SECOND HALF
FIRST HALF
PREGAME
FINAL ... Eastern Michigan 70, Kent State 53
The Eagles have ended a 17-game losing streak against Kent State.
1:11 ... Kent State is going to lose this one ... down 66-51 with 1:11 to play ... but the spark provided by the youngsters needs to force some veterans to take more ownership.
Some veterans have not been locked in. Their minutes have been going down already as the sophomores have been playing more and more. Now some seniors and juniors are going to have to find ways to up their production with fewer minutes.
3:19 ... The youngsters cut the lead to 56-49 after a Jackson steal led to a Johnson layup.
Eastern has answered a bit and leads 59-49. Flashes need a stop.
The problem now is that the youngsters who have changed the game and provided some momentum have expended quite a bit of energy in last five minutes... The veterans have to start filtering in. Can they keep up the momentum?
6:46 ... Young lineup has outscored Eastern Michigan 8-1 with a chance for more after Eastern Michigan whistled for an intentional foul. Officials changed to intentional after going to monitor.
Now 9-1 after Ortiz goes 1-for-2 from the line. Flashes inbound under basket.
Four sophomores and one junior still even after Thomas subbed in at the point for Simmons. Thomas came up with a quick steal after entering the game, leading to the fast break that turned into the intentional foul on Ortiz attacking the basket.
8:19 ... Kent State going younger and younger as the veterans have done very little.
Lineup now has four sophomores in Dev Carter, Ortiz, Spicer and Simmons along with a junior in Jackson.
That group has trimmed four points off of a 20-point Eastern lead. Now 55-39.
11:23 ... Another long drought. Kent State has just two points during an ugly stretch since the 17:23 mark and is now down 53-34.
The run is 18-2.
15:49 ... The youngsters cut the Eastern Michigan lead to three points with a 7-0 run to start the second half.
The Eagles have ended a 17-game losing streak against Kent State.
1:11 ... Kent State is going to lose this one ... down 66-51 with 1:11 to play ... but the spark provided by the youngsters needs to force some veterans to take more ownership.
Some veterans have not been locked in. Their minutes have been going down already as the sophomores have been playing more and more. Now some seniors and juniors are going to have to find ways to up their production with fewer minutes.
3:19 ... The youngsters cut the lead to 56-49 after a Jackson steal led to a Johnson layup.
Eastern has answered a bit and leads 59-49. Flashes need a stop.
The problem now is that the youngsters who have changed the game and provided some momentum have expended quite a bit of energy in last five minutes... The veterans have to start filtering in. Can they keep up the momentum?
6:46 ... Young lineup has outscored Eastern Michigan 8-1 with a chance for more after Eastern Michigan whistled for an intentional foul. Officials changed to intentional after going to monitor.
Now 9-1 after Ortiz goes 1-for-2 from the line. Flashes inbound under basket.
Four sophomores and one junior still even after Thomas subbed in at the point for Simmons. Thomas came up with a quick steal after entering the game, leading to the fast break that turned into the intentional foul on Ortiz attacking the basket.
8:19 ... Kent State going younger and younger as the veterans have done very little.
Lineup now has four sophomores in Dev Carter, Ortiz, Spicer and Simmons along with a junior in Jackson.
That group has trimmed four points off of a 20-point Eastern lead. Now 55-39.
11:23 ... Another long drought. Kent State has just two points during an ugly stretch since the 17:23 mark and is now down 53-34.
The run is 18-2.
15:49 ... The youngsters cut the Eastern Michigan lead to three points with a 7-0 run to start the second half.
It turned, however, when the veterans entered the game. Eastern has pushed the lead back to 43-32 as the Flashes are settling for poor, contested threes after attacking the inside of the zone in the early going of this half.
FIRST HALF
HALFTIME ... Kent State trails 35-25 despite shooting it at a respectable 45.5 percent (10-for-22). Most of those misses came during a scoring drought that lasted more than seven minutes.
Two Dev Manley threes have helped. He has eight points and has played well off of the bench.
Derek Jackson has seven points. He has been aggressive at both ends.
Unforced turnovers have killed the Flashes with most of them coming on the inability to catch passes on the baseline against the Eastern Zone.
In all, the Flashes have eight turnovers. Seven of those came very early in the game.
