SECOND HALF
FINAL ... Buffalo 80, Kent State 55
An ugly loss. Buffalo fed off of a great crowd.
Kent State fans need to return the favor when Buffalo comes to the M.A.C. Center and give the Flashes the same advantage.
The great news with that is Kent State's students have been fantastic so far this season. I'm sure they'll show up strong on Feb. 28.
Xavier Ford was fantastic for the Bulls with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
Jimmy Hall led the Flashes with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
3:53 ... Some numbers, and none of them are good:
Kent State is shooting 35 percent from the field (15-of-43), 26 percent from three (5-of-19) an dust 54 percent from the foul line (12-for-22).
The defense that has been so good for Kent State all season long has allowed Buffalo to hit 8-of-21 from three ... more attempts allowed than the norm along with more makes. Buffalo is also shooting 48 percent from the field (29-for-60).
KSU is losing 24-15 on second chance points, 34-18 in the paint and 8-3 on fast break points.
7:44 ... The lead has swelled to 67-37.
Unfortunately, Kent State continues to lose track of Xavier Ford. He just had another tip-in that was just shy of a tip dunk as he was above the rim.
Ford now has 25 points, nine rebounds, four of those rebounds are on the offensive end.
Jimmy Hall is still the lone bright spot with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also has five rebounds in 28 minutes.
10:37 ... A Khaliq Spicer gave the Flashes a nice little highlight. A pretty fake to the corner and then baseline drive led to the two-handed slam.
That highlight hasn't been enough, though.
The Flashes are down 65-34.
Bobby Hurley still wants some whistles, though. He has been all over the officials even with a 30-opint lead.
15:19 ... The Buffalo lead has swelled to 58-30.
Kent State's coaches tried to manufacture some energy by going to full-court pressure and then switching to a 2-3 zone in the half court.
17:56 ... Any hope of a comeback has already been made more difficult as Ford has drilled two more threes. KSU is down 51-25.
An ugly loss. Buffalo fed off of a great crowd.
Kent State fans need to return the favor when Buffalo comes to the M.A.C. Center and give the Flashes the same advantage.
The great news with that is Kent State's students have been fantastic so far this season. I'm sure they'll show up strong on Feb. 28.
Xavier Ford was fantastic for the Bulls with 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
Jimmy Hall led the Flashes with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
3:53 ... Some numbers, and none of them are good:
Kent State is shooting 35 percent from the field (15-of-43), 26 percent from three (5-of-19) an dust 54 percent from the foul line (12-for-22).
The defense that has been so good for Kent State all season long has allowed Buffalo to hit 8-of-21 from three ... more attempts allowed than the norm along with more makes. Buffalo is also shooting 48 percent from the field (29-for-60).
KSU is losing 24-15 on second chance points, 34-18 in the paint and 8-3 on fast break points.
7:44 ... The lead has swelled to 67-37.
Unfortunately, Kent State continues to lose track of Xavier Ford. He just had another tip-in that was just shy of a tip dunk as he was above the rim.
Ford now has 25 points, nine rebounds, four of those rebounds are on the offensive end.
Jimmy Hall is still the lone bright spot with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also has five rebounds in 28 minutes.
10:37 ... A Khaliq Spicer gave the Flashes a nice little highlight. A pretty fake to the corner and then baseline drive led to the two-handed slam.
That highlight hasn't been enough, though.
The Flashes are down 65-34.
Bobby Hurley still wants some whistles, though. He has been all over the officials even with a 30-opint lead.
15:19 ... The Buffalo lead has swelled to 58-30.
Kent State's coaches tried to manufacture some energy by going to full-court pressure and then switching to a 2-3 zone in the half court.
17:56 ... Any hope of a comeback has already been made more difficult as Ford has drilled two more threes. KSU is down 51-25.
Ford was just 3-of-9 from three-point range all season long. Tonight he is 3-for-5.
FIRST HALF
HALFTIME: Kent State trails Buffalo, 45-25
This was as bad a 20 minutes of basketball as we've seen in a very long time for Kent State Men's Basketball.
The only bright spot for the Flashes has been Jimmy Hall, who has 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-1 from three-point range. He also has a team-high three rebounds.
