DeKALB – A hyper-efficient 60.4% shooting night from the Kent State University Golden Flashes (9-8, 2-3 MAC) was enough to defeat NIU men’s basketball (6-11, 0-5) 83-76 and keep the Huskies winless to start conference play.
Despite knocking down 13 of their 23 three-point attempts and the return of junior guard Zarique Nutter, the Huskies were unable to snap their seven-game losing streak.
“I thought the kids fought extremely hard,” said NIU men’s basketball head coach Rashon Burno. “The little things, free throw blockouts down the stretch really cost us. Huge opportunities to get a lead or extend a lead and we didn’t do either.”
Sophomore forward Xavier Amos led the Huskies in scoring with 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting. Junior guard David Coit and senior guard Philmon Gebrewhit each notched 17 points.
Kent State sophomore guard Reggie Bass and redshirt junior forward VonCameron Davis scored 23 points each, leading the way for the Golden Flashes.
THREE-POINT BARRAGE
After falling behind 20-8 early in the first half, Coit and Gebrewhit combined for 6 first-half threes to help the Huskies crawl back into the game. The two teams combined for 14 made three-pointers in the first half.
After the first 20 minutes, the Huskies trailed 40-35. Coit, Gebrewhit and Amos scored 9 points apiece.
“When we had that run, we were defending, moving the ball and there was a lot of team shots,” Gebrewhit said. “Instead of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, if we put a full game together I feel like we’ll be unstoppable.”
Bass, the 2022-23 MAC Freshman of the Year with Central Michigan, gave the Huskies fits in the first half, scoring 17 points and connecting on all 5 of his three point attempts. Bass scored a career-high 40 points against the Huskies while with Central Michigan last season.
“He’s a good player,” Burno said. “They (Kent State) were desperate like we are, their (conference) record’s 2-3 so they needed this game. Their players stepped up and made plays, and that’s what good players do.”
MORE OF THE SAME
NIU’s second half struggles continued in Tuesday’s loss, as they were outscored in the final period for the fifth time in their last six games.
“They (Kent State) got stronger as the game went on,” Burno said. “I don’t think we had the mental toughness to compete with those guys when we needed it, and that’s why we gave up two offensive rebounds on simple free throw blockouts.”
Davis did the damage for Kent State in the second half, scoring 16 points in the final 20 minutes.
“We’re in a little drought right now, but nobody’s going to feel sorry for us,” Gebrewhit said. “We have to figure it out the next day we come to practice.”
INJURY UPDATE
In addition to Nutter returning to the lineup, Burno said sophomore forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser will be returning from injury this week.
“We’re going to get healthy with Yanic coming back this week, we got Nutter back, so now we just have to get back to doing things that win games,” Burno said. “That’s just being physically and mentally present for however long, 40, 60, 80 minutes to win the game.
Coit went down with a knee injury late in the second half but stayed in the game until the final buzzer. Senior guard Keshawn Williams has not played since Dec. 5 and has been limited to just one game this season.
Burno said that their statuses are to be determined.
UP NEXT
The Huskies will look to get their first conference victory of the season at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Convocation Center against the University of Toledo. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available via SideArm Stats.
