Against Toledo, the Kent State men’s basketball team turned in its most complete game in Mid-American Conference play at home Tuesday.

The game featured the Flashes’ best offensive production in MAC competition, the best defensive play in six games, and it happened against a team higher in the league standings.

In the game, KSU managed to score more than 100 points, which is something the team has not done at all this season. The 100-point mark had not been reached since Nov. 30, 2023, in a 103-61 defeat of Shawnee State.

Defensively, the Flashes held the Rockets to just 65 points all night, the lowest allowed since KSU defeated Eastern Michigan 70-49 almost a month ago on Feb. 4.

Coming into the game, KSU was fifth in the conference while Toledo was in third place. After the 105-65 game, and with Ohio University’s loss to Western Michigan, KSU jumped to third place itself, while Toledo dropped to fourth place.

KSU, Toledo and OU are all tied with a 9-6 conference record, but KSU has the best overall record of the three with 19-9, which gives it the edge over the other two teams in the standings.

To put the cherry on top of this all-around performance late in the season; Kent State clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament after the regular season wraps up.

“It was a great bounce back win for us,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “I am glad we secured ourselves an opportunity to play in Cleveland. I am proud of the entire team for our effort tonight.”

How it went

The game started slow and even between the teams, as the game was knotted at nine at the five-minute mark.

From there, KSU would start to run away with it.

The Flashes hit a couple 3-pointers to grab a 19-12 lead nearly eight minutes into the game.

At this point, KSU would begin to embark on a 17-0 run that separated the two teams, and KSU would never look back.

Senior guard Marquis Barnett and redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis started the run by trading baskets with each other.

Barnett had a couple dunks while Davis converted on back-to-back 3s. With less than a quarter of the game played out, Barnett and Davis were already in double-digit scoring for the night.

Layups by senior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak and senior guard Jalen Sullinger capped off the lead and pushed the Flashes even further past the Rockets before one more 3-pointer was cashed in by Davis, which capped off the 17-point run.

Davis’ third 3 of the run made the score 36-14.

Kent State would keep the pressure throughout the first half, refusing to allow Toledo to reach the 20-point threshold until there was about four-and-a-half minutes left in the half.

By then, the lead had swelled to 25 points, and KSU was doubling up the Rockets. It was 46-21 after UT made two free throws following a celebratory technical foul by Barnett after converting on a huge slam on the other end.

The rest of the scoring along the way was from junior forward Delrecco Gillespie and Barnett, who continued to feel himself in the first half.

They each added four points, but UT kept pace, keeping the score at 54-30 going into the halftime break.

By the break, Gillespie was at 13 points on the night, Barnett at 16 and Davis at 14.

In the first half, KSU shot over 18% more efficiently from the floor while shooting almost 7% better on 3-pointers, as well.

KSU was nearly doubling up Toledo on the glass (22-12), and KSU almost had as many offensive boards as Toledo had total rebounds (11-12).

The closest it got in the second half was a 20-point difference about five minutes into the second half.

A couple of Toledo free throws made it a 64-44 game. From that point, KSU would score 41 more points in the game, and the Rockets would only score 21.

Up until about eight minutes left in the game, KSU went on a 21-6 run to make it a 35-point affair at 85-50.

Redshirt sophomore guard Jamal Sumlin came up with nine points in the stretch, and Davis reached 21 points while Barnett reached the 19-point mark in the run, as well.

KSU continued to run away with the game, eclipsing the 100-point mark with about two minutes remaining in the game. KSU reached the point with a tip-in bucket from Hornbeak.

KSU made a couple more shots but more or less ran out the clock until the 105-65 game was over.

The 40-point margin of victory had not been accomplished by the Flashes since their Nov. 8 game against Miami-Hamilton, when the Flashes won 98-53.

“It is good to beat anybody,” Senderoff said. “I don’t know that it matters who you are playing against, it is just good to get league wins, and it is good to get wins late in the season.”

At the end of the game, KSU dominated in all but four categories (turnovers, fastbreak points, free throws and free throw percentage).

KSU kept the hot shooting going, shooting at almost 17% better than Toledo the entire game.

The Flashes held Toledo to 2-13 from long range(15.4%). Meanwhile, Kent State shot a serviceable 37.5% from deep, going 9-24.

Kent State outrebounded UT by almost 20 boards, and the Flashes accumulated 19 offensive rebounds, which was eight more offensive rebounds than Toledo had.

“That’s what we do – we some dogs,” Gillespie said. “We go to the glass, we hit first, we get offensive rebounds – that’s what we do.”

Kent State also led in categories such as steals (11-7), points of turnovers (27-8), points in the paint (64-40) and second chance points (31-18).

“The foundation of our program is built on defense and rebounding,” Senderoff said. “Our players’ focus has been really, really good.”

Perhaps the biggest disparity, however, among the teams was the bench unit. Toledo only got 10 points from non-starters while KSU’s bench unit produced 57 points for the team – over half the point total KSU got all game.

Player contributions

One of the main reasons KSU had such an advantage in bench points on the night was because of Sumlin’s game.

In the first half, he only had three points, but he turned it up by scoring 17 more in the second half, finishing with 20 points.

The mark is a season-high, shattering his previous high of 13 points.

“I was feeling good, and my team kept giving me confidence,” Sumlin said. “I was taking care of the ball and helping us win the game. I just keep doing the little things that I am doing to help us win.”

Sumlin also contributed with six rebounds, seven assists and two steals. His seven assists on the night was also a season-high for Sumlin.

“I was just making sure I do not get too comfortable on the court, and just keeping my composure and keeping my team together so we can get the win at the end of the day,” Sumlin said.

Other players off the bench that contributed big were Barnett and Hornbeak. Barnett went for 19 points, two rebounds and one assist while going 8-12 from the floor.

Hornbeak notched nine rebounds on the night, seven of which were offensive, and he narrowly missed the double-double, as he also scored 13 points. The center added one assist and three blocks.

In the starting lineup, Gillespie came from all angles, scoring 16 points in 6-8 shooting, bringing down six rebounds, blocking one person and stealing the ball four times.

“I do finishing every day after practice and free throws with my coach,” Gillespie said. “That’s it – it is just really the work I put in.”

Lastly, the Flashes’ most major scoring contribution came from Davis, who led the game with 21 points. He shot over 50% and added one block and one rebound in the game.

Looking ahead

Kent State’s regular season marquee matchup is next up on the schedule.

Friday, the Flashes will travel into Akron to take on the Zips at 9 p.m., the MAC’s top-seeded team.

Coming in at 22-6 and 14-1 in MAC play, Akron is having an outstanding season. The pressure is mounting for KSU, though, as Akron is a perfect 14-0 at home, and the Zips have won 15 of their last 16 games including a 14-game winning streak.

Earlier in the season, KSU dropped the home match against Akron in an 85-71 loss on Jan. 31.

After seeing how that game panned out, Senderoff wants to see one thing improved on for the next meeting between the two teams: level of competition.

“I didn’t think we played with tremendous confidence in that game,” he said. “I didn’t think we were all that competitive, so I was disappointed in how we competed that night – that was unlike the way the team is supposed to compete. We didn’t really give ourselves a chance with how we competed that night.”

Senderoff said Friday is an important game, but the most important game might come later if the Flashes and Zips meet in Cleveland during the MAC tournament.

“Friday is a big game because it is our next game,” he said. “But, if we were to play them in Cleveland, it would be the biggest game if we do. We’re going to not make it bigger than it needs to be.”

John Hilber is sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].