SECOND HALF
14:16 ... Kent State trying to overcome another fairly quick start by Temple. The Flashes were down eight before another athletic move to the basket by Jackson, hanging in the air to bank in a floater in the lane.
Some careless passing led to a mini run by Temple.
Dev Manley gave Kent State a brief lead with a three on the break from just in front of the Flashes bench. KSU's coaches were yelling "spot up Dev, spot up Dev," and Jackson found the shooter for that wide-open three.
11:26 ... K.K. Simmons just answered a Quenton Decosey three with a three of his own from the right corner. Great find by Goodson who wanted to shoot the jump hook, but that was taken away by Dingle.
8:20 ... Flashes playing hard, but haven't quite been able to get over the hump. Kent State cut the lead to 1 point briefly on a 3-pointer by Thomas in the left corner, but Temple has put together one more mini run to take a 65-59 lead.
Darren Goodson has had a tough time converting in the post, but he has made up for it with his hustle and his ability to set up his teammates for open threes. The Thomas three was set up by an inside-out pass from Goodson. K.K. Simmons drilled a three minute earlier thanks to another drive and kick from Goodson.
4:35 ... Kent State with its first lead on a Mark Henniger layup. Henny won't have big numbers tonight, but he's made some great basketball plays to aid this Kent State spurt. Hustling on the floor for loose balls, x-ing out and getting some big rebounds in traffic.
3:05 ... Another steal by Jackson. Two missed shots right on top of the basket. Opportunity missed, but great hustle all the way around ... defense didn't lead to points, but still three shots at the rim and an extended possession holding a three-point lead
2:25 ... Switch to a 2-3 zone is taking away Temple's aggressiveness. The Owls are settling for long threes, and they haven't shot it well from the perimeter all night.
Love the way Kent State is playing defense right now. Jackson, Goodson, Henniger ... all of them closing out in control with hands high to challenge shots. Giving up size, but still for the most part holding Temple one and out.
This is a fun team. Hopefully Kent State fans will embrace this group.
1:14 ... You had to know that Kris Brewer would have a say in this game. His frustration has been obvious all night long, but despite the 0-for-5 shooting start, he hits a huge basket on a floater to the right of the rim. Vintage Brewer, squaring to the basket in the air.
0:55 ... Brewer clutch in the stretch again, hitting two free throws for a 77-71 lead. Struggled all night, but making plays when they count.
8:20 ... Flashes playing hard, but haven't quite been able to get over the hump. Kent State cut the lead to 1 point briefly on a 3-pointer by Thomas in the left corner, but Temple has put together one more mini run to take a 65-59 lead.
Darren Goodson has had a tough time converting in the post, but he has made up for it with his hustle and his ability to set up his teammates for open threes. The Thomas three was set up by an inside-out pass from Goodson. K.K. Simmons drilled a three minute earlier thanks to another drive and kick from Goodson.
4:35 ... Kent State with its first lead on a Mark Henniger layup. Henny won't have big numbers tonight, but he's made some great basketball plays to aid this Kent State spurt. Hustling on the floor for loose balls, x-ing out and getting some big rebounds in traffic.
3:05 ... Another steal by Jackson. Two missed shots right on top of the basket. Opportunity missed, but great hustle all the way around ... defense didn't lead to points, but still three shots at the rim and an extended possession holding a three-point lead
2:25 ... Switch to a 2-3 zone is taking away Temple's aggressiveness. The Owls are settling for long threes, and they haven't shot it well from the perimeter all night.
Love the way Kent State is playing defense right now. Jackson, Goodson, Henniger ... all of them closing out in control with hands high to challenge shots. Giving up size, but still for the most part holding Temple one and out.
This is a fun team. Hopefully Kent State fans will embrace this group.
1:14 ... You had to know that Kris Brewer would have a say in this game. His frustration has been obvious all night long, but despite the 0-for-5 shooting start, he hits a huge basket on a floater to the right of the rim. Vintage Brewer, squaring to the basket in the air.
0:55 ... Brewer clutch in the stretch again, hitting two free throws for a 77-71 lead. Struggled all night, but making plays when they count.
