 MIAMI 62, KENT STATE 60 A half-court heave following Mavunga’s free throws was off the mark, and the Flashes fell for the second time in their last two outings. Kent State also lost Saturday in a Sears Bracketbuster matchup with the College of Charleston. That broke a seven-game KSU winning streak. Tuesday’s loss to the RedHawks, however, was a tougher pill.
It was the first conference loss for Kent State (19-8, 9-4 MAC) since an 84-75 setback at Akron back on Jan. 21, and it drops the Flashes another half-game behind league-leader Akron, who hosts Bowling Green Wednesday.
Miami, meanwhile, raised its record to 9-17 overall, 5-8 MAC after bouncing back from consecutive losses to Akron and Tennessee State.
The latter was a Sears Bracketbuster game. While every other MAC team played its Bracketbuster game on Saturday, Miami played Sunday. And as luck would have it in the RedHawks troubling 2011-12 campaign, the RedHawks were scheduled to follow with the MAC Tuesday night game.
That seemed to be an extra burden given the RedHawks depth issues and a season of second-half woes. When Josh Sewell hit a trey from the corner with two seconds left in the first half, it gave MU a 27-22 lead. Few on hand, however, doubted the Flashes would rally in the second stanza.
Miami actually pushed the lead out to 12 points (49-37) following a Mavunga trey at 9:34. But Kent State began a 10-3 run on a 3-pointer by Randal Holt and finished it with a Guyton three at 6:51. That left the hosts in front by five points, 52-47.
Miami pushed its advantage back up to nine with a bucket from Will Sullivan and a fast-break layup by Rollins at 5:04. But the veteran Flashes were far from done. Repeatedly driving to the hoop and mixing in a trey, Kent State fought back to tie the game at 58-all on a basket by Justin Green with 1:17 remaining.
Mavunga threaded the needle with a pass to Rollins underneath, and the sophomore guard scored with 42 seconds left.
After a 30-second time out, KSU got it to Greene, who muscled his way to the lane and put in a short jumper to knot the score at 60-60 with 27 seconds remaining.
That left Miami with the entire shot clock. After a time out, MU cleared out for Mavunga.
“He was our best bet,” Miami coach Charlie Coles said. “We told him to go (for the basket) with five (seconds) left.”
Starting at the top of the key, Mavunga drove down the right side of the lane and spun inside. He drew a crowd, and Kent State’s Michael Porrini was called for a foul that gave Mavunga two shots. He hit both to give MU the win.
“We were close, but at the end of the day, we didn’t make enough plays,” said KSU coach Rob Senderhoff, adding that if Mavunga was going to be fouled, he should have been fouled “on the floor.” Porrini’s foul was the team’s sixth.
Asked if any MAC teams could be overlooking the RedHawks during a difficult season,” Senderoff replied, ”Nobody’s underestimating them. Everybody knows Charlie Coles is the best coach in the league. ... That team doesn't quit and ... they've been in every game."
Senderoff noted own his team committed an “uncharacteristic” amount of turnovers (14) and “missed too many free throws (6-of-12).”
Guard Randal Holt led KSU with 15 points after connecting on 6-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-7 treys attempts. Carlton Guyton netted 13 points, while Green added 11 to the total.
Rollins (18) and Mavunga (17) were the only RedHawks in double figures.
“This was a very good win for us. Sometimes you need a win however you can get it, and this was one of those,” Coles said. “I thought Julian Mavunga carried the day today.”
The senior from Indianapolis made 6-of-13 shots from the field on the way to 17 points, along with eight rebounds. He was 3-of-5 on treys and dished out four assists.
Rollins was the only other RedHawk in double figures. He scored a game-high 18 points, dished out six assists and recorded three steals.
“He did a good job. He’s getting a lot better on offense,” Coles said.
“I feel like I’m in a great rhythm now. My confidence is high,” said Rollins, who noted the RedHawks really needed a home court win. “We couldn’t let another game slip away at home.”
“This is a huge win for us. It reinforces the fact that we’ve got a good team,” Mavunga said. “There’s no excuses.”
Thanks to its dribble-penetration game, Kent State shot an amazing 61.5 percent in the second half and 50 percent 24-of-48 for the game.
That, however, was one less field goal than Miami (25-of-56, 44.6 percent). The RedHawks also made three more treys (9-of-23 to 6-of-16).
That helped offset Kent State’s 6-3 advantage at the free throw line and 33-25 rebounding advantage.
Mavunga noted that while MU had some late turnovers , the RedHawks finished in single digits (9). Kent State had 14 turnovers.
Miami had nine steals to KSU’s four, but the Flashes registered eight blocks to MU’s three.
Both teams continue their MAC stretch run on the road Saturday. Miami is at Buffalo (3 p.m. ET). Kent State is at Bowling Green ( 6 p.m. ET). |
