 KENT STATE 71, MIAMI 67 FLASHES THRIVING AT HOME
Kent State (11-4, 1-1 MAC) bounced back after a tough loss Saturday at Buffalo, defeating MU for the fifth time in the last six games at home while improving to 6-1 on the home floor this season.
“Every win is important, especially every win at home.” KSU head coach Rob Senderoff said after the game. “Our kids did a phenomenal job just not giving up, staying with it and finding a way to win.”
Senior forward Justin Greene led all scorers in the game with a season-high 23 points, including five in the last key run. He added six rebounds, two blocked shots, and an assist. Junior guard Randal Holt contributed 16 and three steals while senior guard Carlton Guyton had 10.
“We let one slip away on the road last Saturday (at Buffalo).” Greene said. We know that to win the league, you have to win all your home games and try to steal about four or five on the road. We have to protect home court. It was a solid team win.”
Miami (4-10, 0-2 MAC) suffered their third consecutive loss and fifth in the last six games. MU has only one road win so far this season, that coming back on November 21 at Saginaw Valley State, 71-61.
'GREEN WAS A MONSTER'
“Greene was a monster tonight.” RedHawks head coach Charlie Coles said afterward. “He was much better than I thought he was before this game. He’s a man in the post.”
Sophomore center Drew McGee led four Miami players in double figures with a career-high 16 points. Senior forward Julian Mavunga added 14 points, six boards four assists, three steals, and two blocked shots.
Sophomore forward Jon Harris had 12, all coming from three-pointers, and fellow sophomore guard Quinten Rollins had 10 coming off the bench.
This game was crucial for both clubs after losing their conference openers on Saturday -- KSU at Buffalo and Miami squandering a seven-point second half lead at home to Akron.
Both teams started strongly, with MU using an 11-2 run to take a 22-11 lead at the 12:53 mark on a three by Harris, who scored all of his points in the first 20 minutes. It was a lead the Hawks would hold for the remainder of the half.
The largest lead for MU in the first half was 12 at the 2:30 mark when McGee, whose previous career best was eight earlier this season at Xavier, hit a layup en route to scoring eight in the first half.
The game started to turn back toward the Golden Flashes as they scored the final eight points of the half, capped by a steal and layup by Holt to make the Miami lead just four at halftime 37-33.
SHOTS FALLING IN FIRST HALF
Both teams shot the ball extremely well in the first half both hitting the same percentage (52) with the same number of field goals (13). Miami also had a 15-9 rebounds edge in a period that saw nine lead changes.
Among the keys to the MU lead were the three-point shooting of Harris and the strong inside play of McGee. In addition, freshman guard Brian Sullivan added seven points and two assists while Mavunga, who was leading the MAC in both scoring and rebounds coming into the game, had just five points.
On the KSU side, Greene scored 14 points and was the Flashes only scoring threat early. Holt heated up later and had 10 before the break.
At the start of the second half, KSU used a 6-2 spurt to forge the game’s first tie 39-39 on two free throws by junior forward Patrick Jackson before taking its first lead since the 15:35 mark of the first half when Greene scored a layup for a 44-43 advantage.
MU pushed the lead back out to five at 49-44 when guard Josh Sewell connected on a foul line extended jumper. The lead grew to nine at the 11:50 mark when Sullivan was fouled beyond the arc and made two of three free throws to make the score 57-48.
KSU then scored the next 10 points to regain the lead, 58-57, at the 7:29 mark on a pair of free throws by Holt. Miami regained the lead and pushed the advantage out to five when Rollins and Mavunga scored on conventional three-point plays.
MU 'CLOSING' ISSUE
After a driving layup by Sewell to make it a seven-point lead at 65-58, MU “closer” syndrome – an inability to close maintain leads to a victory - hit again.
The Flashes started to make their final push when Greene scored on a put-back of a miss by Holt. Green then connected on a free throw to close the margin to 67-65.
The Flashes took the lead for good when Greene scored in front just as the 35 second shot clock expired to make the score 69-67 with 23 seconds remaining.
The ‘Hawks called a time out and on the next possession Harris threw the ball out of bounds. Holt sealed the victory with 8.3 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws
“During the last media timeout, we just said ‘We are not going to lose’.” Holt said. “We had to do whatever we had to do to win.”
“We played Kent State Basketball down the stretch” Greene added. “We did what we had to do and we got it done.”
PORRINI FACTOR
One player for the Flashes who was a major factor to the victory was senior guard Michael Porrini. The reigning MAC Defensive Player of the Year had just three-points but had a team-high nine rebounds, eight assists, four blocked shots and two steals.
“That’s what he does. He’s as stats stuffer.” Greene said jokingly. “That’s what we need him to do, and he stepped up big.”
“He was 0-for-nine but still helped his team.” Coles said. “He had nine rebounds!”
Both teams cooled off considerably shooting, especially over the final 10 minutes after both had shot over 50 percent for much of the game.
KSU was just 10-for-29 in the second half and finished the contest at 42.6 percent. Miami was just 13-of-30 from the floor. But KSU dominated the second half boards 24-14 winning the battle overall, 33-28.
Another factor in KSU’s final surge was the crowd, who had been quiet for most of the game due to the Miami lead but started to get into the game in the second half. An alley-oop dunk by senior center Justin Manns raised the noise level, which peaked on Greene’s basket to give them the lead
Both teams get back into action on Saturday as Kent State hosts Bowling Green while Miami returns home to face Buffalo.
GAMEBOOK:
KEY MOMENT: An alley-oop dunk by senior C Justin Manns at the 9:07 mark got the crowd at the MAC center into the game and jump-started Kent State’s momentum.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: MICHAEL PORRINI-KENT STATE: The senior from Massillon, Ohio scored just nine points but led the team with nine rebounds and eight assists with four blocked shots and two steals.
KEY STAT OF THE GAME: In the battle between Kent State’s Justin Greene and Miami’s Julian Mavunga the pair had combined total of just 12 rebounds (six apiece)
NOTEBOOK:
The game was the 129th lifetime meeting between the two schools with Miami holding a 85-44 edge and 35-27 in Kent….Kent State is 15-2 lifetime when Justin Greene scores 20 or more points...Greene had two blocked shots moving him into third place on KSU’s alltime blocked shot list…His 23 points moved him into ninth place on the all-time scoring list with 1,288 points moving past Trent Grooms…In the Buffalo game, Greene became the first player in KSU history have 1,000 points,100 blocked shots and 100 steals in his career…Julian Mavunga-MIA has scored in double-digits in every game so far this season but his 14 points tied for his low mark this season…Jon Harris-MIA -- his 12 points were two off a career best set last year at Eastern Michigan...Harris (Twinsburg) and McGee (North Ridgeville) were playing in front of family and friends last night at the MAC Center
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