OVERTIME
FINAL... Kent State 60, Arkansas-Little Rock 50
Here's a link to the game story on KentStateSports.com
Here's a link to the game story on KentStateSports.com
1:21 ... The Kent State lead is 56-53 with Derek Jackson heading to the line.
Hagins bailed out the Flashes by fouling Jackson 25 feet from the basket late in the clock. The Flashes were going to have a difficult time getting off a shot as Jackson had his head lowered as he tried to turn the corner.
3:01 ... Derek Jackson opened overtime with a three. Chris Ortiz has added a tough layup in traffic.
Hagins bailed out the Flashes by fouling Jackson 25 feet from the basket late in the clock. The Flashes were going to have a difficult time getting off a shot as Jackson had his head lowered as he tried to turn the corner.
3:01 ... Derek Jackson opened overtime with a three. Chris Ortiz has added a tough layup in traffic.
On the other end, the Flashes have forced two turnovers, including one with Ortiz standing his ground to take a charge by UALR's Hagins.
Flashes have the ball with a 56-53 lead.
SECOND HALF
HEADED TO OVERTIME ... Tied 51-51
Defense has been good enough to get Kent State to overtime.
Kris Brewer's 18 footer from the right wing was just short before the buzzer sounded. Derek Jackson gave the Flashes the chance at a game-winner, stealing an apparent breakaway by UALR's Roger Woods from behind after Woods stole an inbound pass with 38 seconds to play.
0:59 ... Empty possession after empty possession making it difficult on the Flashes, who have lost their lead.
The game is now tied 51-51 after a tip-in by UALR's James White – the first second-chance point for the Trojans tonight.
Seconds before that put-back, the Flashes thought they had gone ahead by five on a three point try by Dev Manley from the left corner that looked good as soon as it left his hands. It just caught the rim long, rolling all the way around the rim before finally falling off.
1:45 ... Two UALR free throws have cut the Kent State lead to 51-49.
Another great defensive effort, although points have been difficult to come by.
5:17 ... Jimmy Hall is back in double digits again with an old-fashioned three-point play.
Flashes lead is 51-45. Hall has 11 points and 8 rebounds.
KSU continues to hold UALR one and out. The Trojans are still looking for their first second-chance point of the night.
7:49 ... Defense and rebounding have the Flashes in this game. They lead 46-45 despite some shooting struggles that include just 3-of-10 from the foul line.
Ortiz is having his best game of the season with 10 points.
12:16 ... Officials have just finished reviewing a hard foul by Chris Ortiz that is now being ruled a common foul. UALR doesn't like it, but James White will shoot two free throws for the Trojans with no possession to follow.
The Flashes led by 8 early. The Trojans have stormed back as the Flashes struggled through a 5:36 drought that finally ended with a Khaliq Spicer jump hook.
KSU lead is 41-40.
Turnovers have been an issue. The Flashes' 10 turnovers have turned into 12 UALR points, while the Trojans four turnovers have not been turned into a single point by KSU.
15:32 ... The Golden Flashes found a nice start to the half with four quick points by Gary Akbar. Another bucket was taken away by a very questionable traveling call.
Defense has been good enough to get Kent State to overtime.
Kris Brewer's 18 footer from the right wing was just short before the buzzer sounded. Derek Jackson gave the Flashes the chance at a game-winner, stealing an apparent breakaway by UALR's Roger Woods from behind after Woods stole an inbound pass with 38 seconds to play.
0:59 ... Empty possession after empty possession making it difficult on the Flashes, who have lost their lead.
The game is now tied 51-51 after a tip-in by UALR's James White – the first second-chance point for the Trojans tonight.
Seconds before that put-back, the Flashes thought they had gone ahead by five on a three point try by Dev Manley from the left corner that looked good as soon as it left his hands. It just caught the rim long, rolling all the way around the rim before finally falling off.
1:45 ... Two UALR free throws have cut the Kent State lead to 51-49.
Another great defensive effort, although points have been difficult to come by.
5:17 ... Jimmy Hall is back in double digits again with an old-fashioned three-point play.
Flashes lead is 51-45. Hall has 11 points and 8 rebounds.
KSU continues to hold UALR one and out. The Trojans are still looking for their first second-chance point of the night.
7:49 ... Defense and rebounding have the Flashes in this game. They lead 46-45 despite some shooting struggles that include just 3-of-10 from the foul line.
Ortiz is having his best game of the season with 10 points.
12:16 ... Officials have just finished reviewing a hard foul by Chris Ortiz that is now being ruled a common foul. UALR doesn't like it, but James White will shoot two free throws for the Trojans with no possession to follow.
The Flashes led by 8 early. The Trojans have stormed back as the Flashes struggled through a 5:36 drought that finally ended with a Khaliq Spicer jump hook.
KSU lead is 41-40.
Turnovers have been an issue. The Flashes' 10 turnovers have turned into 12 UALR points, while the Trojans four turnovers have not been turned into a single point by KSU.
15:32 ... The Golden Flashes found a nice start to the half with four quick points by Gary Akbar. Another bucket was taken away by a very questionable traveling call.
The lead jumped out to eight, but UALR has trimmed five points from that to trail 39-36.
Jimmy Hall is working hard, but possibly trying to do just a little to much in the early going during an 0-for-4 start to the second half.