The Flashes have not done a good job of stopping the penetration of Eastern Michigan's guards. Combs has 12 points off of the Eastern bench, going 5-for-7 from the field. Raven Lee has nine.
The Eagles guards are playing one-on-one ball, and when they get by the defender, the help has been inconsistent. Spicer does have two blocked shots, and he drew a charge on Eastern's last possession to keep the deficit at 10.
Eagles are shooting it at a 56-percent clip (14-for-25) including 4-of-8 from three-point range.
The Flashes are 3-for-10 from three with Manley at 2-for-4 and Jackson at 1-for-2.
3:12 ... A jumper by Manley finally ended the Kent State drought of a little over seven minutes.
Manley also drilled a three from the left wing that has helped to keep Kent State in the game.
Spicer has checked back in and blocked a shot leading to a three-on-one break that ended with a Manley missed three just before this time out. Spicer kept the play alive hustling for the offensive rebound that tipped out of bounds off of an Eastern player.
Need to score out of this timeout to cut the Eastern lead inside double digits and hopefully end this half with some momentum.
7:28 ... Kent State hasn't scored in 6:19 and trails 23-12.
Khaliq Spicer has missed two entry passes, possibly due to the injured right wrist. He has not checked back in after leaving the floor early.
The Flashes are looking for a spark with Marquiez Lawrence on the floor. The freshman is at least talking on defense and has blocked a shot in his first minute on the floor.
10:44 ... The Flashes are shooting a fine 5-for-9 from the floor ... and that was 5-for-7 before Kris Brewer missed back-to-back threes.
Five turnovers are killing Kent State early, however.
Eastern is 9-for-15 ... six more shots with no turnovers and the game's only two second-chance points.
Eagles lead is 20-12.
15:27 ... Poor defense is a big reason Kent State finds itself down 11-6 at the first media timeout.
Two Dev Manley threes have helped. He has eight points and has played well off of the bench.
Derek Jackson has seven points. He has been aggressive at both ends.
Unforced turnovers have killed the Flashes with most of them coming on the inability to catch passes on the baseline against the Eastern Zone.
In all, the Flashes have eight turnovers. Seven of those came very early in the game.
The Flashes have not done a good job of stopping the penetration of Eastern Michigan's guards. Combs has 12 points off of the Eastern bench, going 5-for-7 from the field. Raven Lee has nine.
The Eagles guards are playing one-on-one ball, and when they get by the defender, the help has been inconsistent. Spicer does have two blocked shots, and he drew a charge on Eastern's last possession to keep the deficit at 10.
Eagles are shooting it at a 56-percent clip (14-for-25) including 4-of-8 from three-point range.
The Flashes are 3-for-10 from three with Manley at 2-for-4 and Jackson at 1-for-2.
3:12 ... A jumper by Manley finally ended the Kent State drought of a little over seven minutes.
Manley also drilled a three from the left wing that has helped to keep Kent State in the game.
Spicer has checked back in and blocked a shot leading to a three-on-one break that ended with a Manley missed three just before this time out. Spicer kept the play alive hustling for the offensive rebound that tipped out of bounds off of an Eastern player.
Need to score out of this timeout to cut the Eastern lead inside double digits and hopefully end this half with some momentum.
7:28 ... Kent State hasn't scored in 6:19 and trails 23-12.
Khaliq Spicer has missed two entry passes, possibly due to the injured right wrist. He has not checked back in after leaving the floor early.
The Flashes are looking for a spark with Marquiez Lawrence on the floor. The freshman is at least talking on defense and has blocked a shot in his first minute on the floor.
10:44 ... The Flashes are shooting a fine 5-for-9 from the floor ... and that was 5-for-7 before Kris Brewer missed back-to-back threes.
Five turnovers are killing Kent State early, however.
Eastern is 9-for-15 ... six more shots with no turnovers and the game's only two second-chance points.
Eagles lead is 20-12.
15:27 ... Poor defense is a big reason Kent State finds itself down 11-6 at the first media timeout.
The Flashes are letting both Lee and Talley get to the rim. Lee also has an NBA three off of an inbounds play.
Three early turnovers also on offense as two Darren Goodson passes have been hard to handle on the baseline for Chris Ortiz and Khaliq Spicer.
When the Flashes get shots, they are hitting ... 3-for-4 so far.
