KENT: Kent State coach Jim Christian doesn't want to hear a whisper of a comparison.

Sure, Kent State's stocky sophomore Chris Singletary might remind a lot of people of Antonio Gates, former Golden Flashes standout and current NFL player, but Christian doesn't want anyone getting carried away.

Singletary has ''played very well, and he's proven a lot,'' Christian said. ''But let's not get crazy here.''

Yet, it wasn't just Singletary's game and career-high 20 points that had memories of Gates coming to mind for those who witnessed the Flashes (13-2 overall, 2-0 in the Mid-American Conference) cruise to a 63-49 victory over Bowling Green at the M.A.C. Center on Saturday.

It was the constant hands in the air on defense that deflected several Falcons passes and resulted in, at least, one blocked shot. It was the guard continually diving into Bowling Green's passing lanes to come up with a game-high five steals, and hitting the boards to come down with four defensive rebounds.

''Coach was running a lot of action for me that was getting me in scoring position,'' said Singletary, who is 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. ''At the same time, I knew it was going to be tough guarding (Falcons junior forward) Nate Miller, so I wanted him to have to play defense on me also.''

It was Singletary going to the basket hard enough to
not only draw the foul, but then staying with the shot so that the layup went in for an and-one.

And if he needed any added motivation before facing Bowling Green (6-8, 1-1), Singletary drew it from watching LeBron James' aggressive play on TV in the Cavaliers' double-overtime win against the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday.

''I saw him go to the hole a couple times and be able to draw the contact and still be able to hold the ball and finish,'' Singletary said. ''That's what I was trying to do tonight.''

The Flashes jumped out to an early lead by opening the game on a 12-0 run — and it had Singletary's prints all over it. It was his jumper 50 seconds into the game that put the host on the board, followed by his first steal and assist on the next play that resulted in a Mike Scott layup.

''We had been getting off to slow starts recently, so it was good to see us back in action and starting out like we should,'' said Scott, a senior forward who recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

An aggressive Flashes defense produced 13 steals and forced 16 turnovers, putting the Falcons behind the entire game.

''These last couple days in practice (focusing on defense is) all we've been doing,'' Scott said. ''Coach has been telling us we have to get back to playing Kent State basketball and get back to doing what we do best: playing hard defense, corralling the ball and just being in the middle of everything.''

Sure sounds a lot like a certain Flashes legend.

''When Chris was a freshman, I told him, 'You're going to be a great player. Great like the way I'd seen Antonio Gates play,' '' Scott said. ''Chris played very, very well tonight, and I think it's just a glimpse of the next two years. He has a very bright future.''

The Flashes improved to 10-0 at home, the first time that has happened since the Gates-led 2001-02 team did it during the season that it reached NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight.