Tag: Kent State

Photos of Notre Dame’s first-round NCAA Tournament win vs. Kent State

See how the Irish’s first tournament game looked.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After Notre Dame wrapped up its final regular-season game, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] addressed the Purcell Pavilion crowd. While she didn’t say so directly, she more or less pleaded with the NCAA Tournament selection committee to give the Irish a top-four seed so that they could host the first weekend. Just to remove any doubt, the Irish won the ACC Tournament, and it became impossible for the committee to ignore them after that.

The Irish ultimately earned a No. 2 seed, so their fans fans found themselves back where they were three weeks ago. They provided a tough environment for Kent State in this first-round game, and the Irish rode that to an 81-67 win. That means they’ll get to see the team one final time this season in Monday’s second-round game and surely will be no less vocal.

If you missed the start to the Irish’s latest quest for their third national championship, here are a few examples of what it looked like:

BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest, create a pool and invite your friends!

Notre Dame knocks out Kent State to begin NCAA Tournament

One down, five to go.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – A No. 2 seed never had lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame had no intention of becoming the first team to do that as it battled Kent State at Purcell Pavilion. With most of the crowd backing them, the Irish held a comfortable lead almost the entire game and advanced to the second round with an 81-67 victory.

BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest, create a pool and invite your friends!

Unlike last year’s first-round game against Southern Utah that pretty much was decided from the opening tip, the Irish (27-6) allowed the Golden Flashes (21-11) to score the first basket of this game and even keep the lead for the first three-and-a-half minutes. But the Irish were finished with generosity after that and proceeded to score 18 unanswered points with sound offense and forcing tough shots on defense.

The Irish mostly coasted from there, leading by as much as 21. There was a brief scare in the fourth quarter when the Flashes cut that lead to 12, but it was a passing threat at best. This wasn’t going to be anything but an Irish victory, especially with them scoring 23 points off 16 Flashes turnovers.

[autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag] was by far the Irish’s best player with a game-high 29 points. Several of her buckets came on passes from [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who achieved a double-double in her first NCAA Tournament game of 14 points and 11 assists despite shooting only 5 of 14 from the field. She also had six steals, five of them coming in the third quarter.

[autotag]Anna DeWolfe[/autotag] scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half, providing an early offensive spark along with Citron. [autotag]Maddy Westbeld[/autotag] flirted with her own double-double with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Purcell Pavilion sold out for Notre Dame’s first NCAA Tournament game

Hope you have your ticket already.

After Notre Dame played its final regular-season home game at Purcell Pavilion, [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] hoped to be back for the NCAA Tournament. Thankfully, she coached the Irish to the finish needed to make that happen. And now on top of that, their first-round game against Kent State has been sold out, so Ivey will get that loud South Bend crowd she loves so much:

BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest, create a pool and invite your friends!

It’s not known how much of that sellout crowd will stick around to watch Saturday’s second game between Ole Miss and Marquette. But for the first game at least, a loud partisan crowd will be on hand, so the Golden Flashes will have more than only the Irish to deal with. That’s just what the Irish have been playing for all year, and they have the luxury for the second straight year.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame earns No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament, hosts Kent State first

Did you expect them to be seeded this high?

Not long ago, Notre Dame was seen as nothing more than a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Some bracketologies had the Irish as low as a No. 6. Since then, the Irish have won eight straight games and the ACC Tournament championship. That was enough for the selection committee to make them the No. 2 seed in Albany Regional 1., the highest seed for any ACC team.

The result is the Irish will get to host the first two rounds of March Madness. They’ll begin their run to a national championship against No. 15 seed Kent State. The winner of that game will face the winner of the other first-round game in South Bend between Ole Miss and Marquette. The Irish’s only previous meeting with the Golden Flashes was a 66-41 victory in the first round of the 1996 WNIT.

While the seeding isn’t a complete surprise, it’s an improvement from most bracketologists’ final projections. One of, if not the only one that had the Irish as a No. 2 seed was College Sports Madness. ESPN, CBS Sports and Her Hoop Stats all projected the Irish as a No. 3. Needless to say, the Irish did everything they needed to be a tournament host and then some.

The one hiccup for the Irish is that they were seeded in the same bracket as South Carolina, the top overall seed and heavy favorite to win the national championship. Perhaps seeing the Gamecocks in the season opener in Paris will give them an advantage for what to expect. But they have a few other games to win before it gets to that point, and that’s why they play them.

So make your plans to be in South Bend this coming weekend. The Irish will need all the support they can get as they begin that national title run.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Breaking: Colin Ferrell hired as the next Rutgers football defensive line coach, per report

Rutgers football has hired Colin Ferrell as its next defensive line coach.

Colin Ferrell, an experienced assistant coach with strong ties to New Jersey, will be Rutgers football’s defensive line coach, replacing Marquise Watson.