0:22 ... A huge break for Kent State. K.K. Simmons misses two free throws, but Temple's bobbles the easy rebound and loses it out of bounds. Kent State basketball trying to extend this 77-73 lead.
0:20... Another big play by Brewer, getting back and planting to take a charge from Cummings, who had come up with a steal and was attacking the basket. It looked like a sure thing that Temple would be back to within two. Instead, Kent State basketball.
I believe that was Mike Stuart with the call. A gutsy call. Even if it is the right call, you usually don't get that one on the road at this stage of a game in a place like Temple.
0:16 ... Two clutch free throws by Dev Manley. It's 79-73. Close this one out...
0:00.7 ... Rob Senderoff just walked over to me and said "we tried to give this one away five times." It's true, a few careless turnovers and a few clutch baskets, including a three by Cummings – his first basket of the second half – briefly cut the KSU lead to two points at 79-77.
But Manley calmly drilled two more free throws. Kent State will get a big win.
Cummings led Temple with 17, but just the one basket in the second half. Credit much of that to the defense of Jackson and Brewer.
Jackson and Manley led KSU with 17. Good to see Manley get hot. I repeat what I said and wrote on Friday night ... Kent State fans are going to love Jackson.
Goodson struggled from the field, shooting just 4-for-13 while scoring 12, but he was a big reason the Kent State offense worked as he promoted inside-out ball movement, attacking the rim or posting up and then finding open shooters in the corners.
Henniger made some great basketball plays down the stretch. Solid defensively. Hustling and hitting the floor. Oh, and he hit the layup that gave Kent State the lead for good.
Kellon Thomas showed some toughness tonight. He finished with 11 on 4-of-6 shooting and made some key shots as the Flashes tried to hold off a Temple run early in the second half.
And then there was Brewer. He struggled all night long ... until the end. Big shot. Takes an even bigger charge. Big free throws.
One of the most enjoyable wins I've witnessed in over a decade covering and working with this program.
0:20... Another big play by Brewer, getting back and planting to take a charge from Cummings, who had come up with a steal and was attacking the basket. It looked like a sure thing that Temple would be back to within two. Instead, Kent State basketball.
I believe that was Mike Stuart with the call. A gutsy call. Even if it is the right call, you usually don't get that one on the road at this stage of a game in a place like Temple.
0:16 ... Two clutch free throws by Dev Manley. It's 79-73. Close this one out...
0:00.7 ... Rob Senderoff just walked over to me and said "we tried to give this one away five times." It's true, a few careless turnovers and a few clutch baskets, including a three by Cummings – his first basket of the second half – briefly cut the KSU lead to two points at 79-77.
But Manley calmly drilled two more free throws. Kent State will get a big win.
Cummings led Temple with 17, but just the one basket in the second half. Credit much of that to the defense of Jackson and Brewer.
Jackson and Manley led KSU with 17. Good to see Manley get hot. I repeat what I said and wrote on Friday night ... Kent State fans are going to love Jackson.
Goodson struggled from the field, shooting just 4-for-13 while scoring 12, but he was a big reason the Kent State offense worked as he promoted inside-out ball movement, attacking the rim or posting up and then finding open shooters in the corners.
Henniger made some great basketball plays down the stretch. Solid defensively. Hustling and hitting the floor. Oh, and he hit the layup that gave Kent State the lead for good.
Kellon Thomas showed some toughness tonight. He finished with 11 on 4-of-6 shooting and made some key shots as the Flashes tried to hold off a Temple run early in the second half.
And then there was Brewer. He struggled all night long ... until the end. Big shot. Takes an even bigger charge. Big free throws.
One of the most enjoyable wins I've witnessed in over a decade covering and working with this program.
HALFTIME
We knew Kent State's shooters would come around.Heating up from long distance is the big reason Kent State is in this game at halftime. The Flashes have hit 7-of-13 from the arc while Temple has made just 1-of-6.
Overall, however, Kent State is just 13-for-33 from the field for 39 percent. Part of that has to do with the Flashes inability to draw a whistle when they attack the basket.
