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:
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.
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.
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