Kent State Coach Rob Senderoff Previews Matchup With Indiana in NCAA Tournament

Kent State earned a 13-seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the MAC Conference championship, setting up a matchup with 4-seed Indiana. Coach Rob Senderoff shared his thoughts on playing against the school where he used to coach.

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Kent State approached the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game needing a victory to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

In their path stood Toledo, the MAC regular season champs who were riding a 17-game win streak. Their last loss? At Kent State on Jan. 10 by 12 points. 

Not only did Kent State defeat Toledo for a second time in the MAC Tournament title game, the Golden Flashes outscored the Rockets by 14 points in the second half to secure a 93-78 win. Sincere Carry led Kent State with 26 points, followed by fellow senior guard Malique Jacobs with 18 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

MVP chants for Carry filled Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, and coach Rob Senderoff said this performance cemented Carry as one of Kent State's all-time greats.

"He's the best player I've coached here at Kent," Senderoff said Sunday night on WKYC Channel 3 "He's had an unbelievable career. Obviously we all got ourselves to this point, but boy did he carry us at a high, high level here throughout the year and especially up in Cleveland."

Kent State enters the Big Dance on a six-game win streak, boasting a 28-6 overall record. Carry (17.9 ppg) and Jacobs (13.0 ppg) lead the Golden Flashes in scoring, followed by 6-foot-8 senior forward Miryne Thomas (10.7 ppg). 

And with heavy hitters on their non-conference schedule, Senderoff is confident his team will be ready.

"We're playing a great team in Indiana, who's had an incredible season as well out of the Big Ten, but we're tested," Senderoff said. "We put ourselves up against a great schedule, we did it for a reason. Like you said, we played toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the country [Houston] for 38 minutes. 38 minutes on the road at Gonzaga. College of Charleston, missed a shot at the buzzer to win that game. These guys are fearless, and we're going to be ready."

Despite competing well against some of the nation's top teams, Kent State has a few disappointing losses on its résumé. After a 10-game win streak, Kent State lost 86-76 to a Northern Illinois team that went 13-19 this year. They also lost by 12 points at Akron (22-11) and Ball State (20-12), finishing 9-6 in true road games and 4-0 at neutral sites.

Senderoff knows Kent State will have its hands full with Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who's 20.8 points, 10.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.7 blocks – all career-high numbers – during his senior season.

"Yeah, that's going to be a challenge," Senderoff said Sunday. "Because, again, I don't know all of their personnel, but I know I had to vote for the All-American team and Trayce Jackson-Davis was one of the guys I voted for in the first-team All-America so I know how good he is. I know how tradition-rich their program is, and I know they're going to be ready to play. We're going to have to give our best effort. I know we'll get their's, and I feel good about our team more than anybody who that we're playing against, it's just I feel good about our team."

For the second time in 12 seasons, Senderoff and Kent State are headed to the NCAA Tournament, eager to pull off an upset. Senderoff was an assistant coach at Indiana from 2006-08 under Kelvin Sampson before resigning due to recruiting violations, and he's excited to coach against the Hoosiers.

"To get a chance to play on this stage is awesome," Senderoff said. "To get a chance to play Indiana University, one of the blue bloods of college basketball, is even better."

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