The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

From the Omaha World-Herald:

Quote:(8) UNLV (26-7, Mountain West Conference tournament champion)

vs.

(9) Kent State (28-6, Mid-American Conference regular-season, tourney champs)


When: Approximately 2 p.m. (CT) Thursday, CBS

Point guard
UNLV's Curtis Terry vs. KSU's Jordan Mincy
Terry, one of the team's best 3-point shooters, has been struggling with his stroke but still continues to set up teammates as he led the Mountain West in assists. A former walk-on, the 6-5 Terry could be a match-up problem for the 5-10 Mincy. He's not much of a scorer but excels on defense and in making smart decisions. EDGE: UNLV

Shooting guard
UNLV's Wink Adams vs. KSU's Al Fisher
The streak-shooting Adams is capable of carrying his team as he did when he made 8 of 17 3-point shots in wins over TCU and New Mexico in the regular season. Fisher is equally adept at scoring and running the offense as he led the Golden Flashes in scoring and assists. Of concern is the fact that he had almost as many turnovers (128) as assists (131). EDGE: UNLV

Third guard
UNLV's Rene Rougeau vs. KSU's Chris Singletary
Rougeau's is the Runnin' Rebels' feel-good story. After scoring just 66 points in his first two seasons, Rougeau has averaged 9.0 points per game and ranks among the national leaders in assists. Singletary, a superb athlete, gives Kent State an inside-outside threat. He's the team's best post-up player while shooting 45.7 percent from beyond the arc. EDGE: KSU

Power forward
UNLV's Corey Bailey vs. KSU's Mike Scott
Bailey has never reached the potential he showed as a junior-college player, but he's capable of providing some solid play inside. Scott, too, is often overshadowed by teammates, but he's started 69 straight games and scored 10 points or more in 25 of the Golden Flashes' 30 regular-season games. EDGE: KSU

Center
UNLV's Joe Darger vs. KSU's Haminn Quaintance
Quaintance ranked in the top 15 nationally in steals and blocked shots while earning the conference's defensive player of the year award. He's also improved as a scorer, shooting 61.1 percent from the field. Darger has evolved from being more of an outside player to an inside threat, and he's improved greatly as a rebounder. EDGE: KSU

Bench
The Runnin' Rebels rely heavily on their starters, especially in the backcourt. Matt Shaw, a 6-8, 240-pound bruiser, has been UNLV's most effective reserve but has been foul prone, while guards Mareceo Rutledge and Kendall Wallace have provided limited contributions. Kent State gets solid play from frontcourt backups Rashad Woods and Julian Sullinger, while Rodriquez Sherman and Mike McKee are capable of spelling the backcourt starters. EDGE: KSU

Coaching
UNLV's Lon Kruger vs. KSU's Jim Christian
Getting the Runnin' Rebels back to the tournament might rank as one of Kruger's top coaching jobs. He lost five of top six players from last season's squad as well as another three during the season. Christian has built a reputation as one of the top young coaches in the mid-major ranks, and this season has done nothing to diminish his status. EDGE: UNLV

Intangibles
UNLV has thrived on the adversity that includes Kruger's quadruple bypass heart surgery during the offseason and the loss of 7-foot Breas Hamgas, held out this season for academic reasons. Kent State has a chance to strike a blow for mid-major programs that are getting crowded out of the tournament. Only six at-large berths went to teams outside the power conferences for the second straight year. EDGE: KSU

Our pick
The Mid-American Conference hasn't had a team advance out of the first round since Central Michigan shocked Creighton in the 2003 tournament. While Kent State doesn't appear capable of making it to the Elite Eight, as it did in 2002, the Golden Flashes will end the one-and-done streak for the league. KSU 72, UNLV 61

Three things to watch

• Very versatile: Kent State coach Jim Christian calls Haminn Quaintance the "most versatile player in the NCAA" as the senior is the only player in Division I history to record career numbers in excess of 1,200 points, 850 rebounds, 250 assists and 200 steals.

• Back again: UNLV is making back-to-back tournament appearances for the first time since 1990, when the Runnin' Rebels won the national championship, and 1991, when they made it to the Final Four.

• Achievements: Kent State recorded two notable "firsts" this season. The Golden Flashes' BracketBuster win over No. 20 St. Mary's was the program's first over a ranked team in the regular season. It also lifted Kent State into the regular-season national rankings for the first time.

Terrible start. 6 TOs in 9 possessions. KSU looks like they don't belong.

nightmare total nightmare

Agreed, luckyflash. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a team look this outclassed in a game that was supposed to be competitive (ruling out 1-16 games, for example).

Just tied the NCAA tourney record for fewest points in a half. UGH.

I've been watching KSU hoops for 18 years and this is without question the worst half of basketball i've ever seen. 17 TO's and 21% shooting. 0-2 from line. UGH.....

this is just terrible......they haven't played like they want to be there the entire game. I'm just speechless with how terrible this is, we need a miracle.

This is truly an embarrassment. No wonder the rest of the nation sees us as a one-bid league

At this point, I just hope they pull it together enough to make it respectable in the second half.

I think jflash07 just summed up the first half perfectly

With 5 minutes to go, the only good thing I can come up with is that I hear Kent fans cheering. I heard some KSU chants.

At least some fans came to play.

KSU showed up second half, too bad the game started a half before that... One and Done again this year men... Lets try again 2008-2009...

Still proud to be a Flash!

UNLV should be happy that KSU didn't show up today, we should have won that game... Kansas will win

All I can say is OH WELL!! Still was a great overall season.

Oh and... ONCE AGAIN, Zipsnation has a nice three page discussion about OUR game... should we just send a box of transfer applications over? OH WAIT... thats why they are at Akron... they couldn't get in


Sorry, I just hate how they get so much joy out of another MAC team losing...

First, at least we aren't Akron.
Second, I do blame coaching on this. I'm not saying JC should be fired. But no offense the first half, followed be no defense the second half. Again, I'm not saying JC is the disgrace to the school that he should be fired. But the first half looked like a series of desperation shots with no real offensive set. In the second half there was no hustle on the other end, which resulted in trading baskets until it was too late.

jflash07 Wrote:Oh and... ONCE AGAIN, Zipsnation has a nice three page discussion about OUR game... should we just send a box of transfer applications over? OH WAIT... thats why they are at Akron... they couldn't get in


Sorry, I just hate how they get so much joy out of another MAC team losing...

It's nice to know you're lurking around Zipsnation. Yep, we do talk about you guys a lot, you're our rival. Most of us secretly wanted you to win or at least put up a decent showing. Way to screw that one up. Now that being said, I'm not at all sad that you guys got completely destroyed. See you next year, have a good off season.

It was a great season. Awful half. Great season. Reached all of our goals except to win a game or two in the tourney. Better to have played in the NCAA and lost than to not be in it at all, though that's small consolation right now.
Time for me to take a break and decompress and just enjoy some March Madness this weekend.
Be cool, everyone!

I'm still really happy with the season. This team was the most fun since the Elite 8 squad and probably the 2nd best team in the 10-year run. I'm disappointed it turned out poorly today, but I have to give UNLV a lot of credit for really good defense in the first half (it wasn't all Kent playing poorly on the offensive end). I'll have more thoughts on the game later.

People who come to other teams' boards after big losses are pathetic losers, especially when your team didn't even make the tourney.

I would've liked to have seen Christian burn more of his timeouts in the first half to try to settle them down (or maybe he did, it was hard to keep track with the disaster going), but sometimes a team just gets completely rattled and you have to try to hold on until halftime to reset. Unfortunately, the hole they dug was way too deep. Still a great season, but I'm bummed that today turned out so poorly.