After upsetting Toledo in the quarterfinals, the Golden Flashes struggled to put points on the board early on against Bowling Green. In the first five minutes and change, Kent State had two made shots, three turnovers, and an 11-6 deficit.
The Flashes woke up, going on a 9-2 run to claim their first lead of the game at 15-13.
The two teams went back and forth for a few minutes, then went cold with Kent State up 24-22. After the nearly three-minute scoreless streak, Flashes went on an 8-0 run to take a ten-point lead.
The Falcons were able to cut the lead to six before halftime, but still surrendered a 28-17 run over the final fourteen minutes of the half.
Kent State made shots at a rate of 50% in the first half, including seven for ten shooting from the three-point line.
Bowling Green shot decently in the first half, going 40%, but their three-point shooting was not efficient, going two for seven.
The Flashes stretched the lead to nine, but after conceding the next four points, the pressure was on again.
Over the next three minutes, the Falcons were not able to cut further into the lead, scoring just a single free throw during that time. Their defense kept them in it, only allowing the Kent lead to rise back to eight.
A quick 5-0 brought Bowling Green back to within one possession for the first time since the 4:40 mark of the first half, forcing the Flashes to call a timeout with 12:30 to go in the game.
The timeout proved to be useful, as Kent State went on a 10-2 run of their own to pull the lead up to 11.
The Flashes’ offense was unable to keep it going and after a two-minute scoring drought for both teams, the Falcons scored five straight.
Kent State answered right back with five of their own, getting them their 11-point lead back with just over five minutes remaining.
After giving up a basket, the Flashes hit their 11th three-pointer of the evening with 4:32 left, putting them up a dozen and eventually pushed it to 15 before cruising to a victory.
Kent State made 26 field goals, 12 of which were three pointers, as they shot 66.7% from three-point range.
Similar to their quarterfinal victory over Toledo, the Flashes played good defense, holding Bowling Green to 60 points.
The Flashes will play in their third straight MAC Championship Game and look to win their second in a row on March 16 at 7:30 p.m. They will take on the winner of the semifinal game between Akron and Ohio. When the question of whether it matters who they play in the championship matters, all head coach Rob Senderoff had to say was, “The answer is no.”
Photo courtesy: Yasmeen Matthews