March Madness 2017: Get to Know UCLA’s Opponent, Kent State
By Evan Lovett
UCLA received a favorable draw in their pod for the South Regional first round of March Madness 2017, lining up against Mid-American Conference champion Kent State. But who is Kent State, and how did they get here?
Kent State, is a bustling university based in northeast Ohio in the city of Kent. Despite an enrollment of more than 40,000, the school’s athletic history is spotty at best, and they have only reached the NCAA basketball tournament five times in its 104-year history. So how will they fare during March Madness 2017?
So here are the Golden Flashes, in their sixth all-time tournament appearance and first since 2008, facing the vaunted UCLA Bruins. The odds are seemingly stacked against Kent State, and with good reason – they finished the regular season in fourth place in the MAC East division and tallied 13 losses.
Starting off as the sixth seed in the conference tournament, they rallied for four consecutive wins, defeating Central Michigan, Buffalo, Ohio and Akron en route to claiming the MAC automatic bid.
To be clear, the Golden Flashes are very beatable. Their regular season resume included losses to South Dakota, Northeastern and Wright State. Most relevantly, they lost to Pac-12 doormat Oregon State, who only won five games on the season.
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In comparison, UCLA defeated Oregon State by 13 and 18 points in their two contests. Their other common opponent was Western Michigan, who defeated Kent State 92-88 whereas UCLA defeated the Broncos 82-68. Kent State’s most impressive victory was a five-point squeaker in Austin, defeating University of Texas 63-58.
The Golden Flashes are very top-heavy on offense, as three players combine to average more than half of their points: senior forward Jimmy Hall averages 18.9 ppg, sophomore guard Jaylin Walker nets 15.6 ppg and senior guard Deon Edwin contributes 13 ppg. Hall also leads Kent State in rebounding and assists, with averages of 10.5 and 2.6, respectively.
Kent State ranks 95th nationally in scoring offense, putting up 76.9 points per game. More glaringly, they are 181st in scoring defense, allowing a robust 72.3 points per contest. As a team, the Golden Flashes shoot 42.8% overall and 31.8% from three-point range.
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It is worth noting that Kent State comes into March Madness 2017 with momentum, winning nine of their final ten games as they head west to Sacramento.