Flashes suffer first home loss of season to Towson
Kent State clawed back from a massive early deficit, but the rally fell short and Towson strutted out of the M.A.C. Center with a 73-58 victory on Monday.
The Golden Flashes (4-3) trailed 19-2 out of the gate and 43-29 at halftime. The Tigers shot 63% from the field in the first half and hit 9-of-15 3-pointers, while the Flashes shot 27% from the floor and were 4-of-14 from deep.
Kent State stormed back, getting the deficit down to single digits for the first time since 10-2 at the at the 14:40 mark of the second half when freshman forward VonCameron Davis hit a 3-pointer and a transition layup.
A turnaround jumper by junior guard Sincere Carry cut Towson’s lead to 61-58 with 5:50 remaining. After the Tigers were called for a shot clock violation Carry found 6-foot-11 senior forward Justyn Hamilton open inside, but his shot was blocked at the rim by 6-7 junior forward Charles Thompson — his third swat of the game.
Towson junior guard Nicolas Timberlake hit a pullup in transition to make it a five-point contest.
Kent State never scored in the final 5:50, missing its last 10 shots from the floor. The Flashes wound up never leading while suffering their first home loss of the 2021-22 season.
Carry led KSU with 17 points and five assists, but shot just 5-of-13 from the field. He did not commit a turnover in 39 minutes. Sophomore guard Giovanni Santiago scored 16 points in the first half to keep the Flashes somewhat close, but did not score in the second half. Junior guard Malique Jacobs scored all nine of his points in the second half, but shot just 3-of-13 overall.
Towson (6-3) shot 53% from the field and hit 12-of-25 3s, while the Flashes shot 29% from the floor and were 7-of-28 from beyond the arc. The Tigers outrebounded the Flashes 41-27, and finished with 18 assists compared to just seven helpers for Kent State.
Timberlake led Towson with a game-high 22 points, and also grabbed nine rebounds. Senior guard Antonio Rizzuto scored 18 points, while senior guard Cam Holden tacked on seven points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds.
Here are three points from Monday’s contest.
Overprepared?
Senderoff knew Towson was a quality opponent, with wins over Penn and New Mexico along with quality close losses to Pitt and unbeaten San Francisco. The Flashes had not played since last Tuesday, and spent the past three days in practice totally focused on preparing for the Tigers.
“I told our guys, I think countries go to war less prepared than we were for this game,” said Senderoff. “The preparation had zero to do with it. We were flat. We were slow. We were behind every play to start. Then we got frustrated and we took some bad shots, and we missed some shots we probably should make. To come out that flat is really disappointing. We knew they were a good team, and knew we had to be on point.
“The fact that we started down 19-2, and that they had the lead the entire game, is really disappointing.”
The Flashes trailed 33-12 before Santiago caught fire, hitting two 3s and three free throws during a personal 9-0 run.
“We came out and didn’t play the way we needed to play,” said Senderoff. “They were comfortable. They made seven of their first 10 3s. I think four of those seven were because we didn’t guard the way we were supposed to. Give them credit for making them.”
KSU frontcourt struggles
Hamilton and fellow senior forward Tervell Beck both struggled on Monday, and have yet to get untracked this season.
Beck shot 0-for-5 from the floor for two points with three rebounds and two turnovers in 24 minutes. He’s Kent State’s leading returning starter after averaging 11.7 points per game last season, but is averaging just 6.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game thus far in 2021-22.
Hamilton wound up with seven points, five rebounds and three blocks on Monday, but shot 3-of-12 from the floor and failed to finish several good looks inside.
“Our ability to finish at the rim needs to improve,” said Senderoff. “We as a group have to do better in terms of our physicality, our toughness around the basket. We’ve got to get some consistency out of the lineup. Some of this is on me. As a group we’ve got to be better.”
Flashes rally fizzles out
Kent State seemed to have all of the momentum after ripping off six straight points to get within three at the 5:50 mark. Even after things went awry on the next two possessions, the Flashes still had plenty of time to respond.
“Our mental toughness has to be better,” said Senderoff. “Ok, they got it back up to eight again. We’ve got to have another run in us, and we didn’t.”
Did playing from behind all game long wear Kent State’s players down?
“I don’t think that had anything to do with it, but I could be wrong,” said Senderoff. “I feel like Sincere can play all the minutes every game that we play. Gio played a lot of minutes, but I don’t think he got tired. I don’t think those were necessarily the breakdowns that we had."
Carry played 39 minutes, while Santiago played 37. Neither appeared to be tired on the floor, but Santiago did get shutout in the second half after draining 3-of-4 3-pointers during a 16-point first half.
“I don’t know why,” said Senderoff, when asked about Santiago’s inability to score in the second half. “He missed [both shots he took]. Maybe I didn’t do a good enough job getting him the ball, or players didn’t get him enough looks. I don’t know the answer to that. We came back in the second half and cut it to three with other guys scoring and other guys making plays.”
Tip-Ins
Five players saw action off of the KSU bench, and produced just seven points and three rebounds in 40 combined minutes. “I’m playing a lot of guys and not a lot of minutes, so it’s tough for them. But you’ve got to produce,” said Senderoff. “I've got to figure some stuff out, and the players have got to figure some stuff out for us to get better.”
Next: The Flashes will host Detroit Mercy (2-6) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent State fell at home to Towson on Monday
