those misses, scoring 10 second-chance points.

Hall had one great offensive rebound and put-back, working hard to grab the loose ball rebound, then spinning in the lane for his first basket of February.

10:26 ... It took a while to get to this first update. Internet can be a little spotty on the road. The signal was lost, but back up and running courtesy of a handy, dandy internet card.

The Flashes have a 15-11 lead. Defense has been very good so far for the Flashes, who have held Ohio to 4-for-17 shooting and just 1-of-7 from three-point range.

Willis has struggled for the Bobcats. The streaky senior guard is just 1-for-4.

It took a while for the Flashes to hit their first perimeter shot. Devareaux Manley broke the ice with a three-pointer just before the 11-minute mark. The Flashes are 5-for-17 from the field (29 percent) and 1-of-5 from three.

Chris Ortiz is off to a very nice start with 6 points and 4 rebounds. He is 4-for-4 from the foul line and his one field goal was a thundering 1-handed slam on a run through the lane.

Jimmy Hall is on the floor now for what is his second stint so far. He looked rusty in his first few minutes, going 0-for-2 and turning the ball over with a travel.

PREGAME

The snow has finally stopped here in Athens and the crews are out and hard at work clearing the way for fans to get to the Convo.

Ty Linder and I changed our plans of driving out on the day of the game and made the trip last night. Staying at the team hotel meant getting some good early news ... The Flashes learned during breakfast this morning that star forward Jimmy Hall has been cleared to play today after missing the last five games with mononucleosis.

I talked briefly with Rob Senderoff this morning, and he said he isn't sure how much Hall will play today. He has been doing cardio work since Sunday, and he isn't sure how close Hall is to game shape. Senderoff said Hall will come off the bench.

If today's pre-game shootaround is any indication, Devareaux Manley could be ready for a big night. Manley hit just about every shot he attempted during an extended workout with assistant coach DeAndre Haynes. If Hall can give the Flashes some productive minutes today and demand a double team, Manley should get better looks from the perimeter than he has in the last five games. Manley has still averaged 18.8 points per game in that period without Hall.

The Flashes will be wearing their home whites today as Ohio has planned a "Black Out" game.

Some keys for today:

No matter what happens with Hall, the Flashes are going to need Chris Ortiz and Khaliq Spicer to continue their run of fine play and force Maurice Ndour work defensively in the paint. The Ohio senior averages 14.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game and had 19 points and 12 rebounds against Kent State in the Jan. 21 meeting at the M.A.C. Center. Prior to that game, he had struggled in two previous games with the Flashes.

Kent State needs to keep Javarez Willis from getting off early. He is a very streaky, high-volume shooter who comes in averaging 15.2 points per game and shooting 38.3 percent from three-point range. Willis started out cold at the M.A.C. Center last month and stayed that way, going 1-for-7 from the field and 1-for-4 from 3-point range.

Live Blog: Men's Basketball vs. Ball State

SECOND HALF

FINAL: Kent State 58, Ball State 53

At 18-8 overall and 9-4 in MAC play, the Golden Flashes have moved back into first place in the MAC, tied with Bowling Green. Akron and Toledo are currently deadlocked at 66-66 at the J.A.R.

0:18 ... Bowling Green has lost to Miami, so Kent State with a few free throws will move back into first place.

Manley at the line ... good, good ... and the lead is 58-51.

0:38 ... Short internet outage, but back up and running.

Kent State leads 53-49 and has the basketball. The Flashes have done a poor job on the defensive boards late in this second half as Ball State has kept several possessions alive.

A wide-open three by Bo Calhoun just trimmed the Kent State lead to four points, and the Flashes very nearly turned the ball over against a half-court trap.

Coming out of the timeout called by Rob Senderoff, Chris Ortiz sent to the foul line. One-and-one.

5:00 ... A Ball State timeout creates some time for the stat of the night coming to us from a loyal fan in Memphis:

7:42 ... A Kris Brewer elbow jumper gave Kent State its largest lead at 44-34.

Oddly, the Flashes extend that lead despite a nearly six-minute scoring drought for the Flashes.

Defense continues to be the key for Kent State.

11:35 ... The lead is 42-34 at the under 12 media timeout. A Chris Ortiz offensive foul, his second of the half, will give the ball back to Ball State.

The defense has been very good so far in the second half, holding Ball State to just 33 percent shooting. The Flashes are a matching 3-for-9 though with five turnovers in first 8:25 of second half.

13:24 ... Kent State may have weathered another early storm by Ball State.

The Flashes have kicked the lead back out to 9 points at 42-33, and again thanks in large part to the play of Spicer.

He has 2 more free throws (4-for-4 tonight) to get him to 10 points. Those came on another offensive rebound, his sixth, giving him nine overall.

Spicer won't get credit for another rebound near the 14-minute mark, but he tipped a miss by Jackson right back into the hands of the senior guard for an easy layup.

A transition three by Manley off of a very sloppy turnover by Zavier Turner also played a part in the Kent State run.