Buffalo is leading Kent State in every phase: 20-14 in the paint, 13-2 off turnovers, 13-5 on second-chance, 8-0 on fast break.
Xavier Ford has been a load, scoring 17 points for the Bulls on 6-of-9 shooting. He also has 3 assists and 3 steals.
Even if this takes a miracle to win, the Flashes need to pull it together at the very least and find a way to cut the lead a bit, win the second half, and go to Western Michigan on Wednesday feeling a little bit better about themselves.
3:36 ... This game is getting out of hand early. Down 37-20 and playing as sloppy on both ends as we've seen this year.
Kent State has made 7 turnovers leading to an 11-2 scoring advantage for the Bulls.
Buffalo is also outscoring Kent State 11-3 in second-chance points and 6-0 on fast break.
The string of turnovers over the last few minutes are hard to believe.
Jimmy Hall on the bench at the moment. He has been the only thing the Flashes have going for them at 4-for-5 from the field and a team-high 3 rebounds.
Buffalo's Xavier Ford has 15 points to lead everyone.
7:46 ... Kent State had pulled to with four points and were handling the Buffalo run.
That was until about the 8:30 mark when a string of Flashes turnovers led to easy baskets on the other end by the Bulls.
The Flashes trail 25-15 but will try to cut into the lead with Khaliq Spicer heading to the foul line.
Xavier Ford has been the difference so far with 11 points and 4 coming on tip-dunks.
KSU has to do a better job keeping Buffalo off the offensive glass. Nine second-chance points on 6 offensive rebounds.
This was as bad a 20 minutes of basketball as we've seen in a very long time for Kent State Men's Basketball.
The only bright spot for the Flashes has been Jimmy Hall, who has 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 1-of-1 from three-point range. He also has a team-high three rebounds.
Buffalo is leading Kent State in every phase: 20-14 in the paint, 13-2 off turnovers, 13-5 on second-chance, 8-0 on fast break.
Xavier Ford has been a load, scoring 17 points for the Bulls on 6-of-9 shooting. He also has 3 assists and 3 steals.
Even if this takes a miracle to win, the Flashes need to pull it together at the very least and find a way to cut the lead a bit, win the second half, and go to Western Michigan on Wednesday feeling a little bit better about themselves.
3:36 ... This game is getting out of hand early. Down 37-20 and playing as sloppy on both ends as we've seen this year.
Kent State has made 7 turnovers leading to an 11-2 scoring advantage for the Bulls.
Buffalo is also outscoring Kent State 11-3 in second-chance points and 6-0 on fast break.
The string of turnovers over the last few minutes are hard to believe.
Jimmy Hall on the bench at the moment. He has been the only thing the Flashes have going for them at 4-for-5 from the field and a team-high 3 rebounds.
Buffalo's Xavier Ford has 15 points to lead everyone.
7:46 ... Kent State had pulled to with four points and were handling the Buffalo run.
That was until about the 8:30 mark when a string of Flashes turnovers led to easy baskets on the other end by the Bulls.
The Flashes trail 25-15 but will try to cut into the lead with Khaliq Spicer heading to the foul line.
Xavier Ford has been the difference so far with 11 points and 4 coming on tip-dunks.
KSU has to do a better job keeping Buffalo off the offensive glass. Nine second-chance points on 6 offensive rebounds.
11:05 ... A three by Kris Brewer with just inside 12 minutes to play has helped Kent State whether the storm of a 17-2 Buffalo run.
Jimmy Hall was on the bench for much of that spurt, but he is back in now. It was Hall who recognized the double team and made an easy pass out to Brewer for the open three.
There are shots available with good ball rotation as open shooters are standing alone on the weak side of the floor.
Some good news: It took almost eight minutes for Justin Moss to get his first points for Buffalo. Some bad news, though: It put Buffalo ahead 17-8.
The Bulls, who are not a good three-point shooting team, have made 3-of-7 from three while KSU is 1-for-5.
14:24 ... Bobby Hurley for Buffalo and Rob Senderoff for Kent State are both on the officials early.
Jimmy Hall was on the bench for much of that spurt, but he is back in now. It was Hall who recognized the double team and made an easy pass out to Brewer for the open three.