The foul situation is pretty ugly: 13 on Kent State. Just 6 on Temple. And it's not as if the veteran crew of Kevin Fehr, Karl Hess and Mike Stuart haven't had their opportunities to blow the whistle on the Owls. Manley was knocked to the ground on a jumper with no call. Goodson and Jackson both got hit at the rim without a whistle.
Fehr is a former NBA official and Hess and Stuart are longtime college officials with plenty of big games under their belts.
Jackson drilled an off-balance three with the shot clock expiring and just 5 seconds on the first-half clock, cutting the Temple lead to just four to and a 7-0 Temple run.
Jackson has 13 points to lead the Flashes.
Will Cummings has been great for Temple, scoring 14 points while going 8-for-10 from the foul line. Kent State as a team has made just 5-of-9 free throws.
The Flashes played almost the entire half without Mark Henniger, who picked up two quick fouls trying to guard Anthony Lee. Khaliq Spicer came in and played well, but also picked up two fouls.
FIRST HALF
17:01 ... Quick timeout early as Kent State is struggling on the defensive end. The Flashes have given up easy baskets as the Owls slipped a screen and took advantage of an error guarding a ball screen.
15:54 ... Kent State has cut into an early 10-3 lead with a couple of baskets. Good to see Manley hit his two early jumpers, including a three to cap the first possession of the game. He had been struggling from the perimeter. On his 15-footer a few minutes ago, he used a nice little pump fake to create the open look.
Melvin Tabbis in at center. He did not play against Ohio Northern due to a one-game suspension, but Senderoff said he would be the first big off of the bench tonight.
Flashes have struggled with the length of Anthony Lee.
12:49 ... Temple with a 7-0 run is now up 19-10. Lots of problems to solve on offense. Too many quick or flat-footed shots. If the Flashes are going to keep taking long jumpers, Senderoff wants those shots to come off go good action.
7:22 ... Kent State doing a nice job of weathering the storm. A timeout did the trick. Since Senderoff's last timeout, the Flashes offense has found some good looks at the basket. Dev Manley continues to heat up, drilling a three to cut the Temple lead to 28-23.
Manley has 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting, 2-of-3 from three. He also got hammered on a jumper from just inside the arc prior to this timeout. No call.
The big problem right now is the fouls. Kent State has 8, Temple has 2 ... and Spicer and Henniger both have two.
3:59 ... The Kent State recovery has continued in this first half. Down 10 early all the way to a brief 30-28 lead just minutes ago.
Derek Jackson drilled a three from the right corner to cap a fast break and give the Flashes that lead. A beautiful cross-over to the basket and kick to Jackson by Darren Goodson created it.
0:00 ... Despite a pretty one-sided whistle, Kent State is in the game at halftime, down just four points at 42-38.
PREGAME
5:45 p.m. ... A little more than an hour from tip here at the Liacouras Center. I've arrived safe and sound and just had a little chat at courtside with Rob Senderoff.
He talked a little bit about the team's struggles shooting the ball early. Good shooters like Kris Brewer, Devareaux Manley and Darren Goodson have had as difficult a time hitting jumpers in practice as they did in Monday's opener against Ohio Northern. That's going to change. The Flashes have too many proven shooters for it not to change, but Senderoff would obviously love to see it change as soon as possible. They just need to see a few threes go in to get the confidence rolling.
6:07 p.m. ... Tonight's game brings an interesting connection. Freshman Mark Williams may be in the starting lineup at power forward for the Owls, but it wasn't long ago that the Golden Flashes were in the mix of teams trying to recruit the 6-foot-8 Cleveland native. Williams visited the Kent State campus several times before choosing Temple.
Williams was also a high-school teammate of Kent State starting guard Derek Jackson at Benedictine for a brief time.
When the Flashes are on defense they will have to be aware of Williamson and get a body on him. He had four offensive rebounds in the Owls' season opening win over Penn last week.
The big defensive key may be how Kent State guards Temple's ball screens. The Owls love to ball screen. When they get stops, look for the Flashes to get out and run and work the ball inside out to try to get some good perimeter looks ... and hopefully heat up some of their cold shooters.
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