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By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 07:02 p.m. EDT, Mar 09, 2009
For the first time in five seasons, Kent State begins play in the Mid-American Conference Tournament without the benefit of a first-round bye.
The Golden Flashes are coming off a come-from-behind victory Sunday over their rival, the University of Akron, but are the sixth seed, which means only one day off.
KSU (18-13, 10-6 MAC) plays 11th-seeded Northern Illinois (10-19, 5-11) at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The uphill climb doesn't bother KSU coach Geno Ford.
''For our team, I don't know if a bye really matters this year,'' he said. ''If there's ever going to be a year where it's possible to run all four straight, this is it.
''There's a lot of good teams in the MAC, and we're one of them. But there's not a great team. There's not a team winning by 10, 15 every night that you just do not want to face.''
However, Ford is aware that there are a handful of MAC teams with losing records who are fully capable of pulling an upset. And Northern Illinois is one of those teams.
The Huskies nearly beat the Flashes on Feb. 10 but failed to execute at the free-throw line. The Flashes regrouped to win 86-83 in double overtime.
''Trust me, I will not have to sell how good Northern Illinois is to our guys despite them being a No. 11 seed,'' Ford said. ''They present a lot of problems for us. They are not an ideal draw because they are a team we struggled with tremendously. They're deep, they're athletic and they have excellent guard play.''
Kent State senior point guard Jordan Mincy, who is known for his defense, considers Huskies freshman guard Mike DiNunno the toughest guy to guard in the MAC.
The Huskies' problems aren't so much talent. Their problems often center on the inability to stay focused for 40 minutes.
''There's been a lot of games this year where we've been our own worst enemy,'' Northern Illinois coach Ricardo Patton said. ''The game against Kent State was one of them, where we didn't make our free throws late. Now, we have to prove to Kent State that that game was a fluke, that we're better than that.''
Being tournament time, there's no room for error.
''Now, with one bad performance it's all over,'' Ford said. ''But when you get to the conference tournament, it's never about how good a team is, but instead how hot a team is.''
And KSU can be considered hot. It has won 10 of its past 12 games, which included an eight-game winning streak.
Notebook
—Some players just have a flair for the dramatic, and KSU senior guard Al Fisher is one of them. He often starts off a game slowly but routinely turns it on in the second half,
In his two seasons at KSU, he has scored in double figures in the second half of games 27 times, including his 11 second-half points against UA. Further, Fisher has made 48 field goals this season that have either tied the score or given the Flashes the lead, which accounts for 31 percent of his field goals.
''The thing about Al is that he's the only guy that we've had here that is completely capable of going 0-for-10 and with two minutes to go if he gets the ball; he's going to make a play and score,'' Ford said. ''He's kind of on cruise control and then, when it's late, he has an uncanny ability to forget the first 36 minutes of the game like it never happened.''
—Kent State had two players selected to the league's All-MAC team with Fisher named to the first team and junior forward Chris Singletary receiving honorable mention.
—With Tuesday's game, KSU senior point guard Jordan Mincy will become the MAC leader in career games played with 133. . . . Mincy and senior forward Julian Sullinger have been a part of 92 victories in their four-year careers.
—Sullinger, who leads the league with a 60.9 field-goal percentage in MAC play, averaged 9.3 rebounds in his past three games.
—The Flashes have scored more points off of turnovers than their opponent in 12 consecutive games. With that stretch, KSU is averaging 25.7 points per game off turnovers for a plus-16.3 points per game advantage.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
For the first time in five seasons, Kent State begins play in the Mid-American Conference Tournament without the benefit of a first-round bye.
The Golden Flashes are coming off a come-from-behind victory Sunday over their rival, the University of Akron, but are the sixth seed, which means only one day off.
KSU (18-13, 10-6 MAC) plays 11th-seeded Northern Illinois (10-19, 5-11) at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena.
The uphill climb doesn't bother KSU coach Geno Ford.
''For our team, I don't know if a bye really matters this year,'' he said. ''If there's ever going to be a year where it's possible to run all four straight, this is it.
''There's a lot of good teams in the MAC, and we're one of them. But there's not a great team. There's not a team winning by 10, 15 every night that you just do not want to face.''
However, Ford is aware that there are a handful of MAC teams with losing records who are fully capable of pulling an upset. And Northern Illinois is one of those teams.
The Huskies nearly beat the Flashes on Feb. 10 but failed to execute at the free-throw line. The Flashes regrouped to win 86-83 in double overtime.
''Trust me, I will not have to sell how good Northern Illinois is to our guys despite them being a No. 11 seed,'' Ford said. ''They present a lot of problems for us. They are not an ideal draw because they are a team we struggled with tremendously. They're deep, they're athletic and they have excellent guard play.''
Kent State senior point guard Jordan Mincy, who is known for his defense, considers Huskies freshman guard Mike DiNunno the toughest guy to guard in the MAC.
The Huskies' problems aren't so much talent. Their problems often center on the inability to stay focused for 40 minutes.
''There's been a lot of games this year where we've been our own worst enemy,'' Northern Illinois coach Ricardo Patton said. ''The game against Kent State was one of them, where we didn't make our free throws late. Now, we have to prove to Kent State that that game was a fluke, that we're better than that.''
Being tournament time, there's no room for error.
''Now, with one bad performance it's all over,'' Ford said. ''But when you get to the conference tournament, it's never about how good a team is, but instead how hot a team is.''
And KSU can be considered hot. It has won 10 of its past 12 games, which included an eight-game winning streak.
Notebook
—Some players just have a flair for the dramatic, and KSU senior guard Al Fisher is one of them. He often starts off a game slowly but routinely turns it on in the second half,
In his two seasons at KSU, he has scored in double figures in the second half of games 27 times, including his 11 second-half points against UA. Further, Fisher has made 48 field goals this season that have either tied the score or given the Flashes the lead, which accounts for 31 percent of his field goals.
''The thing about Al is that he's the only guy that we've had here that is completely capable of going 0-for-10 and with two minutes to go if he gets the ball; he's going to make a play and score,'' Ford said. ''He's kind of on cruise control and then, when it's late, he has an uncanny ability to forget the first 36 minutes of the game like it never happened.''
—Kent State had two players selected to the league's All-MAC team with Fisher named to the first team and junior forward Chris Singletary receiving honorable mention.
—With Tuesday's game, KSU senior point guard Jordan Mincy will become the MAC leader in career games played with 133. . . . Mincy and senior forward Julian Sullinger have been a part of 92 victories in their four-year careers.
—Sullinger, who leads the league with a 60.9 field-goal percentage in MAC play, averaged 9.3 rebounds in his past three games.
—The Flashes have scored more points off of turnovers than their opponent in 12 consecutive games. With that stretch, KSU is averaging 25.7 points per game off turnovers for a plus-16.3 points per game advantage.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
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