Kent State came into Friday night’s nationally televised rivalry game fresh off of a 76-72 home victory over Miami on Tuesday. It was a much needed win as it has been a rocky trip through the MAC schedule for the young Flashes club. They ran directly into a four-game losing streak at the start of conference play, only to turn things around and take four-of-five and follow that up with consecutive losses in winnable games.
The Flashes turbulent ride had them sitting at 4th place in the MAC East, as they traveled 15 minutes east to take on their arch-rival and MAC leading Akron.