 COLORADO 81, KENT STATE 74 “Colorado was just a little bit deeper and a little bit better,” head coach Geno Ford said. “If it was a neutral court game, maybe we could have pulled it out. On the road, we just weren’t quite good enough to get it done.”
Junior forward Justin Greene finished with a team high 20 points for the Golden Flashes, who were playing their third straight NIT game on the road. Greene also had seven rebounds and helped set up three other players in double figures by adding a career high six assists.
“We knew we were going to be on the road in every round, and we just wanted to come out and play hard and be a scrappy bunch like we are,” Greene, the 2011 MAC Player of the Year said. “If we could do that, we would give ourselves a chance to win down the stretch.”
Kent State, which had traveled 8,000 miles and played in three time zones in the NIT, led by as many as five (24-19) with seven minutes left in the first half, but Colorado (24-13) closed out the stanza on a 17-7 run to take a 36-31 advantage at the break. The Golden Flashes quickly erased the deficit in the second half, shooting 7-10 from the field and scoring on seven of their first eight possessions. After the game was tied at 44-44 on a three by sophomore guard Randal Holt, neither team led by more than four points until the final four minutes of the game.
Holt, who finished with 11 points and led the team with 66 three-pointers this season, hit another three with 7:40 left that gave Kent State a 64-61 lead with 7:40 still to play. The Golden Flashes, however, came up empty on their next three trips down the floor, while five unanswered points regained the lead (66-64) for the Buffaloes.
Junior guard Michael Porrini, who had 14 points and five assists on the night, then answered for Kent State, connecting on a driving lay-up while being fouled for an old fashioned three-point play. Unfortunately the Golden Flashes could not get the stop when they needed it as Colorado went ahead to stay when Marcus Relphorde converted a three-point play of his own to make it 69-67 Buffs with five minutes remaining.
Kent State was still down just three (77-74) with 1:21 left, but the Golden Flashes lone senior guard, Rodriquez Sherman, mis-fired on a three from the right wing before Colorado put the game away by making 4-5 from the foul line down the stretch.
For the second straight game, the Golden Flashes shot exactly 50 percent from the field in each half and 50 percent for the game. Sherman (12 points) joined Greene, Porrini and Holt in double figures while junior center Justin Manns added eight and matched Greene with a team high seven rebounds.
Alec Burks led the way for Colorado, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
‘Without question this is the toughest group that I have been a part of,” said Ford. “We have had a lot of teams that have shown a lot of toughness and a lot of character, but this one has handled losing and adversity in terms of not playing well and traveling. They just keep playing, and they really like to play. We have a lot of guys crushed that the season is over. These guys really just gave us everything they have but came up a little bit short.”
Courtesy of Kent State Athletics |
