Live Blog: Men's Basketball vs. Central Michigan

SECOND HALF

1:44 ... Kent State clinging to a 55-49 lead.

Flashes struggling from the line at 60 percent on the night 15-for-25, but with several misses in last few minutes with a chance to ice the game.

Central will have the ball out of this timeout thanks to a diving play for a loose ball rebound by Fowler.

3:53 ... Kent State has weathered the storm a bit, kicking the lead back out to 8 points at 53-45 thanks in large part to more defense and Kris Brewer attacking the rim.

Brewer's drive and dish to Akbar for a layup followed by two free throws have given the Flashes this lead.

Hall has a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Fowler the only thing CMU has going on offense with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

Simons finally hit a three after an 0-for-5 start, but then missed again and is 1-for-7 on a very tough night on both ends. He has four fouls.

7:41 ... Central Michigan cut the lead all the way to three points before a three-pointer by Kris Brewer on the right wing stopped the bleeding.

Manley set up the three with a nice drive and kick.

Jimmy Hall will be at the foul line after the time out after a silly foul by DaRohn Scott on a Hall defensive rebound. Impulsive play, slapping down at the basketball will cost the Chippewas.

8:33 ... Central Michigan is using defense, and specifically full-court pressure, to jump start its offense.

The Chippewas have forced four turnovers in last two minutes to spark a run that has closed the Kent State lead to 43-39.

The Flashes have been extremely careless and CMU is starting to build confidence. Two turnovers have led to three-point plays on layups.

Senderoff to bench: "It went from 15-to-4 in what, 2 minutes?"

10:51 ... Kent State defense is dominating the Central Michigan offense.

After a 1-for-11 start to the half, Central finally ended a nearly eight-minute scoring drought.

KSU enjoyed its biggest lead at 16 points (41-25) after a pair of free throws by Hall at the 13:35 mark of the half.

Manley has 13 to lead all scorers. Fowler has 11 for CMU.

Central is 1-for-5 from the arc.

But if the Chippewas get hot, this lead is anything but secure.

15:59 ... Jimmy Hall will head to the line trying to build on a 31-26 Kent State lead.

Defense continues to be excellent as Central Michigan is off to a 1-of-5 start from the field in the 2nd half. Simons has missed two threes on under-control close outs and contests by Kent State bigs Jimmy Hall and Khaliq Spicer.

The fouls are also starting to pile up for Central. Already five whistles against the Chippewas.

FIRST HALF

HALFTIME ... Kent State leads 24-23

The Golden Flashes have held the top scoring offense in the MAC to just 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting.

The nation's leader in threes per game (11.3) is just 2-for-6 from beyond the arc.

But Central's defense has matched Kent State's, forcing eight turnovers and holding Kent State to 8-of-19 from the field.

The difference has been the three ball by KSU. The Flashes are 4-of-9, including the back-to-backs by Manley (a 4-point play) and Brewer at the 4:09 and 3:35 marks of the first half.

KSU has not done a good job of getting the ball to Jimmy Hall in the post. He is just 1-for-2 with both shots coming in the opening minute.


0:54.7 ... The defensive battle continues. Kent State trails 23-22 and just called timeout to set up a play after getting another stop.

Too many Kent State turnovers on entry passes. Too many missed free throws (2-for-7), but Flashes in it thanks to defense.

3:17 ... Kent State is up 22-21. A left wing three by Kris Brewer put the Flashes up with 3:35 on the clock. Devareaux Manley drilled a three from that same spot and took a hit for a four-point play at the 4:09 mark.

The Flashes are finally starting to heat up from three where they are 4-for-8. KSU is 8-for-18 overall from the field.

KSU has also turned the ball over six times, but CMU has turned those into just three points.

Fowler has 7 points to lead CMU.

Central averages a nation-best 11 threes per game. So far, the Chippewas are just 2-for-4.

7:30 ... Central scoreless now for 7:15.

The Flashes took the lead at 12-10 on a blocked shot by Spicer leading to a flying alley-oop dunk for Chris Ortiz.

11:19 ... The defense showed up for Kent State, holding Central Michigan scoreless between the media timeout.

Only points since that 14:27 break are a Kris Brewer three from the left corner.

The Flashes just need some more offensive efficiency. They are 3-for-10 from the field and four turnovers.

