The Kent State men’s basketball team was coming off two straight road Mid-American Conference wins against Northern Illinois and Buffalo but fell 94-83 Tuesday night against the Western Michigan Broncos at the M.A.C. Center.
The win was the Broncos’ first conference win in four tries, and they are 4-12 overall. The Flashes fell to 11-5 and are 2-2 versus the MAC.
KSU had a 66-64 lead with 10 minutes left in the game before the Broncos went on a 30-17 run to end the game.
“We have to give Western Michigan a ton of credit,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “They competed at a high level, and we didn’t guard the way we needed to and didn’t compete at the level we needed to to be successful.”
Kent State has dropped its first two home games against the MAC. On Jan. 4, the Ball State Cardinals came into Kent and defeated the Flashes 75-67.
“We have to learn from this and get better,” Senderoff said. “This is back-to-back conference home games where teams have shot 50% or higher here in the M.A.C. Center. This game, they also got to the foul line a ton, and we just have to be a lot better if we expect to have success in this league.”
WMU made 30 of its 41 attempts at the foul line versus the Flashes’ 14-for-17 at the stripe.
Despite the free throw disparity, Kent State was kept in the ball game from the hot shooting of senior guard Jalen Sullinger, going for a career-high 32 points on 8-12 from three point range.
“He was tremendous offensively – it was great that he was able to produce the way he did on the offensive end, but for us to give 94 points up, there’s a level of disappointment that I hope he has in how he played even though he scored 32 points, which was awesome,” Senderoff said.
Senior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak had a good game offensively as well, shooting an efficient 7-9 from the field and scoring 17 points.
“We could not get a stop at all in the second half, and it seemed like every time we did, they got an offensive rebound,” Senderoff said. “We weren’t able to make them create turnovers, which has been a calling card of ours, and quite honestly, it didn’t matter who I had in the game – we didn’t get the stops we needed.”
The Broncos owned the paint all night long, grabbing more offensive and defensive boards than KSU.
“We did not protect the paint; they scored 46 points and drove the ball at will and multiple guys and got in the paint whenever they wanted to,” Senderoff said.
At 11-5, the Flashes are knotted with 11-5 Akron with the second-best overall record in the MAC. Kent State and Akron are fifth and second, respectively, in the standings when accounting for conference records at 2-2 and 4-0.
In the 2022-23 season, where Kent State won the MAC tournament, it was 15-3 in conference play.
“We have to look ourselves in the mirror and make the necessary adjustments that teams and players make in order to fix what happened tonight and try to create that identity,” Senderoff said. “We have 14 more games left [versus MAC], and there are some really good offensive teams in this league, and if we’re going to hope to outscore all those teams, it will be tough for us.”
Taking on the MAC’s best
The next game for the Flashes is right back at the M.A.C. Center Saturday at 3 p.m. against the MAC’s No. 1 ranked Miami RedHawks.
Miami boasts a 4-0 conference record and is 12-4 overall. Last year, the RedHawks defeated the Flashes 71-67 on Kent’s home court.
To grab its win No. 12 on the season, KSU will look to make the adjustments they need to to get back on track.
“We have to draw a line in the sand and say, ‘You can’t come in the building and score 94 points,’ or whatever that number is,” Senderoff said. “There has to be some level of pride among our group on that end of the floor. I do think we have a prideful group of guys, and I expect us to respond really well.”
Andrew Gold is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].