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Kent State pummels Huskies |
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Thursday, January 26 2012 |
 KENT STATE 90, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 56
Freshman Kris Brewer scored a career-high 15 points to lead five Golden Flashes in double figures as Kent State built a 21-3 lead to start the game and refused to let up.
Adding 14 points and six rebounds in only 19 minutes, senior forward Justin Greene started the second half by exploiting Northern Illinois’ inside game. Greene scored five points for the Golden Flashes within the first five minutes of the second stanza and continued his strong play on the defensive end of the court.
From there, it was Kent State’s perimeter shooting that put the game out of reach. Junior guard Randal Holt hit a 3-pointer with just under 17 minutes to play to put the Golden Flashes up by 32 points. Holt’s three was only part of Kent State’s hot touch from beyond the arc as the team hit six of its next seven over the next eight minutes of action. Holt led the way, connecting on three, 3-pointers as he finished with 14 points while matching career highs with six assists and four steals.
In all the Golden Flashes scoring on 11-24 from three, including 7-15 in the second half when junior forward Brian Frank joined the party in the closing minutes with his first career triple. Junior forward Chris Evans (14 points) and senior guard Carlton Guyton (11 points) also finished in double figures for Kent State.
After dropping two straight conference match-ups on the road, Kent State started strong against the Huskies. The Golden Flashes’ dominant offensive first half, including eight steals, led to a 49-23 lead at halftime. Kent State turned the Huskies’ 14 turnovers into 17 first half points. KSU finished the half shooting 18-of-28 from the field.
The win snaps Kent State’s two-game slide and improves the Flashes record to 8-1 at the M.A.C. Center this season. It also marked the 25th consecutive KSU win against MAC West foes and was the 11th straight win over NIU.
Kent State will return to the road this weekend when they face Toledo at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Northern Illinois hosts Buffalo (1 p.m.) on Saturday.
Courtesy of Kent State Athletics
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