College Men’s Basketball ‘They’re too good’

Mike Popovich

Canton Repository

USA TODAY NETWORK

KENT — Reality may be staring at the Kent State Golden Flashes right between the eyes.

Their biggest obstacle at this year’s Mid-American Conference men’s basketball tournament may not the nation’s only unbeaten team. It looks like it will be their longtime rival who has dominated them twice this season.

The Akron Zips took it to Kent State 92-70 on Friday, Feb. 27, at a sold-out M.A.C. Center. The Flashes’ seventh straight loss to Akron came four weeks after the Zips beat them by 17 on their home court.

Kent State was without big man Rob Whaley Jr. that night. At full strength in Round 2, the outcome wasn’t much better.

'Give Akron a ton of credit. They have been an excellent, excellent team the last two years in particular,' Flashes coach Rob Senderoff said. 'Tonight they showed why.

'We just weren’t up for the challenge.'

Kent State won’t have a month to figure out the Akron problem if the two teams meet again.

The Flashes and Zips could square off in the semifinals in the MAC Tournament in two weeks. A possible matchup with the nationally ranked Miami RedHawks could await the winner.

The 29-0 RedHawks have been the darlings of college basketball this season. Their unbeaten run almost ended at Kent State in January. Miami scored the final four points of regulation to tie the score and beat the Flashes 107-101 in overtime.

Miami was vulnerable that night. Akron has not had to sweat out anxious moments against Kent State this season.

'They’re too good,' Senderoff said. 'They have experience. They have a winning DNA and a toughness level where you have to compete every second that you’re on the floor. When you don’t, they expose you.

'They played at a really high level for 36 minutes, and we couldn’t match it. That’s disappointing because I don’t have young guys out there. ... These guys are experienced and should know, but that falls on the coach and the coaching staff. We didn’t get them playing at the level we need to play at.'

The Flashes are fortunate the Akron loss didn’t end an 0-for-2 week. They fell behind Central Michigan by 19 on Feb. 24. before rallying for an 83-81 win.

Kent State will close out the regular season with games against Northern Illinois and Western Michigan before opening the MAC Tournament in Cleveland as the No. 3 seed.

The Flashes won’t see Akron in the first round. But ...

'We’re going to have a first-round opponent that’s going to play equally as hard as they played tonight,' Senderoff said. 'They may not be quite as good as Akron, [but] they’re going to play equally as hard.

'When you go to Cleveland, that’s it when you lose. If we don’t compete at our highest level, it will be a short stay there.'

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

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