The news was broken on Tuesday morning by ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Born in New Jersey (Hamilton), Ferrell is an energetic coach and known as a strong teacher. He is a former standout defensive lineman at Kent State who signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent.

Ferrell has been with Kent State since 2012. In 2017, he served as the program’s interim head coach. He has further ties to New Jersey, having coached at The Hun School (Princeton, New Jersey) early in his career.

A source confirmed Thamel’s report of Ferrell’s hire as well as a new role for Watson.

 

Last season, Watson was unable to coach the defensive line due to a health condition. Jared Keyte, a former defensive coordinator at Maine and an assistant at Rutgers, stepped up to coach the defensive line in Watson’s abscence.

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As he continues his recovery, will transition to an off-the-field role.

Former Michigan State football walk-on WR Sebastian Brown commits to Kent State

Former Michigan State football walk-on WR Sebastian Brown commits to Kent State

A former Michigan State football player has found his next home. On Friday, Sebastian Brown, who was once the quarterback at Cass Tech, will transfer to Kent State. Brown had originally entered the portal on Dec. 9.

Brown came to MSU as a walk-on despite have offers from multiple FCS and FBS programs. He will now look for a bigger role after spending the last four seasons at MSU and playing in three games.

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MBB Recap: Shorthanded Ducks outlast Kent State

Oregon finished the non-conference season strong with an 84-70 win over Kent State.

In a game where every player’s mind could have been somewhere else, the Oregon Ducks men’s basketball team focused and defeated Kent State 84-70.

This was the last non-conference contest of the season and right before everyone went home for the holidays. Oregon finished the non-league portion of the schedule 8-3 as it will soon prepare for the grind that is the Pac-12.

Jermaine Couisnard finished with a double-double of 27 points and 10 rebounds and Jackson Shelstad added 15 points and five assists.

Although the Ducks had a goose egg for three-pointers in the second half, they were able to compensate by going to the free-throw line and making 19-of-25 from the stripe.

Kent State stayed in the game with 11 threes, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Arkansas vs. Kent State: How to watch, stream, listen on Saturday

Arkansas and Kent State will air on the SEC Network on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT.

After kicking off the season with a win in Little Rock last week, Arkansas will open its 2023 home football slate Saturday in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium at 3 p.m. (CT), with a showdown with Kent State, to be aired on the SEC Network.

It will be the first-ever meeting between the Razorbacks (1-0) and Golden Flashes (0-1), who hail from the Mid-American Conference. Arkansas opened the season last week with a 56-13 win over Western Carolina, while Kent State went on the road and got trounced by Central Florida and Coach Gus Malzahn, 56-6.

Arkansas is 3-1 all-time against teams from the MAC, but the last time the Hogs faced one of those teams in 2015, it ended with an embarrassing 16-12 loss to Toledo in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium.

MAC teams are 13-104 all-time against the SEC.

Arkansas Head Coach Sam Pittman is in his fourth season with an overall record of 20-17. He is 10-1 in non-conference games, with his lone loss coming against No. 23 Liberty last season.

Here’s when you should tune in to see the game

  • Date: Saturday, September 9
  • Time: 3 p.m. CT
  • TV Channel: SEC Network, SECN+ and ESPN+
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch here)
  • Radio: Aired across the state on the Razorback Sports Network, or get the radio stream FREE on the Arkansas Razorbacks app.

Know your opponent: Get to know Kent State

Kent State and Arkansas will meet on the gridiron for the first time on Saturday afternoon in the on-campus home opener.

Kent State comes into Saturday’s game still reeling from a 56-6 defeat at the hands of Central Florida last Thursday night.

The Golden Flashes went 5-7 a year ago, and haven’t had a winning season in a non-COVID year since 2019.

Its most famous alum is Nick Saban, the legendary Alabama coach who played defensive back for the Golden Flashes from 1970-72.

He just happened to be on campus the day of the infamous Kent State shootings in 1970, but luckily avoided the situation by eating lunch with a roommate.

Two years later, he and former Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel were teammates on the only Kent State team to win a conference title.

Akron and Bowling Green are the school’s two biggest rivals. Arkansas has never faced the Golden Flashes.

Kickoff is still set for 3 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.

Arkansas’ next opponent gets throttled by Gus Malzahn’s UCF

Kent State will be coming to Fayetteville next weekend smarting from a 50-point setback at the hands of Central Florida.

The opening Thursday night of the college football season usually provides some twists and turns.

There were none of the sort in Orlando. Gus Malzahn’s Central Florida made light work of the Kent State Golden Flashes, 56-6.

It was 28-3 at halftime and the Golden Knights had outgained Kent State 357 to 99.

John Rhys Plumlee was 23 of 31 for 305 and three touchdowns, but did throw two interceptions for UCF.

The Golden Flashes will make their way to Fayetteville next weekend. Kickoff is tentatively slated for 3 p.m. on SEC Network.

Other games of interest included Utah handling Florida with ease and Missouri taking care of business against South Dakota.