NORMAL, Ill.  – Kent State Men's Basketball (24-9, 14-4 MAC) having punched their ticket postseason play for the second straight year begins the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday night. The Golden Flashes will tip-off against the Redbirds of Illinois State University at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. Kent State has reached the NIT quarterfinals in each of their two previous appearances in the event. 

Last Time Out
Kent State fell to the University of Akron Zips in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals by a final score of 75-68. UA controlled the tempo behind Tavari Johnson's 13 first-half points and timely three-point shooting from Shammah Scott and Evan Mahaffey. Kent State was cold in the first 20 minutes allowing Akron to take a 42-28 lead into the break. The Golden Flashes showed tremendous fight out of the gate in the second half, storming back behind the play of Rob Whaley Jr., Delrecco Gillespie, and Quinn Wiodke. Kent State outscored Akron 40-33 in the second half. The Flashes trimmed the deficit to as few as two points on multiple occasions down the stretch. The Zips led 58-55 with 8:22 left to play, then 65-61 with 3:23 remaining. Kent State ultimately could not complete the full turnaround with Akron utilizing a 10-7 run to close out the ballgame.

The Golden Flashes vs. Illinois State
The Golden Flashes and Redbirds have tipped off seven previous times in history. Kent State holds the 5-2 advantage, and a five-game winning streak over Illinois State. The teams previously met 19 years ago on Nov. 24, 2007 in the Chicago Invitational Challenge with the Flashes taking a 65-59 victory. That marked the only neutral site matchup between the two programs. All other meetings were on campus with Kent State holding 2-1 records in Kent and Normal.