With just over two minutes remaining in game with major implications on the Mid-American Conference Tournament, the Kent State men’s basketball team had the six-point edge over the Miami (OH) University RedHawks Friday.
This matchup featured two of the conference’s top five teams with the Flashes in a tie for fourth place and Miami in second place. A KSU win would cut the difference between the two to one game.
A layup with about 130 seconds left in the game by junior forward Delrecco Gillespie gave the Flashes an 81-75 lead.
Miami marched right down the floor and almost delivered a huge blow to the Flashes with an and-one layup. The Miami player missed the free throw, which kept the game at a four-point difference.
Sophomore guard Cian Medley was sent to the line for two free throws, but only converted on one.
Miami grabbed the board and took a timeout after Medley missed the second free throw. Out of the timeout, Miami hit a huge three to cut the lead to two points, making the score 82-80 with 1:08 left.
After a missed 3-pointer, Miami regained possession and took it up the floor, leading to a foul by senior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak.
The foul sent Miami to the line for two. The RedHawks needed both free throws to tie the game with only 13 seconds left.
The RedHawks made both, knotting the game at 82. The ball was taken up the floor by Medley, who pulled up for a jumper with four seconds left.
The shot missed the mark, and regulation time ran out, leading to an overtime game between the two.
In the overtime period, the teams exchanged one and two-point leads back and forth.
That was up until a minute-and-a-half left in OT, where Miami converted on a pivotal layup, extending its lead to three points.
Back-to-back layups by redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis and Gillespie provided four unanswered points, giving the Flashes the one-point edge.
The clock wound down to under 30 seconds in overtime.
Miami came up the floor down one point.
The RedHawks went quick with the play and pulled up for a 3 and converted on the dagger. Miami was up two points in the blink of an eye.
The play lasted nine seconds, and the Flashes still had an opportunity to tie or take the lead with their possession. Kent State would have the last shot chance with the time less than the 30-second shot clock.
The Flashes got the time down to about nine seconds left in the game and were still working on the last shot before a turnover was committed by Gillespie, leading to a foul and free throws for Miami.
Still, the difference was two points, so just one miss meant a one-score game for the Flashes.
Miami was gifted with clutch shooting, however, as the RedHawks made both free throws, extending the lead to four points. The Flashes would need an and-one three to even tie the game.
On the last trip down the floor, the Flashes attempted a 3-pointer but missed the mark, leading to a tight four-point contest.
The RedHawks used their clutch shooting to edge the Flashes 96-92 in a hotly contested MAC matchup.
How it went
Kent State actually had to come back in the second half to play in overtime, as the team faced a three-point deficit going into the halftime break.
The game was so tight numbers-wise in the first half.
KSU shot 54.55% from the field and made all of its four 3-point attempts. Meanwhile, Miami was also shooting an elite 53.85% on field goals, but made nine 3-pointers in the half.
Miami made 15 more points on 3-pointers than KSU did, but KSU made six more free throws in the half.
In the second half, KSU shot even better at 55.17% from the floor with more makes than the first half. The teams also missed only one free throw in the second half, which, unfortunately for the Flashes, occurred with 1:32 left in the game.
Miami also struggled in the second half with the 3-ball. The team went 3-11 from long range, opening it up for the Flashes to come back.
For the Flashes, overtime was much rougher than the earlier parts of the game.
The team shot 4-9 (44%) from the floor, and missed both of its 3-pointers. The team also missed two of its four free throws, all critical buckets in the biggest frame of the game.
Miami converted on all four free throws and shot 66.67% both from the floor and from long range.
Where Miami got KSU the most was not with the shooting, but with the defense.
Despite being outrebounded 39-22 by KSU, Miami forced 21 turnovers while committing only 14 itself. Miami cashed in on 24 points off turnovers, and KSU only got 19 points in the same category.
The bench, which has been a bright spot for the Flashes this season, got outperformed by Miami’s bench.
KSU’s unit only contributed 23 points, while Miami had 34 points.
Player contributions
Senior guard Jalen Sullinger gave everything he had against Miami.
With two 20-minute halves and a five-minute overtime period combining for 45 minutes of play, Sullinger played in 43 of them.
He contributed 20 points on the night, which was tied for the most on the team and was two points shy of the game-high mark. This is the 20th time this season Sullinger has gone for double-digits.
He shot 7-16 from the floor and 4-6 from three while making both of his free throws. He dished the rock for four assists and notched three boards. On the defensive side of the ball, Sullinger also forced two steals.
The player Sullinger tied with in points was Gillespie, who also went for a 20-point outing. He absolutely crashed the boards for 12 rebounds for a double-double.
The 20 points was Gillespie’s career-high, and he went for his second career double-double.
Gillespie also shot a ridiculous 8-9 from the floor and shot 4-7 from the free throw line. He had the most rebounds in the game by far, with the second-best rebounder having nine on the night.
That effort came from Hornbeak, who played off the bench. No one on Miami had more than six rebounds on the night.
Of his nine boards, Hornbeak made five offensive rebounds and four defensive rebounds. He nearly missed a double-double, as he dropped 10 points with one assist and two blocks.
The third-leading scorer was Medley, who dropped 16 points, converted on 10 of his 12 free throw shots. He shot a low 3-11 from the floor and 0-3 from 3.
Looking ahead
The Flashes are far from the sixth seed of the MAC tournament today. At 18-9 overall and 8-6 in conference play, the Flashes are 1.5 games ahead of the three teams tied for the sixth seed.
Nonetheless, the loss to Miami dropped the Flashes to the lone fifth seed after being tied with Ohio University. The Flashes would need the Bobcats to lose to the top-seeded Akron Zips tonight in order to maintain the tie.
The hard games do not stop for Kent State, however, as the team will take on Toledo Tuesday night.
Toledo is the third-best team in the MAC with a 16-11 overall record and a 9-5 MAC record. Toledo has a worse overall record but better MAC record, giving them the edge in the standings over KSU.
The tipoff for the game will be at 7 p.m., and it will be in the M.A.C. Center.
Toledo has the second-worst scoring defense (77.4 points allowed per game) in the MAC while being the worst in opponent field goal percentage (47.3% shooting allowed), as well.
Toledo does have two players scoring 15.4 points each per night, which are tied for the seventh-best mark in the conference.
Toledo has been on a huge slide since its win in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge earlier in the month.
In the four games since, the Rockets have gone 1-3, and their only win was a one-point affair with Ball State.
The losses have essentially eliminated Toledo from the MAC’s top spot, barring an extremely unlikely circumstance.
Since 2001, the Flashes have had the stark advantage over Toledo, as KSU touts a 25-12 record against the Rockets. KSU has taken six of the last eight matchups.
The Flashes are looking to continue its surge, as the team has won five of its last six games.
KSU will need to keep it going with only four games left on the regular season schedule, including the away-from-home rivalry matchup with Akron left to go.
John Hilber is sports editor. Contact him at jhilber@kent.edu.