FIRST HALF
HALFTIME: Kent State 35, Arkansas-Little Rock 32A pretty Chris Ortiz jump hook just before halftime gave the Flashes their three-point advantage heading into the break.
While the Flashes offense has gone a bit cold in the final five minutes of the half, their shooters continue to get good looks on inside-out action. Jimmy Hall has also settled in after a tough 1-for-7 start. He is now 3-for-9 with six rebounds to go with his six points, and he has found perimeter shooters open on the perimeter.
The Flashes were 6-of-7 from three to start the game, but are now 6-for-12 at the break.
Offensive rebounding has been a big part of this KSU lead. The Flashes have 10 offensive rebounds and a 13-0 advantage on second-chance points.
Ortiz has eight points ... one behind Manley's team-high 9.
3:52 ... The Flashes have cooled off a bit offensively, but the defense remains excellent.
UALR is getting pretty much only one look at the basket and shooting 36 percent on what are consistently tough looks.
After starting 6-of-7 from three, the Flashes have missed their last four. They missed a great opportunity for a six-point possession when a foul well after a basket by Craig Brown. A technical on the UALR bench put Manley on the line, but he missed both, and then the Flashes missed four layups after grabbing a string of offensive rebounds.
Despite that frustrating stretch, the Flashes still lead 27-21.
7:10 ... The Kent State run is now 14-2 and highlighted by some excellent defense along with some scorching shooting from beyond the arc.
Kris Brewer looked like Curly Neal in setting up Manley's third three. The senior guard slipped but maintained his dribble, recovered and found Manley on the other side of the court all spotted up in the left corner.
The Flashes are 6-of-7 from three-point range.
11:09 ... Back-to-back threes by Devareaux Manley have helped Kent State battle back from an early 17-9 deficit to make it 17-15.
Manley with a crossover dribble hit the three from the top on his first attempt, then looked off a defender by faking a pass to Chris Ortiz in the corner before hitting from the left wing.
The Flashes are 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Kris Brewer added a three on his first shot after checking in off of the bench. That drew a huge cheer from a large Brewer fan club sitting in the corner behind the KSU bench. Brewer's family and friends made the two-hour trip in from Memphis.
15:51 ... The offense is struggling a bit in the early going as Arkansas-Little Rock has built an early 8-3 lead.
Derek Jackson opened the scoring with a three from the left wing, but the Trojans have answered with an 8-0 run. Raasean Davis had a tough first four minutes in his first start for the Flashes, getting whistled for an offensive foul and having a jumper blocked from just right of the foul line. Davis will be fine. He just needs to settle down a bit. Easy to get anxious in starting debut.
PREGAME
2:54 ... We just learned that Josh Hagins will get his first start since Jan. 25 of last season for Arkansas-Little Rock.
The 6-foot-1 sophomore guard has been a big contributor off of the bench for the Trojans this season, averaging 10.1 points and shooting the three at a 38.5-percent.
Hagins is arguably the Trojans best perimeter player. He is aggressive and loves to run the floor to score in transition. Defensively, the Flashes want to limit him to contested shots inside the three-point arc.
Derek Jackson draws that assignment.
12:28 p.m. (EST) ... The Jack Stephens Center is a pretty spectacular mid-major facility, seating 5,600 fans. The feel is similar to Toledo's Savage Arena, although with permanent seas behind each basket and in the corners rather than retractable seating.
We have Mid-American Conference officials with us in Jeff Albright, Dan Nowakowski and Marcus Gossard. That's part of the contract with UALR. Sun Belt officials get the return game at the M.A.C. Center.
12:30 p.m. (EST) ... We are in Little Rock for today's 2 p.m. (3 p.m. EST) game vs. UALR.
The Golden Flashes just finished breakfast and film study at the team hotel and will be boarding the bus for the University of Arkansas Little Rock in a just about a half hour.
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| The Flashes in film study on Sunday morning |
DeAndre Haynes led the personnel breakdown of the Trojans this morning, and it is clear the Flashes are concerned with several players head coach Rob Senderoff said are capable of scoring 20.
The big concern may be 6-foot-8 UALR center James White, who leads the Trojans in both scoring (14.3) and rebounding (8.1). He'll be guarded by Raasean Davis in the first career start for the Kent State post. The Flashes are hoping to jump start junior center Khaliq Spicer by giving him a different look coming off the bench.
White is a very skilled post who likes to run the floor and is capable of hitting mid-range jumpers. He will be a challenge for both Davis and Spicer.
The Trojans also have a talented four man in Roger Woods, who is a 6-5 sophomore averaging 12.0 and 6.7 rebounds per game. Jimmy Hall will need to be disciplined defensively as Woods is an undersized banger in the post who ranks No. 38 in the country in drawing fouls.
While the Trojans are not a great offensive rebounding team, ranking 308th in the nation in offensive rebound percentage), both White and Woods are active on the offensive glass. Several teams believed to be poor offensive rebounders by KSU have done damage against the Flashes this season with second-chance scoring.
UALR averages 82.5 points per home game, which is similar to what Kennesaw State heading into last week's game. The Flashes held Kennesaw under 50. So far, the Flashes have held Kennesaw, Southern Illinois and Youngstown State all more than 10 plus under their scoring averages. On the season UALR is averaging 76 per game. The Trojans are dangerous offensively, but only average at best defensively while playing both 2-3 zone and man-to-man. They have started every game this season playing 2-3 zone.
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