PREGAME
1:45 p.m. ... The starting lineups have been posted and Kent State will indeed start what is believed to be its youngest lineup in over a decade.
Chris Ortiz moves into the starting lineup. He will play the three.
That makes three sophomores starting when you include Kellon Thomas at the point and Khaliq Spicer at the five.
Darren Goodson starts at the four and Derek Jackson at the two.
That means Kris Brewer will come off of the bench for the first time this season.
1:40 p.m. ... Officials today are D.J. Carstensen, Todd Van Sossan and Daniel Dorian. Supervisor J.D. Collins is also in the building. He was one of the best we had in the MAC before an injury shortened his career as an official.
1:09 p.m. ... We are less than an hour away from today's tip-off here at EMU. Pregame show on WHLO 640 AM and on iHeart.com will start at 1:30 p.m.
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| Khaliq Spicer in pre-game at EMU Convocation Center |
11:52 a.m. ... In case you missed it, Kent State practiced at the Detroit Pistons practice facility on Thursday. I talked with Rob Senderoff about the opportunity yesterday and posted it on the Men's Basketball Blog.
Senderoff's friendship with the Pistons assistant GM helped make that happen. It was a good experience for the guys, seeing the Pistons championship trophies, then getting to practice in a real NBA facility.
Joe Dumars, Henry Bibby and some other Pistons officials were on hand to great the team.
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| This is the second season for this impressive scoreboard here at the EMU Convocation Center |
11:50 a.m. ... Pregame meal and personnel video on Eastern Michigan is over and the players are getting ready to pack up for the team bus to Eastern Michigan's Convocation Center.
Several of us were at the Convocation Center on Thursday night to watch the women play the Eagles. The arena has a spectacular new scoreboard that is even more impressive than what Buffalo has. With that and a few other upgrades, the Eagles' home is probably the No. 2 facility in the Mid-American Conference behind Toledo's Savage Arena.
After the frustrating second half in Mount Pleasant, Mich., this is an important game for the Golden Flashes, who hope to have Khaliq Spicer back from injury.
Spicer played the first five minutes on Wednesday and couldn't continue after getting hurt in that morning's shoot around at Central Michigan.
My guess based on seeing him at breakfast and the team meeting is that he will give it a go today, but that decision probably won't come until just before tip and he has had an opportunity to go through pre-game to test the injury.
11:33 a.m. ... Who starts for the Golden Flashes against the big and athletic Eagles will be determined by that injury. We could see a change or two even if Khaliq Spicer can start.
After struggling with pressure in the second half of the last two games, Kent State knows Eastern's defense has to be drooling coming into today. The Eagles are known for defense. They will use a 1-2-1-1 diamond press and then a 2-2-1 three-quarter-court press dropping back into their 2-3.
That 2-3 zone is extremely active with guards like Mike Talley and Ray Lee gambling at the top and playing the passing lanes. They like to turn steals into quick offense. Their points off of turnovers are top-25 in the country, more than 20 per game.
The 2-3 leads to poor defensive rebounding. The Eagles are among the worst in the country in that area, so Kent State needs to try be thinking second-chance points, especially if they struggle from the perimeter. Getting Kris Brewer, Derek Jackson, Dev Manley and K.K. Simmons going from the perimeter early would be a plus, but if they aren't hitting, Spicer, Henniger, Ortiz and everyone who plays up front needs to attack the offensive glass.
Talley, Lee and 6-7 forward Karrington Ward are very aggressive in transition. In the half court, pretty much everyone is looking to go 1-on-1. Defense on those players will be key early. The Eagles are streaky, and if they get hot early, they tend to stay hot. If they struggle early, they tend to struggle the entire 40 minutes.
Eastern is more bigger and for the most part more athletic at almost every position, so Kent State's coaches have been preaching staying aggressive and focused for 40 minutes.
Focus has been an issue for this group.
Senderoff and his staff keep using words like "locked in."
Struggling against pressure comes down to being locked in. For those of us who attend practice, we know what the responsibilities are against full-court pressure. Run the baseline, cut hard and and flash when you are supposed to and this team can break pressure easily ... but time after time on Wednesday and late against Akron, players weren't bothering to follow though on those simple assignments. Will they wan tot today? If so, Kent State will find another opportunity to potentially turn its season around. Fail to learn those lessons again and take coaching and it'll be difficult to win.
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