After avoiding a near upset Wednesday against Ball State, Kent State took no chances Saturday against NIU.

The MAC-leading Golden Flashes were firing on all cylinders from long range as they beat NIU 82-67 in Kent, Ohio.

To show how dominating Kent State’s (19-5 overall, 8-2 MAC) performance was, in the first half, the Golden Flashes had more 3-pointers than NIU (5-17, 2-8) had field goals. KSU’s 11-14 from behind the arc, compared to NIU’s 7-26 from the field, put the Huskies in a familiar first half position.

“It’s been the same thing all season,” NIU head coach Ricardo Patton said. “We’re digging ourselves in too deep a hole. You’d think we would have learned by now.”

The 48-25 half-time advantage for Kent State was fueled by guards Al Fisher and Rodriguez Sherman. Fisher poured in 12 on 4-of-5 shooting beyond the arc, while Sherman came off the bench to score 11 in nine minutes. He hit on all three of his long-range attempts. Fisher and Sherman tied for a game-best 16 points each.

The road loss also keeps an infamous streak alive for the Huskies, who have now lost all 12 of their road games this season.

In the second half, NIU settled down but was still far from making a comeback. Huskie forward Jake Anderson scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the final half.

Forward Ben Rand also saw some significant playing time in his second game back from injury. The senior scored 10 points on 3-3 shooting in his 23 minutes of play.

“I like his maturity,” Patton said. “He has a good understanding of the game and I love his toughness.”

Seniors Shaun Logan and Michael Hart were also productive for NIU. Logan scored 11 points and dished out five assists as a starter in the loss. Hart, who came off the bench, saw a good chunk of playing time. In 16 minutes, the senior scored 11 points while pulling down a team-high six rebounds.

However, according to Patton, much of the teams struggles can be attributed to lack of experience.

“The majority of the guys on the team now used to be role guys,” Patton said. “Now they’re being asked to play a major role.”