The Kent State men’s basketball team (1-0) returns to the MAC Center Friday night as they welcome in Miami Hamilton for their 2024-2025 home opener.
The Flashes are coming off a tough 70-66 win at Louisiana Monday as part of the MAC/Sun Belt Challenge. Von Davis led the group with 17 points, while Morgan Safford added 15 and Cian Medley chipped in 11.
The Flashes used a +9 advantage on the glass, including 12 offensive, a 22-28 night at the free throw line, key defensive stops and timely shooting to pull out a win that they once trailed 10-0 and were down seven points with nine minutes left.
Depth prevailed as 11 Kent State players impacted the game in some way.
The Harriers, of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, come in at 2-1. As is often the case against lower-level opponents, Kent State must come out focused with the mindset of getting better and take care of business against a team they’re expected to beat.
Assistant Coach Jalen Avery briefly previewed the opponent on Monday’s postgame show on the radio network.
“Miami Hamilton is a really skilled group 1-5,” Avery said. “Everyone that’s on the court can pass, shoot and dribble. They run a bunch of Princeton stuff so we got to be ready to guard, but they’re a really tough team, really well coached.”
“We have a lot to fix, a lot of things that we could have done better tonight but it’s always better to learn in a win rather than a loss so I’m just glad we are able to come out with a win. We’ll get back to Kent and be able to go through some of this film and fix what we can.”
The Flashes return to the MAC Center, where they have gone 305-77 for a .794 winning percentage over the last 26 years, which included a 22-game winning streak from 2022 into 2023. KSU tries to extend their four-game home winning streak dating back to last season and go on another run.
Rob Senderoff was a guest on ESPN Cleveland 850 with Emmett Golden and talked about the MAC Center magic.
“The MAC Center is an awesome place to play. One of the best home court environments in the league and one of the best in the country. We’ve won 82 or 83% of our home games over the last 20 years, 20 plus years. So, it’s an awesome environment. The MAC Center is loud and it’s rocking, and we have a lot of people here supporting us. Our players feed off that energy and it makes it even tougher for our opponent when they’re here.”
The game will tip at 7pm, be shown on ESPN+ as well as the Kent State radio network.
PARTY WITH SENDY: After the game, Senderoff and the Blue and Gold Collective will host a postgame party at Lake House Kitchen and Bar to all Gold status members of the Collective.
Blue and Gold Collective founder Mike Beder helped organize the event and knows how special and unique many of these events are for KSU hoops fans.
“My business partner, Ben Koberna and I are very excited to host our fellow Gold level contributors for this exclusive get together with Coach Senderoff.
“Rob has really given everything he has to make sure Kent State Basketball continues its winning tradition, and this is just an example of how dedicated he is. To get to have a drink with a coach of his stature after his home opener is a special experience.
Fans are encouraged to visit www.BlueandGoldCollective.com to get on board and make a contribution to not miss out on more special experiences in the future.
LET’S GET PHYSICAL: As written about previously, a return to physicality was expected and needed this season for the Flashes to improve, and it was evident in the season opener in Louisiana. With Morgan Safford, who may remind some long time KSU fans of Chris Singletary in physique and game, along with Marquis Barnett and others, the Flashes at times resemble a football team.
“We’ve got real physical wings,” Senderoff said on Flash Talk this week. “You know last year we played really small on the perimeter. Gio and Jalen were playing almost exclusively together and this year with guys like Marquis Barnett, Jamal Sumlin, Morgan Safford, those three guys playing sort of as the two guard a lot gives you a lot more size at that position.
“Von’s obviously a strong, physical guy, he always has been. Cli’Ron and Rico and Mag anchoring inside gives us three really good frontcourt guys with both Rico and Mag being able to play a little bit at the four, and we have the opportunity at different times to play small or play big and to make sure, again that we’re keeping guys fresh and then hopefully we’ll be able to utilize the number of guys that we have that are quality players.”
SENDY ON ESPN 850: As mentioned, Senderoff was a guest with Emmett Golden on ESPN AM850 Cleveland to preview the season.
Senderoff talked about the selfless nature his team is trying to play with this season.
“The biggest thing is making sure we’re celebrating each other’s successes, excited about the plays our teammates are making,” he said. “To be part of a really good team, 90% of what you have to think about on a day-to-day basis has to be your teammates. We’re playing basketball, we’re not playing tennis or golf where it’s just worried about yourself and your own individual performance, you have to worry about how your guys are doing and how your team is playing and how you can help those guys on the court that you’re playing with.”
The interview is part of Kent State’s relationship with the station that will air several men’s and women’s basketball games on the station, and it’s the third year of the partnership.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS: We started writing about Kent State’s potential depth back in June and how it had a chance to a real strength for the Flashes this year.
Senderoff appeared on ‘Flash Talk’ this week with Dane Richardson and talked more about that topic.
“We have great depth, that’s for sure. The difference between one and ten on our roster is razor thin. And on any given day the guy that’s ten looks like one or two and the guy who’s one or two can look like ten if they’re not having a good day. So that’s a good thing. I remember, it wasn’t too long ago with the Golden State Warriors, ‘strength in numbers,’ and that’s one of our strengths right now.”
PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE: Kent State announced their promotional schedule for the home games on Thursday. Find it here.