MAC Player of the Year Al Fisher was held to 3-15 shooting.

The Golden Flashes barely hit double figures in the first half and found themselves down by 21 points heading into halftime, 31-10. The ten points scored in the opening half tied an NCAA Tournament record for fewest points in a half, matching Wake Forest's first half output in 2001 against Butler. The Flashes also committed seventeen of their twenty turnovers in the opening stanza and endured a scoreless stretch that lasted 7:38.

It was a half of play that left MAC coach of the year Jim Christian scratching his head. "The first half of basketball was just so unlike how we played all year," said Christian when discussing the play of the ninth-seeded Golden Flashes after the game. "We just came out, played with no confidence, just made silly mistake after silly mistake."

The Runnin' Rebels capitalized on the Golden Flashes' numerous miscues, scoring eleven points off of the Golden Flashes' seventeen first-half turnovers.

UNLV guard Wink Adams overcame a pregame bout of the flu to record 17 points, including eleven points in the first half as the Rebels built up an insurmountable lead. UNLV forward Joe Darger led all scorers with a game-high 18 points.

While UNLV was hitting shots, Kent State was struggling through a miserable afternoon from the filed, shooting only 35.6% including missing several easy lay-ups and converting only 5-17 shots from three point range.

"We just wanted to come out (in the second half) and play Kent State basketball," said MAC Player of the Year, junior guard Al Fisher who finished with 10 points and was only 3-15 from the field. "We picked it up more on offense a little bit but they continued to hit their shots."

MAC Defensive Player of the Year, senior forward Haminn Quaintance, echoed Fisher's thoughts afterwards. "When we picked it up offensively we kind of let down defensively a little bit and started trading buckets with them and you can't afford to trade buckets when you're down twenty-some points." Quaintance finished the game with 12 points and three steals.  

The Golden Flashes, who finish the season at 28-7, were led in scoring by forward Mike Scott's 14 points.

The season ends one of the more successful single seasons in Kent State history with the Golden Flashes setting a school record for most regular season wins (25) and making its first, albeit brief, appearance during the regular season in the Top 25 following a win over 20th ranked St. Mary's on February 23 that propelled them to 23rd in the AP poll and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. The Golden Flashes however fell out of the national polls after an 89-83 setback to Bowling Green the following week. It was their last loss prior to falling to UNLV. 

Kent State captured both the MAC regular season and tournament titles in securing its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in three years.

The Flashes' loss however continued the MAC's recent "one and done" history in the NCAA Tournament. The MAC's representative in the Big Dance has not advanced past the first round since Central Michigan defeated Creighton in the opening round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament.

Mountain West Conference tournament champion UNLV (27-7) meanwhile advances to the next round of play on Saturday when it will have the daunting task of taking on the Midwest Regional's  top-seed Kansas which breezed to victory in its opening round contest, defeating Portland State, 85-61.