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.