Kent State used its brand of physical basketball and a great night on offense to defeat the regular-season champion Toledo and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, downing the Rockets by a final score of 93-78 on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland Ohio.
The Golden Flashes battled with the Rockets — who came into the contest with a 17-game win streak — wire-to-wire until late in the second half, when they caught fire and pulled away. Last year’s MAC Player of the Year Sincere Carry led his squad with 26 points while Malique Jacobs and a pair of Kent State bench players came through in a big way.