Asiah Dingle had eight points against Buffalo to tie Nila Blackford for the team leads. (Photo by David Dermer from KSU Twitter feed.)
About the only good thing about Kent State’s 57-44 loss to Buffalo Saturday was the Flashes’ defense. KSU met two of the benchmarks on our game report card, but the rest, like the game, was a lost cause. And even the defense didn’t hold up in the fourth quarter, when Buffalo outscored Kent State 27-11.
Buffalo 57, Kent State 44
GAME STORY: 4th-quarter collapse sends Flashes to 57-44 defeat
Score 70 points on offense: 44, Kent State’s lowest total of the year. FAR FROM ACHIEVED.
Hold opponent under 70: 57. This was actually Kent State’s second-best defensive total this season. ACHIEVED.
Make 40% of shots: 24.1. The Flashes’ lowest mark of the year by 8 percentage points. It’s hard to imagine any team winning a game shooting that poorly. It was far worse than KSU’s road trip the previous week, when they averaged close to 50%. Of course, Buffalo is a much better team than either Miami or Northern Illinois. NOT ACHIEVED.
Hold opponent under 40%: 34. For three quarters, it was 27%, but in the fourth, it was 53%. ACHIEVED.
Outscore opponent by five on free throws: Flashes were 10 of 19 for 54%, their lowest percentage of the season. Buffalo was 12 for 17. NOT ACHIEVED.
Outscore opponent by five points off turnovers: Buffalo 17 off 20 KSU turnovers. Kent State 14 off 15 Buffalo turnovers. The fourth quarter was Buffalo six off of six Kent turnovers, KSU one off one Buffalo turnover. NOT ACHIEVED.
Have 14 assists: 8 on 14 baskets. That’s below the benchmark but a good percentage of assisted baskets. The problem wasn’t the eight assists; it’s the 14 baskets, KSU’s lowest of the season. NOT ACHIEVED.
Get 10 points from the bench: Kent State got 18, partially inflated by Megan Carter’s return to action. She didn’t start but scored eight points. That still leaves 10 points from the “true” bench, 13 if you count the three points from Clare Kelly, who started in place of Carter. Saturday’s problem wasn’t the bench, it was 20% shooting from the starters. ACHIEVED.
Bonus statistic: The Flashes outrebounded the Bulls, who came into the game leading the MAC, 41-40. KSU had more offensive rebounds, 16-14. But the Flashes got only three points from those rebounds.
BOTTOM LINE: No matter how your defense plays, you can’t win games shooting 24% and scoring 44 points. D.
Around the MAC
Buffalo’s victory at Kent State was the only road win in the MAC Saturday, so the Bulls were the only ones to gain in the “golf” standings (below).
Central Michigan continues to roll. The Chippewas, 7-0 in the conference, beat second-place Toledo 73-66, coming from behind in the fourth quarter for the third straight game. This time they outscored the Rockets 21-10 in the last 10 minutes. Freshman Molly Davis had a career-high 28 points; Micaela Kelly had 19 points and 11 rebounds. Toledo’s Nakiah Black, returning from an injury, had 19 points.
Western Michigan became the first team in the conference to sweep an opponent with a 79-71 victory over Akron. The Broncos had beaten Toledo in the league opener and have already won more games (11) than they did all last season. Leighah-Amori Wool had 21 points and eight rebounds for Western. Jordyn Dawson had 17 to lead Akron.
Eastern Michigan beat Northern Illinois 62-55 in a game that saw neither team lead by more than seven points. Autumn Hudson had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Eastern; Courtney Woods had 27 points and nine rebounds for NIU.
Ohio’s Cece Hooks made nine of 11 field goals, scored 25 points and had eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals to lead the Bobcats past Bowling Green 79-69. Catterrion Thompson had 20 points and eight rebounds for BG.
Four players scored in double figures to lead Ball State past Miami 80-63. Thelma Dis Augustdottir led the Cardinals with 19 points. Lauren Dickerson had 20 and nine rebounds for Miami.
The ‘golf’ standings
The “golf” standings give a team -1 for a road win (a “birdie”) and adds a point for a home loss (a “bogey.” A home win or road loss gets zero (“par”).
-4
- Central Michigan (7-0, 14-4)
-2
- Ohio (5-2, 12-6)
- Buffalo (4-3, 13-5)
-1
- Ball State (5-2, 13-6)
- Toledo (4-2, 9-8)
- Eastern Michigan (4-3, 9-9)
Even
- Western Michigan (4-3, 11-7)
- Kent State (3-3, 10-7)
+2
- Akron (2-5, 9-9)
- Miami (1-6, 8-11)
- Bowling Green (1-6, 8-11)
- Northern Illinois (1-6, 5-13)