 KENT, OH – The Kent State men’s basketball team will face Saint Mary’s (Calif.) in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Tuesday night at 11:00 p.m. (Eastern) on ESPN2. The Golden Flashes are a No. 7 seed, while the hosting Gaels are seeded No.2.
Kent State (23-11, 12-4 MAC) is making its second straight appearance in the NIT and ninth overall. The Golden Flashes earned an automatic bid to the annual post season tournament after winning the Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship. Kent State has now qualified for the post-season in 12 of the last 13 years.
TELEVISION OPPORTUNITY
“This is another great opportunity for our program to go up against a high quality program in front of a nationally televised ESPN2 audience,” said head coach Geno Ford. “We are one of only a few teams in the country to be fortunate enough to still be playing, so anytime you get to this point of the season, it is something special.”
Saint Mary’s (25-8; 11-3 WCC) was ranked as high No. 22 in the nation this season after winning a share of the West Coast Conference Regular season title. The Gaels were the No. 1 seed in the WCC Tournament before falling in the championship game to Gonzaga.
POTENT OFFENSE
Led by the WCC Most Valuable Player, 6’0” guard Mickey McConnell’s 16.7 points per game, Saint Mary’s has four players averaging over 10 points a contest and ranks 14th in the nation with 79.2 points per game on the season. The Gaels are also 6th in the nation in field goal percentage shooting 48.7 percent.
“Saint Mary’s is a smart team that really executes well on offense,” said Ford. “We are going to have to have a great game defensively by applying ball pressure and forcing them to take tough, contested shots. On offense we hope to be able to take advantage of some of our quickness by spreading the floor and getting to the basket.”
FIFTH MEETING
Despite being separated by nearly 2,500 miles, this will be the fifth meeting between the two schools and the fourth in the last six years. Kent State trails the all-time series 3-1, with its lone victory coming in the way of a 65-57 win in an ESPN Bracketbuster match-up at Saint Mary in 2008.
The winner of the game will move on to face the winner of the Colorado State/Fairfield match-up.
The Golden Flashes advanced to the second round of the NIT last season, defeating Tulsa 75-74 in the first round before falling at Illinois 75-58 in round two.
Courtesy of Kent State Athletics |
