Coming off a big home win over rival University of Akron (21-7, 10-5 Mid-American Conference) this past Friday, Kent State (18-10, 9-6 MAC) fell on the road to the University of Buffalo (16-12, 9-6 MAC), 87-70 on Tuesday. 

“I just think we got outplayed,” coach Rob Senderoff said after the game. “We came out with good energy and were in the game most of the night. We just kind of fell apart in the second half.”

The Bulls outscored the Flashes 51-37 in the second half led by freshman guard CJ Massinburg, who scored 21 points off the bench, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. Buffalo’s bench outscored Kent State’s 49-11 with three players, including Massinburg, scoring in double figures.

“We just have to play better defense,” Senderoff said. “We played well and kept the tempo where we wanted it for the first 25 minutes but couldn’t sustain it. They went on a big run and we couldn’t get stops during that stretch.”

Following a birth in the NCAA tournament during the 2014-15 season, the Bulls lost leading scorer and MAC Player of the Year Justin Moss, who was dismissed from the team for off-the-court issues in June  2015. The team also lost head coach Bobby Hurley and Second Team All-MAC guard Shannon Evans to Arizona State (14-13, 4-10 Pacific-12 Conference).

Redshirt junior Jimmy Hall led the Flashes with 20 points, while senior center Khaliq Spicer added 13 points and 11 rebounds. 

With the loss Kent State slides back into a three-way tie for second place in the MAC East standings, one game behind Akron, who is currently alone in first place.

The Flashes will be on the road again Saturday to take on Miami University (OH) (10-18, 4-11 MAC). The game will air on ESPN3 with tip-off at 3:30 p.m. 

Stephen Means is the sports editor for The Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].