Kent State’s countdown to the NCAA tournament went three, two, one. It was anything but clockwork.
The Golden Flashes beat the teams with the top three seedings in the Mid-American Conference in succession last week to earn their first NCAA tournament berth since 2008. They will play UCLA in the first round Friday evening at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Bruins (29-4) will be seeded third and the Golden Flashes (22-13) 14th, but the gap in confidence won’t be nearly as wide. Kent State has won nine of its last 10 games, and believes its magical run may not be ending.