THE BASICS

Score: Kent State 69, Ohio 59

Location: M.A.C. Center - Kent, Ohio

The Short Story: Senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) scored a game-high 19 points and hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds, but the Ohio men's basketball team (5-10, 0-4 MAC) suffered a 69-59 setback to Mid-American Conference East Division rival Kent State (12-5, 3-1 MAC) on Saturday (Jan. 17) at the M.A.C. Center.

OHIO STARTERS: #3 Javarez Willis, #5 Maurice Ndour, #14 Ryan Taylor, #24 Mike Laster, #33 Antonio Campbell  

KENT STATE STARTERS: #0 Devareaux Manley, #4 Chris Ortiz, #21 Khaliq Spicer, #23 Derek Jackson, #35 Jimmy Hall

HOW IT HAPPENED 

- Ohio lost despite outrebounding Kent State, 41-34, and outscoring the Golden Flashes in points in the paint (28-24), bench points (23-17) and second-chance points (10-9).

- Kent State outshot the Bobcats, 40 percent to 34 percent. Ohio shot just 25.9 percent in the opening 20 minutes but closed the game shooting 42.3 percent and outscoring the Flashes by a 40-39 count in the second half.

- Ndour went 6-of-18 from the field and knocked down seven of his nine free throw attempts. He also tallied a team-high two blocks and collected a steal in 37 minutes.

- Senior guard Stevie Taylor (Gahanna, Ohio) scored 10 points and went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. He also grabbed four rebounds, handed out an assist and tallied a steal in 25 minutes of work off of the bench.

- Redshirt junior forward Treg Setty (Maysville, Ky.) recorded eight points, pulled down six boards and posted a steal in 18 minutes off of the bench.

- Freshman guard Ryan Taylor (Gary, Ind.) scored seven points, totaled three rebounds, blocked a shot and grabbed a steal in 32 minutes.

- Sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) and redshirt freshman guard/forward Khari Harley (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) each scored five points. Campbell collected five rebounds, an assist and a steal in 22 minutes while Harley posted two rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes off of the bench.

- Redshirt senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) dished out a team-high three assists to go along with three points and a rebound in 30 minutes.

- Redshirt senior guard Derek Jackson paced Kent State with 18 points and was one of four Golden Flashes in double figures. He also dished out four assists, grabbed three rebounds and posted a steal.

- Senior guard Kris Brewer totaled 14 points, collected two rebounds and handed out a game-high five assists.

- Redshirt sophomore Jimmy Hall posted 12 points, two rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block. 

- Junior forward Chris Ortiz added 10 points, three rebounds, a block and a steal.

- Junior forward/center Khaliq Spicer contributed five points, a team-high eight rebounds and a game-high four blocks.

- Kent State jumped out to an early 7-0 lead over the first four-plus minutes of the game. 

- The Bobcats responded with an 8-2 run over the ensuing four minutes, using a trey by Setty, a conventional three-point play by Ndour and two more free throws from Stevie Taylor to make it a one-point game. 

- Ohio took its first lead of the game at 10-9 on a dunk by Ndour, then gained control again at 13-12 after Ryan Taylor traded treys with Jackson. Kent State responded with a 7-0 run, though, to take a 19-13 advantage into the third media break.

- The Golden Flashes closed the half by outscoring the Bobcats by a 17-6 count over the final 10 minutes of play to take a 30-19 lead into halftime. Kent State forced Ohio to commit 11 turnovers, leading to 10 points for the Flashes.

- Kent State extended its lead to 13 points with just under 16 minutes left in the second half, but a three by Willis made it a 10-point game again at 34-24 a minute later.

- The Flashes went back up by 13 on a dunk by Jackson with just over 14 minutes left, but Ohio once again shaved Kent State's lead to 10 a minute later on a layup by Setty.

- Kent State went back up by 13 (42-29), but Harley drew a foul on a three-point attempt and sank all three freebies to cut it to 10 again with just over 11 minutes to go. The Flashes responded again, though, going on a 16-6 run to take a 58-38 lead with just under seven minutes to go. 

- The Golden Flashes went up by 21 (61-40) -- Kent State's largest lead of the game -- after Jackson converted three freebies after being fouled on a three-point try. Ohio put together a 19-8 run to cut it back down to 10 at 69-59 after Stevie Taylor hit a jumper with 25 seconds left. Unfortunately for the Green & White, that's as close as the Bobcats got.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

- Ndour posted his team-leading seventh double-double of the season and 11th of his career. He totaled double figures for the seventh straight game, team-leading 12th time this year and 38th time in his career. Ndour posted double-digit boards for a team-leading eighth time this season and 14th time in his career. He also led Ohio in scoring for the sixth time and rebounding for the team-high 11th time this season.

- Stevie Taylor reached double figures for the fourth time this year and 19th time in his career.

QUOTABLE

First-Year Head Coach Saul Phillips

- "Can't shoot 34 percent on the road and win many games. I credit them. I thought they pressured us out of our stuff very well. It's up to us to be tougher and stay with what we want to get done. You shoot 25.9 percent in the first half, that's going to cut your odds of winning dramatically."

- "I don't know that we always handled that post-double as well as I thought we could of. We practiced against it a lot. They're active. They're big. They do a good job."

- "It's time to start learning from mistakes. We don't have the largest margin for error with how we play offense for this team, and, so, any little crack in the façade seems to divide quickly for us. Doesn't mean it's impossible to get done; just means it's not the easiest thing in the world. I wish we were further along than we are right now. We're not. Fact of life."

Redshirt Junior Forward Treg Setty

- "We came into the game the same way we come into every game, with the intention to take care of the ball. There are a whole lot of things that we've got to do to get better, and I'm just anxious to get back to Athens so we can work on it."

- "We feel like we can play with anybody. They came out and gave us their best shot. We didn't necessarily give them our best shot. I don't know that we've given anybody our best shot yet, but I know deep within us, there's a shot much better than the one's we've been showing. There's a team in that locker room that's a lot better than we've shown. We're not quitting. We're just going to keep on fighting. It ain't over 'til it's over."

UP NEXT

Ohio closes out its current two-game road swing next Wednesday (Jan. 21) in Muncie, Ind., in a matchup against MAC West Division foe Ball State. The opening tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET from Worthen Arena.

#SaulBall