Time has run out on the Kent State men’s basketball team’s season following a 79-58 loss to the Illinois State Redbirds in the first round of the National-Invite Tournament on Wednesday.
Outshot and overall outplayed, the Flashes stepped into the CEFCU Arena in Normal, Ill., and never stood a chance.
“Tough night for us, we did not play well,” Senderoff said. “Give Illinois State a ton of credit, those guys played really hard and competed at a high level.”
Following the Flashes’ tight loss to the Akron Zips on Saturday in the Mid-American Conference tournament, the team came out flat in every category and was never able to recover.
Struggling from the 3-point line for most of the night, KSU finished shooting 25% and 33% from the field.
Scoring did not come easily, so the Flashes’ only hope to stay in the game was defensive pressure, and that side of the ball did not hold up either.
Giving up 13 second-chance points, KSU allowed the Redbirds to shoot 42% from the floor and 37% from the 3-point stripe.
The turnover battle was another lost category, as the Flashes forced only four turnovers to their 10 giveaways as a team.
On a positive note, rebounding was not the issue for KSU as it outrebounded the RedBirds by two offensively and tied the overall total on both sides of the ball.
Still, the season was far from a failure. The Flashes collected 24 wins in the regular season, including 14 in conference as well as a trip to the semifinals of the MAC tournament.
In the aftermath of the season, multiple KSU players took large steps forward and boosted the team all year.
Arguably, nobody took a bigger jump than senior forward Delrecco Gillespie, who brought his points average up over 10 points and led the nation in double-doubles.
“I don’t know if he wore down mentally or physically over the last two months, but it was not a matter of work,” Senderoff said. “There’s probably a number of things that he can point to as blame for it, but he has got to look inward and continue to improve.”
Gillespie had a rough outing against the Redbirds, finishing with five points on 2-for-12 shootings in 26 minutes, but one bad night does not define his successful season.
“If you look at what he did in November through January, he was amongst the best front-court players in the country,” Senderoff said. “He is an elite worker and an awesome human, so I know he will look in the mirror to make sure his last college season is his best.”
With Gillespie’s extra year of eligibility awarded earlier this year, the forward is expected to weigh his options before deciding on where he will play next season.
Switching to the younger members of KSU, the freshman duo of guard Quinn Woidke and forward Dezmon Briscoe found themselves in important minutes throughout the season which provided invaluable experience to their young collegiate careers.
Averaging almost 20 minutes on the season, Woidke became the Flashes’ bench spark as the year progressed. Against the Redbirds, Woidke could not find it on Wednesday and scored just two points in 18 minutes.
Briscoe stepped up continually when the team’s options were limited because of injuries or foul trouble. The other freshman opportunities were more limited, only averaging 8.5 minutes per game.
“Those guys got better, but they have a long way to go in the offseason to help us compete at an even higher level,” Senderoff said. “They have a lot of growth in front of them that they need to attack at a high level in order for us to have success next season.”
While Woidke and Briscoe’s collegiate careers are just beginning, graduate students, forward Rob Whaley Jr. and guard Morgan Safford, are officially finished.
In their final game, the duo played like time was running out as they finished as KSU’s first and second leading scorers. Whaley Jr. scored 13 points while Safford had 19, both finishing 50% or higher from the floor.
“I’m proud of how they played and the seasons they had,” Senderoff said. “They have helped our program during their time here, and I’m certainly appreciative of that.”
Wednesday night’s loss was nowhere close to the ideal ending for an overall successful season, but a NIT berth means a lot to the program.
“Only three teams in our league got into postseason play,” Senderoff said. “We didn’t take advantage of the opportunity the way I would have liked to, but that does not take away from the overall accomplishments of our group.”
As the offseason looms for the Flashes, there will still be work to be done.
“The offseason is time for everyone to work on their game and weaknesses,” Senderoff said. “Improving all their strengths is important.”
Josh Szeremet is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