There are shots available with good ball rotation as open shooters are standing alone on the weak side of the floor.
Some good news: It took almost eight minutes for Justin Moss to get his first points for Buffalo. Some bad news, though: It put Buffalo ahead 17-8.
The Bulls, who are not a good three-point shooting team, have made 3-of-7 from three while KSU is 1-for-5.
14:24 ... Bobby Hurley for Buffalo and Rob Senderoff for Kent State are both on the officials early.
And the officials are on the players early. Frank Spencer to Buffalo's Raheem Johnson and Kent State's Jimmy Hall: "You two cut it out"
Lots of pushing early. And knocking Hall to the ground a few times already, which is part of the reason the Flashes are upset.
Spencer has also sent Hurley a message that he isn't going to take a great deal of barking.
Flashes jumped to a 6-0 start. It's now a 10-8 Buffalo lead.
PREGAME
10:02 p.m. ... The game before ours on ESPNU has run a bit long, which will push us to about a 10:07 start time.
This is as good an atmosphere as we've seen in the Mid-American Conference in a long time. The student section is packed for the "Black Out", and the rest of the arena is starting to fill up.
Frank Spencer, Dan Dorian and Kevin O'Connell are the officials.
9 p.m. ... The toughest stretch of Kent State's season begins tonight at Buffalo. Alumni Arena has traditionally been a difficult sites for the Golden Flashes. Their lone loss during the 2001-02 Mid-American Conference season came in this building.
Including tonight, the Flashes play four of the next five games on the road with the other trips to similarly tough venues at Western Michigan, Toledo and Akron.
The Flashes are on the floor now, and they are wearing their gold uniforms. We don't usually see those on the road, but KSU has anointed them the current "lucky" unis, wearing them in all of the home games during the current six-game winning streak.
Buffalo is wearing black as tonight's game will be a "Black Out" for national television. I talked with some Buffalo officials earlier today, and they aren't quite sure what kind of crowd to expect with the odd start time for ESPNU.
While this late start isn't great for the student athletes, Rob Senderoff likes 10 pm tonight from the standpoint that it's the only college game on the air. If you are in any sports bar tonight, coast-to-coast, you'll probably find this one on at least one television. It's us and the NBA. That's the choice. Although, I guess the Super Bowl pre game show may be on already.
The matchup is difficult tonight. If you hoped to catch a break this year against Buffalo with Javon McCrea finally graduated, guess again. He was little-used last year, but 6-foot-7 junior Justin Moss is playing as well as McCrea, if not better. He comes into this game averaging a MAC-best 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Like McCrea, Moss is a load at 240 pounds. He is big, physical, strong in the post, and when he isn't scoring inside in the half court, he likes to run the floor and hit the odd 15-footer.
Moss and Jimmy Hall should both be MAC Player of the Year candidates by season's end. But Hall, who is also 6-foot-7, will not draw the assignment against Moss. According to Senderoff, Hall will go against 6-8 Will Regan while 6-9 Khaliq Spicer will be matched up against Moss. KSU hopes Spicer's length will make have an impact against Moss. Spicer's defense has been better and better as the year has gone on.
Regan comes in averaging 6.3 points per game for the Bulls, but he was a load against Kent State last season, going for 25 points and 10 rebounds in Buffalo' win here, then adding another 15 points in Kent.
Buffalo is another transition team. Kent State will try to get back in transition as it did against Central Michigan and force Buffalo to play a half-court game. The Bulls are a top-60 team nationally in converting in transition.
This should not be like Tuesday night in terms of defending the three. The Bulls are just 244th in the country at 32-percent from three-point range.
Getting physical in the post with Moss is another obvious key. Defending without fouling is also important as Buffalo is 53rd in the country at 73 percent from the foul line. A whopping 25 percent of their points come from the line, which ranks 29th in the country. And Bobby Hurley tends to get a good whistle.
Play well again defensively and Kent State should be able to get out and run. Buffalo's biggest weaknesses show up on the defensive end of the floor. If KSU can score in transition, great. But if not, playing smart and move the ball will still make life difficult for the Bulls.
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