Gary Akbar will have a chance to deadlock the game from the foul line after the break.

14:27 ... After a slow start, Central Michigan's offense is starting to click thanks to two quick threes by Josh Kozinski off of the Chippewas bench.

The Central lead is 10-5 at the first media timeout.

So far Kent State's guards have been able to get to the rim as expected. Dev Manley has a driving layup as the Flashes backcourt is not settling for the three. Only attempt from the arc is a miss by forward Chris Ortiz.

Jimmy Hall is also getting deep touches when the Flashes are patient enough to look inside. He has a layup on a three-point play.

Central is having some success, though, by extending its defense, forcing three turnovers already. 

PREGAME

13:21 p.m. ... Officials are on the floor. They are one-time Final Four official Mike Sanzere along with Donnie Eppley and Paul Szelc.

Here's the bad news, Central Michigan averages 125 points per game in contests officiated by Szelc this year. He only worked one ... a 125-80 win over Central Penn.

Sanzere is a familiar face to the M.A.C. Center. What you may not know is he worked the NCAA Championship in 1998 after doing Final Four games in 1994 and 1996. Kentucky beat Utah in San Antonio in that 1998 national championship.

5:10 p.m. ... We are inside two hours to tip-off, and there's a bit of a buzz here at the M.A.C. Center. We haven't seen that here in a long time for a Central Michigan game. There hasn't been a whole lot of reason to get excited about this matchup since 2003 when CMU's Chris Kaman was building his NBA resume and going against future NFL star Antonio Gates.

Kaman still never won in this building. The last Central Michigan win at the M.A.C. Center was all the way back in 1997. In the 22 meetings in any venue since that 1997 game, the Chippewas have only beaten Kent State twice –  in Cleveland in the 2003 in the M.A.C. Championship game and last year in Mount Pleasant.

Former Providence and Drake head coach Keno Davis has done more than just breathe some new life into the Central Michigan program during his third season. He has turned the Chippewas into one of the most potent offenses in the nation – 15th in the country in offensive efficiency, 1st in the MAC and 4th in the nation in offensive effective field goal percentage (58 percent), 1st in the MAC and 2nd in the country in three-point percentage (43 percent), top 50 in the country in foul shooting (73 percent)

That's what makes this game so interesting. With Kent State among the MAC's top defenses and in the top 10 in the nation in defending threes, this game should be a classic offense vs. defense matchup.

Central Michigan is easily the best transition team the Flashes have faced this season. The Chippewas will look to push on makes and misses behind 6-foot-1 junior Chris Fowler, who is the team's top scorer at 14.2 ppg and the league leader in assists at 6.3 per game, and quick, 5-foot-9 sophomore Braylon Rayson, who is averaging 10.8 per game.

In transition and in the half court, the Chippewas will hunt threes. At 11 per game, nobody in the nation makes more. They rank No. 2 in the nation in threes as a percentage of their offense at 42.2 percent, and they can shoot the three one-to-five. Central's bigs run to the arc most of the time, so every KSU player needs to close out strong from start to finish.

Individually, this is another great matchup for Kent State defensive ace Derek Jackson, who will be on Fowler for pretty much all of the 30-to-35 minutes he is on the floor.

The good news for the Flashes is that Central Michigan has been just average at best on the defensive end of the floor. The Chippewas will give up dribble penetration. They also don't turn over their opponents. Central is going to want to run. I'm not sure if we'll see the Flashes try to match that and allow this one to turn into a track meet. They might as Central can give up points in transition just as easily as it gets them. But can the Flashes stop the Chippewas enough to jump start their own fast break?

Central isn't particularly physical inside and lacks a rim protector. With that in mind, look for Kent State to try to build on Jimmy Hall's 14-for-17, 32-point performance against Ball State on Saturday by feeding the sophomore in the post.

Overall, I think I like this matchup for Kent State ... but not too much.

These are scary games. Any time you take on a team that can really shoot it, there's a certain scare factor. Yes, Kent State defends the three well. That didn't keep some BGSU bigs who were shooting under 25 percent behind the arc from getting free in the second half and sticking some big threes in a win here on Jan. 7. Central shoots it better from the three at every position.

This one should be fun. Hopefully you can make it out to the M.A.C. Center tonight.