Senior guard Jalen Sullinger and senior forward VonCameron Davis each had their season-high in points at 16 and 19, respectively, but it wasn’t enough in the Kent State men’s basketball team’s 79-56 defeat against the No. 5-ranked Auburn Tigers on the road.
“We didn’t make enough plays for each other over the course of the game,” coach Rob Senderoff said.
Kent State lost the assist battle 23-5 to the Tigers. In the previous game, KSU had 24 assists in its blowout win.
“They’re a great team, and they play really good defense,” Senderoff said.
The Flashes did have aspects of the game that went well for them against the fifth-best team in the country.
Sullinger cashed in three triples in five attempts, and his season-high 16 points came off the bench – something he has done for three straight games.
“Offensively in the first half, he really kept us in the game,” Senderoff said. “We were really struggling to score and without him we would have been in a big hole.”
After trailing by as many as 22 in the first half, KSU responded, going on a 27-10 run to cut the lead down to five in the second half. Davis scored the first 11 points for the Flashes coming out of halftime.
“We took care of the basketball really well – we only had eight turnovers,” Senderoff said. “That was really good, and there were some positives. We cut a huge deficit down and played the majority of the game with Von in a lot of foul trouble, so there were a lot of positives.”
After the win versus Miami-Hamilton, senior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak said the physicality of KSU matched up well with Auburn’s.
The Flashes proved their physicality matched up well, as they had more offensive rebounds, 12-11, over the Tigers, and KSU had more steals, 5-3. Hornbeak finished the night with seven total rebounds and three offensive boards.
“We did a good job on the offensive glass, that wasn’t the difference in the game,” Senderoff said. “They’re a big, strong team, but we held our own there.”
The fifth-ranked Tigers showed superiority out in transition. They beat the Flashes 12-2 in fast break points.
“Defensively, our transition defense is something we really need to improve upon,” Senderoff said. “In the half-court, we did a nice job, but our transition defense was subpar. When you’re playing a great team, you don’t want to discount their athleticism and their ability to push the ball, but there are some principle things we’re going to have to do better to have a chance against any team.”
Kent State fell to 2-1 on the season, putting the team in a tie for second in the Mid-American Conference standings, half a game behind first place Buffalo, at 2-0.
Looking ahead, the Flashes will head home to take on the 1-2 Niagara University Purple Eagles Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center.
“We have to do a better job if we expect to beat good teams – whether it’s good defensive teams the caliber of Auburn or good defensive teams in our conference,” Senderoff said. “We’re going to have to do a better job sharing the ball.”
Andrew Gold is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
