Flashes defense lets down in opening night loss

It promises to be a long week in the film room for Kent State Head Coach Rob Senderoff and his staff, as they break down the defensive issues that led to a 103-97 overtime loss to Troy Monday night in the 2025-2026 season opener.

The Trojans of Troy shot 52.4% for the game, including 53% in the first half, and 4 out of 5 for 80% in the overtime period.  They also made 12 out of 26 three point attempts for 46% from distance.

Troy won the battle of points in the paint as well 40-30, in addition to winning points off turnovers 23-10.

Quite simply put, Kent State will have to defend at a much higher level if it wants to win and ultimately compete in the Mid-American Conference this season.  It’s one game, so we won’t overreact just yet.

Historically, the best teams that Senderoff have had at Kent, and down through the last 27 years at Kent State, have been defensive minded, tough, gritty, and stingy to score on.

“Giving up 100 points at home is not a recipe for us having success,” Senderoff said.  “Give them a lot of credit.  They played with tremendous toughness, competitiveness, when we took the lead.  They stayed with what they were doing, and found a way to get a win.”  

“We had a lot of things we needed to get better at.  Proud of the guys for battling back because we were down early, I think we were down 16 in the first half and took the lead, but obviously disappointed we couldn’t finish it out.”

Kent State did show a lot of heart and toughness, battling back from double digit deficits when it looked like they might get run out of the gym on opening night.  They got multiple contributions from a number of players to battle back.

Troy didn’t seem like a great matchup for Kent State defensively.  All of their frontcourt players can shoot the ball well from the three point line, forcing Kent State’s defense to stretch out.  In transition, all five of their players run to the three point line.  KSU employs a rim runner in their transition offense like a lot of teams do, so they aren’t used to practicing against this.

Senderoff did a podcast in the off-season and said Kent State isn’t a “pretty boy” program.  What he meant is nothing is given to anyone in terms of playing time or role.  But a large part of that is defense.  The Flashes will need to get it fixed and soon, as Cornell and UNC-Wilmington are coming to the MAC Center the next two games.     

The exciting thing for Kent State is that with so many newcomers, combined with returners improved, the potential of this group I think can be very high.  But if every guy who enters the game is offensively motivated to make their mark, that is not the formula for KSU to win games. 

BIG ROB FLASHES:  

Among the many bright spots for Kent State was the debut of Rob Whaley Jr.  A 6-6, 290 pound UNLV transfer, Whaley finished with 21 points, 8 rebounds and was 7-10 from the line.  Just 6-18 from the field, Whaley will need to finish a little better around the rim.  Showcasing his unique skill set, Whaley made two big three pointers.  Also, playing in the middle, Whaley is the ultimate zone buster with his ability to pass and make plays.

“He gave us a spark offensively for sure,” Senderoff said.  “He’s gotta finish better around the rim.  But he certainly played pretty well on the offensive end.  None of us played well defensively, none of us.  It’s a good building block for him I’m sure because he had missed a full season of playing.  We need to improve.”

After arriving on campus at 315 pounds, Whaley was able to lose around 25 pounds and get himself back into playing shape after missing much of last season with a back injury.  Whaley played 30 minutes Monday.

EARLY GIVEWAYS AN ISSUE:

Turnovers early in the game hurt Kent State.  They committed eight in the first 13 minutes or so, and then only finished with 14.

Rico Gillespie turned it over four times early, and finished with seven for the game.  Troy doubled the post aggressively, and also dug well on dribble penetrations.  Once KSU adjusted, the comeback was able to play out.

Troy also did a good job of mixing defenses.

“It wasn’t the new guys that turned it over,” Senderoff said.  “It’s guys that we’re counting on and stuff happens, they have a good team.  They mixed up their presses and switching.  They  double teamed us and cleary, I’m going to say I didn’t do a great job of getting us prepared for that because we looked like we were not prepared at the beginning of the game for the traps where they were coming from, or the mixing up of man and zone, eventually we got better with that but the offense was not why we lost the game.  When it’s all said and done we lost because we gave up over 100 points, they shot 50 percent from the field and that’s the reason why we lost.”     

WOIDKE DEBUTS:

The much anticipated debut of freshmen guard Quinn Woidke was a promising one last night.  The former Saint Ignatius Wildcat, he finished with 10 points on 3-8 shooting and 2-6 from the three point line.  Woidke also took a charge, and thought he took another one, but replays overturned the call.  Woidke is absolutely fearless on the offensive end, and may earn himself more minutes moving forward.

Woidke may remind some fans of Sincere Carry in the way they play the game from a skillset standpoint, and how confident they play.  Woidke said he and Senderoff watched film of Carry’s game during his recruitment.     

OH MY OMER:

Monday also marked the debut of Omer Hamama.  After arriving in Kent in September, the 22 year old non-traditional freshman found himself in the middle of crunch time, and played quite well given all that he’s adjusting to.  

Hamama finished with four assists and zero turnovers in 15 minutes.  His vision offensively is very good and defensively he is a pest with his ball pressure.  Hamama will continue to earn minutes as he takes care of the ball, something Senderoff and staff covet as much as anything. 

STUDENT SECTION?

Kent State had temporary bleachers in the student section by the Kent State bench Monday. Apparently the normal bleachers are being repaired or replaced. The metal bleachers that seemed to feature only three rows, looked like they were on loan from a local High School.

I can’t imagine the staff was thrilled about this, as a packed student section is a major feature as to what makes the MAC Center a tough place to play. Credit to the students and all the fans who brought the energy Monday.

Hopefully the new bleachers are in soon, as the timing of this project seems head scratching.

BIG RED IN TOWN FRIDAY:

Kent State welcomes in Cornell Friday for a 7pm game. Cornell won 18 gams last season and lost in the Ivy League Finals. Cornell was picked third this preseason in the league.

The Big Red return five of their top eight scorers from a year ago and play at one of the fastest tempos in the country, ranking in the top 10 for four straight seasons.

Last year they ranked in the top 25 of the NCAA in points per game (85.1), field goal percentage (50.1%), three point shooting (37.6%), threes made (11.2), and in assist to turnover ratio (1.60).