Kent State sophomore Devareaux Manley averaged just 3.5 minutes of playing time in the Flashes’ first two games of the regular season.

After his performance Friday night, KSU fans better get used to seeing Manley on the floor much more often.

Manley scored a career-high 20 points to help Kent State (2-1) to a 92-63 victory over visiting Chicago State (1-2) Friday night in the first game of the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic in front of 2,380 at the Memorial Athletic Convocation Center in Kent, Ohio.

Manley had previously struggled to make open shots from behind the 3-point arc, where in the past he appeared most comfortable. Friday night, he overcame those struggles.

“It was finally good to hit that first one,” Manley said. “As soon as I came in off the bench, I hit the first one. I kind of felt it was going to be a good night for me.”

A good night it was for Manley, who ignited an offensive explosion in the second half for Kent State, making five of his six total 3-pointers in the final period. Seniors Chris Evans and Randal Holt made back-to-back 3-pointers to start the KSU run, and Manley took over from there.

“We all got going as a team,” Manley said. “Tonight was probably one of the best nights that we shot the ball good from three. Chris Evans was hitting, [Randal Holt] was hitting so when I came in I just tried to keep the tempo going and knock down my shots as well.”

Manley contributed 12 points to a 40-13 Kent State run in the first 14:27 of the second half, which helped the Flashes distance themselves from the Cougars and coast to a much-needed blowout victory.

“I’ve had a really short leash with [Manley],” Senderoff said. “…Great job by him. That’s how, as a player when you’re not happy with your playing time…that’s how you’re supposed to respond.”

Evans stuffed his stat line again for Kent State, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block. Evans also finished with just one turnover, as opposed to his eight turnovers in a loss to Temple on Tuesday.

“For us to have six turnovers, coming off having 21 against Temple, great job,” Senderoff said. “Great job by the guards, great job by our post players. It was something that we emphasized as being really important for the game and we did a good job with that for sure.”

Despite the lopsided victory, Kent State struggled mightily from the foul line, making just 11 of 28 free throws. The Flashes actually shot better from behind the 3-point line (11 of 27, 40.7 percent) than they did from the foul line (39.3 percent).

“I’m gonna have our guys, instead of shooting from the foul line, I’m going to have them shoot from three,” Senderoff said. “I don’t know the answer to that to tell you the truth…Some of that stuff I think is just mental. You miss a couple and then everybody gets tight when they’re up there. We’re going to need to do a much better job from the free throw line on Sunday.”

Junior Mark Henniger continued to show improvement and matched a career-high with 11 points to go along with four rebounds.

“Great game for Mark,” Senderoff said. “I would hope that his confidence level is at an all-time high; it should be. He’s playing well, we’re counting on him to play well. He played against a good player today, this kid Jeremy Robinson is a good player. He held his own against him.”

Kent State will host Valparaiso (2-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday at the M.A.C. Center in the second game of the Joe Cipriano Nebraska Classic. The Crusaders defeated Mid-American Conference member Northern Illinois 69-46 on Tuesday, but lost to Nebraska 50-48 Thursday night.

Contact Nick Shook at [email protected].