15:54 ... An early run by Ball State has cut Kent State's lead to just 2 points at 35-33.

The Cardinals appear to be trying to take away some of the aggressiveness on the backdown by Ortiz, drawing attention to the physical play with a flop one possession after drawing an offensive foul on an Akbar backdown. The first call was a good one. The second, not so much.

FIRST HALF

HALFTIMEm, Kent State 32, Ball State 25

Guards Derek Jackson, Kris Brewer and Devareaux Manley have played a part in this lead, but have not been featured as the Flashes have looked inside first.

Spicer and Ortiz have 8 points each. Spicer also has 8 rebounds and Kent State has outscored the Cardinals 16-6 in the paint.

The Flashes watched the Cardinals cut into an 11-point lead just a bit before halftime. The Cardinals have a short bench with only seven players seeing action so far.

Kent State has outscored Ball State 9-0 off of the bench.

2:59 ... Kent State is rolling now, up 32-21 and with the ball back coming out of this timeout after forcing a turnover with its full-court pressure.

Khaliq Spicer having his best half of the season with 8 points and 8 rebounds already. The junior center has also thrown down a pair of two-handed dunks after Ball State's defenders lost track of him. Those are big plays considering dunks for Kent State have oddly been anything but a sure thing this season.

Flashes outscoring Ball State 16-6 in the paint.

Bo Calhoun has 8 points to lead Ball State.

6:26 ... A 13-0 run has helped the Flashes vault into the lead, which is now 22-19 with a chance to grow as Chris Ortiz will head to the line out of the break.

Ortiz backed down Franko House for the righty hook. That has been a go-to move for Ortiz so far in his 6-point start.

House and Sean Sellers lead the Cardinals with 6 points each.

Spicer continues to be very good on the glass with 7 rebounds, including five offensively. He also has a blocked shot and 4 points in 12 minutes of work.

The size advantage has been key. Flashes outscoring the Cardinals 12-4 in the paint.

10:31 ... The intensity has picked up for Kent State. After falling behind by 8 points, the Flashes have battled back to tie at 15-15.

Khaliq Spicer has been very old on the offensive glass with 3 rebounds and 4 second-chance points.

Gary Akbar has brought energy on both ends. He has 5 points and 2 rebounds.

Flashes are also 3-for-3 early from the line.

15:50 ... A fast start offensively for Ball State going 3-for-3 from three-point range in the first four minutes and 4-for-4 overall.

Kent State has countered by going inside for all of its points. Khaliq Spicer has an offensive rebound and put back. Chris Ortiz has a righty hook. Gary Akbar has a three-point play on a driving layup.

The Flashes trail 11-7 and are now going full-court pressure to try to liven up things defensively.

PREGAME

6:50 p.m. ... Here are the officials for tonight's game: Bill Ek, Steve McJunkins and Kevin Ferguson. Another veteran Mid-American Conference crew.

6:45 p.m. ... We are a little more than 15 minutes away from tip-off.

I'm struggling with a cold tonight and hoping it has an impact to my radio voice similar to Phoebe's raspy Smelly Cat on Friends.

6:32 p.m. ... Jimmy Hall was a nightmare for Ball State when the two teams met in Muncie back on Jan. 24, scoring a career-high 32 points and dominating the play on both ends.

The bad news for for the Flashes is Jimmy Hall is out for tonight's game, and hopefully for the last time after battling mononucleosis. Hall has been working out. He is feeling better. He just isn't quite ready to play tonight. He'll be day-to-day, and the hope is to have him on Saturday at Ohio University or next week at Miami University.

Hall's absence shouldn't change the game plan against Ball State. The Cardinals don't have much size. They don't have a rim protector. Their tallest player, 6-foot-8 Matt Kamieniecki missed the last game with Ken State and is still out of the lineup for the Cardinals.

Chris Ortiz has picked up his game in Hall's absence and has been very good when his game has focused inside first. He shown the ability to finish over both shoulders and is more confident with his post moves. Ortiz struggled to an 0-for-4 game at Muncie, but look for him to be a big part of tonight's focus offensively.

Derek Jackson, Kris Brewer and Devareaux Manley are coming off big performances in Friday's win over Toledo, bouncing back from a tough outing at Akron earlier in the week. They've been putting in the extra time in the gym, and it's showing. Seniors like Jackson, Brewer and Manley are the reason teams like Kent State avoid letdown games against struggling teams like Ball State.

The Cardinals come in as the losers of 10 straight since opening MAC play 2-0 with wins over Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan. Ball State is a young team that has lost a key player to eligibility and its starting five man. And still, the Cardinals have been in just about every game during their 10-game losing streak.

Sean Sellers is a player to watch. The 6-foot-6 forward is one of the better freshmen in the league. He scored 16 in their loss to the Flashes last month. Bo Calhoun and Franko House are undersized fours, both at 6-foot-6, but are capable of getting the Cardinals going in the paint. They scored 13 and 12, respectively, against Kent State in Muncie.