After a week of rest, the Kent State men’s basketball team returned to action by dominating Northern Illinois, 85-47.

“Great win for us, certainly we needed it,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “It was great to see us play as well as we did today, and everyone contributed at a really high level.”

The 38-point win is the second-largest victory of the season: 103-61 against Shawnee State and 100-62 against Hampton. 

This was the second matchup against the Huskies (9-16, 3-9) for the Flashes (13-12, 6-6). 

Kent State won the first game 83-76 on Jan.16. 

In regard to the difference between the first and second game, senior VonCameron Davis said, “We were a lot more locked in and more attention to detail.”

The Flashes initially jumped on Northern Illinois by building a 20-4 lead after eight minutes. 

Kent State shot 53% from the field while tallying seven three-pointers to take a 44-26 lead into halftime.

“Any shots we get when we are moving the ball are good shots, and tonight we got a lot of threes up.” junior guard Jalen Sullinger said. 

The second half was more of the same for Kent State as they continued to dominate the Huskies. 

Davis and Sullinger led the way for the Flashes with 17 points apiece, while Sullinger added a career-high seven assists. 

Kent State had 18 assists, which led to nine different players scoring.

“The whole team passed the ball really well, but I thought it started with Jalen,” Senderoff said. 

Next up, the Flashes will travel to Athens, Ohio, for a matchup against the Bobcats (13-12, 7-5 MAC) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. 

“We are trying to make sure that we continue to play well,” Senderoff said, “giving ourselves a chance to compete for a conference championship in March.” 

Matt Franos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].