Senior forward VonCameron Davis had 17 points and sank 13 free throws in the Kent State men’s basketball team’s 70-66 road victory over the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns Tuesday night.
“It is great to get a road win to start the year playing against a good program and good team,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “I am really proud of how we fought – we didn’t play our best offensive game, but we competed on the defensive end, and made some big baskets and big plays when we needed them.”
Six minutes into the game, the Ragin’ Cajuns shot out to a 10-0 lead, and the Flashes didn’t have a field goal until the seven-and-a-half minute mark.
Despite trailing early, Kent State found a groove and found themselves leading 30-27 at the half.
“We got ourselves in a big hole and then made substitutions, and guys came in and played well – eventually some guys got going that we needed to,” Senderoff said.
In the second half, the game saw multiple lead changes late, and KSU responded to the Ragin’ Cajuns’ eight-point lead with eight minutes to play.
A late, clutch three-pointer from senior guard Jalen Sullinger to make the score 66-60 KSU, and four big time free throws from graduate student guard Morgan Safford secured the four-point win.
It wasn’t the most efficient shooting night beyond the arc for Kent State at a 6-24 (25%) clip.
“Some days we’re going to shoot the ball well, and some days we’re not,” Senderoff said. “You just need to find ways to win when you’re not shooting the ball well.”
Early on, the Flashes are finding ways to pull close games off.
“In our last exhibition game, we shot the ball really well from three – tonight, we did a really good job of getting to the foul line,” Senderoff said. “You have to find different ways to win; we were really physical around the basket led by Von, but it was a lot of guys that did a really good job there.
Davis went 13-for-15 at the charity stripe, and the Flashes shot 22-for-28 as a team taking seven more foul shots than the Ragin’ Cajuns.
While taking more foul shots, the Flashes also shot more efficiently from the line (78.6%-61.9%). ULL missed seven free throws, which is more than the margin of the final score.
Kent State also showed their size and physicality by out rebounding ULL 35-26 and 12-4 on the offensive glass.
“We pride ourselves on being a really physical team and we played a very athletic team today,” Senderoff said. “We did a great job keeping them off the offensive glass and did a great job rebounding.”
Senderoff stressed the importance of the team playing physically, and Davis was able to draw a lot of contact to get to the line.
“He was fantastic with his physicality and not settling, just being strong around the rim and showing the basketball, he did a great job of that,” Senderoff said.
Safford was the second-leading scorer with 15 points while also grabbing nine rebounds on 4-13 shooting from the floor.
“He certainly didn’t shoot it as well as he could, but he made a big three in the second half and made all those free throws that were needed down the stretch,” Senderoff said.
This was both teams’ first contest as the Flashes moved to 1-0 on the season and dropped ULL to 0-1.
The other 11 Mid-American Conference teams were also in action Tuesday. KSU is knotted with Buffalo, Miami (OH) and Central Michigan, who also secured wins to move to 1-0.
Home cooking
Kent State will begin its home action against Miami University-Hamilton Harriers Friday at the M.A.C. Center with tipoff at 7 p.m.
This will be the first all-time matchup between these two teams.
The Flashes will look for a 2-0 start, something they last did in the 2022-23 season.
“I hope that we come out and play for each other and compete the way we need to compete to be successful as a program in our home opener,” Senderoff said.
Andrew Gold is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
