CLEVELAND -- Jaylin Walker scored 30 points, Jimmy Hall added 19 and sixth-seeded Kent State earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2008 by beating rival Akron in the Mid-American Conference championship game Saturday night.
The Golden Flashes (22-13) knocked off the tournament's top three seeds -- Buffalo, Ohio and Akron -- to win their sixth conference title. They barely advanced to Cleveland, needing overtime to edge 11th-seeded Central Michigan in the opening round.
But Kent State finally found its groove at Quicken Loans Arena and is headed back to the NCAAs for the sixth time.