The Kent State men’s basketball team had an impressive 33 points off its bench Saturday and never trailed in its 68-52 road win over the Cleveland State Vikings.
In its previous win against Niagara, KSU saw a 19-point first-half lead slip down to one late in the game. In this one, the Flashes left no doubt, winning handily after being up 15 in the first half.
“Our defense was outstanding, especially in the second half, and our rebounding was really strong,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “To win on the road, you’re going to have to defend for 40 minutes, which we did.”
Kent State was able to have their way against the Vikings, having more rebounds, assists and steals than CSU, while also shooting 50% from three and 85% from the free throw line.
“I’m proud of the effort, for sure, and we had a number of contributions from a number of guys, which was great to see,” Senderoff said.
While senior forward VonCameron Davis (11 points in the game) and graduate student guard Morgan Safford (nine points in the game) lead the team in scoring average, Senderoff has many guys off his bench who are ready when their number is called.
“(Senior guard Marquis Barnett) puts in a lot of work – I was really happy for him that he was able to see some shots fall,” Senderoff said. “(Graduate student forward Anthony Morales) continued to play well and (senior guard Jalen Sullinger) played well all year offensively, for sure. We’re just continuing to see we have a deep team with a number of guys that can contribute and a number of guys that can help us.”
Morales played four years of basketball at Boston University, and Barnett played three years at Presbyterian College before they both came to Kent State.
They shot a combined 7-8 from the three point line against the Vikings, each stringing together some productive games this season.
Morales had 11 points and 10 in the last game while averaging 5.6 on the season. Barnett averages six points per game and has made three field goals in each of his previous two games.
“They’re both really good players, and both are guys adjusting to how we play here,” Senderoff said. “With different systems and different styles, it isn’t always easy when you’re making that adjustment, and both have contributed and will continue to contribute throughout the year.”
Senior center Cli’Ron Hornbeak also shined, recording a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double while also having four blocks and two steals.
“His ability to impact the game in the second half was the difference in the game. He stayed on the court, and he was impactful rebounding, affecting and blocking shots,” Senderoff said. “He had his best game to date this year, and hopefully, it is something he is able to build off of because he is a really good player.”
Cleveland State was able to shoot 28 free throws and draw 22 KSU fouls, something the Flashes look to emphasize improving on. Kent State also had 18 turnovers.
“The two areas from tonight that we need to improve upon are taking care of the basketball and defending without fouling,” Senderoff said. “We’ve shown we can take care of the basketball – we only had eight turnovers against Auburn, one of the elite defensive teams in the country, but we haven’t done it consistently enough.”
It has been an identity all season for the Flashes to be physical, but they look to do so while keeping their opponents off the foul line.
“We’re trying to be aggressive defensively, but we need to do that and also be smart at the same time, so it’s something we need to work on,” Senderoff said.
Despite the fouls, the Flashes put on a great defensive performance and were able to take away the Viking offense in many other ways.
“We really made a point of emphasis to make it difficult for them to get to the rim and make them take contested shots. We guarded the three well – they were 3-20 from there,” Senderoff said. “We tried to clog the paint as best we could and had seven blocks on the night, so we did a lot of the things we were trying to do defensively to keep them to 52 points on 30% field goal shooting, about as good as you can ask for.”
With the win, the Flashes moved to 4-1 on the young season, their best start since their 5-0 start to the 2022-23 season. Cleveland State dropped to 3-4.
KSU also took over the top spot in the Mid-American Conference standings with Toledo (5-2) and defending champion Akron (3-2) in close pursuit.
Heading north
The Flashes will now focus their attention on their “Western Slam” games – three games in three days in Lethbridge Alberta, Canada.
Kent State will take on Towson University Thursday at 9:30 p.m, University of California, Irvine Friday at 9:30 p.m. and Kennesaw State University Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
As it stands, Towson is 3-2, UC Irvine is 5-0 and Kennesaw State is 4-1.
“We’re playing against three really good teams coming up next week,” Senderoff said. “But we also feel like those three teams have to play against a really good team when they play us, so we’re looking forward to the challenge and that chance to grow as a group and get better.”
Andrew Gold is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
