KSU plays Saturday at Eastern Michigan, which is smarting from a home loss to Ohio

The Flashes finish their week-long trip to Michigan Saturday as part of a double header at Eastern Michigan.

The game is scheduled for about 4:30 p.m., or a half hour after the end of Eastern’s men’s game against Bowling Green.

Eastern Michigan shares the second-best overall record in the MAC with Ball State at 11-4, but lost to league-leading Ohio University 71-75 Tuesday. The Eagles actually have lost two straight games at home; Akron beat them in overtime 68-65 in Ypsilanti Jan. 6.

EMU is 2-2 in the MAC. It beat Buffalo by 11 to open the conference season and beat Northern Illinois in overtime on the road.

Kent State is 3-11 and 0-4 in the league. It’s the only winless team in conference play.

Eastern has the highest scoring offense in the MAC at 76.4 points a game and the second worst defense at 68.9. They play an uptempo game with lots of defensive pressure and hit the offensive boards hard. They lead the conference in steals with 11.0 a game and in turnover margin (+5.3) and are second in offensive rebounding. They had 26 offensive rebounds and a 19-1 edge in second-chance points in their loss to Ohio.

Kent State is second to EMU in steals in the conference (10.2) but is at the bottom of the league in defensive rebounding. 

Eastern’s leading scorer is one of the smallest players in the conference , 5-foot-2 junior guard Cha Sweeney. She averages 19.3 points a game, third best in the league. She scores from anywhere but is shooting just 27 percent on 100 three-point shots. 6-1 guard Sera Ozelci is the Eagles’ best three-point shooter at 35 percent. She’s strictly an outside player; she’s shot only two free throws this season.

EMU’s top rebounder is another guard — 5-9 junior Phyllis Webb — at 8.4 a game. 6-3 forward Chanise Baldwin, a transfer from Providence, averages 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 points off the bench.

Kent State has lost seven in a row, including a 73-52 defeat at Western Michigan Tuesday. The Flashes played WMU evenly in the first quarter and second half, but the Broncos outscored Kent 26-11 in the second quarter and were in control most of the rest of the game.

Jordan Korinek continues to lead Kent in scoring at 15.4 points a game. Larissa Lurken averages 14.7 and Tyra James 10.4. 

The game will be the fourth road game in the first five of the MAC season for the Flashes, who have yet to win away from Kent this season.

Audio for the game starts at about 4:15 on WHLO 640 and Golden Flash iHeart Radio. Video is on ESPN3 and live statistics are on the Eastern Michigan website. You need to be a subscriber to ESPN to get the online-only broadcast.

Eastern Michigan team website.

Kent State statistics.

MAC statistics.

MAC standings.