Ball State Cardinals at Kent State Golden Flashes
· NCAA Men's Basketball
80 - 88
Zabo's hot hand in OT lifts Kent State over Ball State 88-80
Pippen scored 11 with 16 rebounds for the Golden Flashes (10-10, 4-3 Mid-American Conference), who beat the Cardinals for a 15th straight time. Adonis De La Rosa finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, Jaylin Walker scored 17 with seven boards and Jalen Avery and BJ Duling added 10 points each.
Kent State led 38-31 at halftime, but Ball State (12-8, 3-4) grabbed the lead, 42-41, on a Trey Moses free throw with 3:20 gone in the second half. The Golden Flashes trailed 49-45, but Walker nailed 3-pointers to begin and end a 10-0 run and forge a 55-49 lead. From there, Ball State got seven points from Sean Sellers and five from Tayler Persons, including a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left in regulation, to send the game to overtime tied at 71.
Ishmael El-Amin's layup gave the Cardinals a 75-74 lead with 3:18 remaining, but Pippen hit a jumper to ignite a 10-0 run to seal the win for Kent State.
Persons tallied 19 points and seven assists to pace Ball State. Sellers added 15 points and nine rebounds.
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Recent Plays
| 3rd 0:00 | End of Game | 80 - 88 |
| 3rd 0:03 | Adonis De La Rosa Defensive Rebound. | 80 - 88 |
| 3rd 0:03 | Tayler Persons missed Three Point Jumper. | 80 - 88 |
| 3rd 0:07 | Jaylin Walker made Dunk. Assisted by Jalen Avery. | 80 - 88 |
| 3rd 0:09 | Kent State Timeout | 80 - 86 |
Statistics
 BALL |
 KENT |
|
|---|---|---|
| 28-68 | FG | 35-73 |
| 41 | Field Goal % | 48 |
| 11-29 | 3PT | 7-25 |
| 38 | Three Point % | 28 |
| 13-18 | FT | 11-13 |
| 72 | Free Throw % | 85 |
| 37 | Rebounds | 42 |
| 10 | Offensive Rebounds | 10 |
| 27 | Defensive Rebounds | 32 |
| 15 | Assists | 13 |
| 7 | Steals | 7 |
| 5 | Blocks | 4 |
| 16 | Turnovers | 14 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 16 | Total Turnovers | 14 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 14 | Points Off Turnovers | 16 |
| 9 | Fast Break Points | 18 |
| 28 | Points in Paint | 44 |
| 19 | Fouls | 15 |
| 6 | Largest Lead | 10 |
Game Information
Location: Kent, OH
Attendance: 2,430 | Capacity:
2025-26 Mid-American Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami (OH) | 18-0 | - | 32-2 |
| Akron | 17-1 | 1 | 29-6 |
| Kent State | 14-4 | 4 | 24-10 |
| Toledo | 11-7 | 7 | 19-15 |
| Bowling Green | 9-9 | 9 | 18-14 |
| Ohio | 9-9 | 9 | 15-17 |
| Buffalo | 7-11 | 11 | 17-15 |
| Massachusetts | 7-11 | 11 | 17-16 |
| Ball State | 7-11 | 11 | 12-19 |
| Central Michigan | 6-12 | 12 | 10-21 |
| Western Michigan | 4-14 | 14 | 10-21 |
| Eastern Michigan | 4-14 | 14 | 10-21 |
| Northern Illinois | 4-14 | 10 | 9-21 |