Former Indiana Assistant, Senior Guards Lead 13-Seed Kent State to NCAA Tournament

No. 4 seed Indiana plays No. 13 seed Kent State in the Round of 64 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Friday at 9:55 p.m. ET. The Golden Flashes are led by a pair of senior guards and coached by former Indiana assistant coach Rob Senderoff.

The NCAA Tournament is finally here.

Indiana is the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, matched up against the No. 13 seed Kent State Golden Flashes. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:55 p.m. ET on Friday in Albany, N.Y.

Kent State went 28-6 overall with a 15-3 record in the Mid-American Conference. Toledo won the regular season MAC title, but Kent State won the MAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeating Northern Illinois, Akron and Toledo to punch their ticket to the Big Dance.  

Kent State went 1-3 against NCAA Tournament teams, with each game coming in non-conference play. In the first game of the season, Kent State won 79-57 at Northern Kentucky, the No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region. The Golden Flashes suffered a narrow 74-72 loss at the College of Charleston, who earned the No. 12 seed in the South Region.

Kent State gave No. 1 seed Houston all it could handle on Nov. 26, but the Cougars ultimately snuck away with a 49-44 victory on their home court. Voncameron Davis led Kent State with 14 points in this loss, and leading scorer Sincere Carry finished with nine points on 2-for-22 shooting. The Golden Flashes also gave No. 3 seed Gonzaga a tough game on Dec. 5 at Gonzaga, losing 73-66. Miryne Thomas led Kent State with 16 points, and Gonzaga forward Drew Timme scored 29.

"We drew a great team in Kent State, who's had a hell of as season, as well, that's well-coached," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "So I don't know a whole lot about them, but I'll start today my process in terms of trying to put a game plan together to play those guys."

Kent State is coached by Rob Senderoff, who holds a 247–146 overall record and a 130–84 mark in MAC play across 12 seasons as head coach. Senderoff will make his second NCAA Tournament appearance as Kent State's head coach and first since 2016-17. That year, No. 14 seed Kent State lost 97-80 to No. 3 seed UCLA, who was led by point guard Lonzo Ball and coach Steve Alford, a 1987 NCAA Tournament Champion at Indiana.

Senderoff began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Miami (OH) before holding assistant coach positions at Fordham, Yale, Towson, Kent State and Indiana. Senderoff was an assistant coach at Indiana under Kelvin Sampson from 2006-08, but he resigned from this position due to recruiting violations. Senderoff received a 30-month show-cause penalty for his role in the scandal.

Following his time at Indiana, Senderoff became an associate head coach at Kent State from 2008-11 before being promoted to head coach for the 2011-12 season.

Kent State is ranked No. 71 overall on KenPom, No. 38 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 110 in adjusted offensive efficiency. The NCAA's NET rankings slot Kent State No. 59 overall.

Kent State scores 76.6 points per game, which ranks 61st in the country, while shooting 45.5 percent overall. The Golden Flashes attempt 23.4 3-pointers per game, connecting at a 33.6 percent rate, which ranks 213th in the country. Kent State shoots 72.5 percent from the free throw line and turns the ball over 11.4 times per game.

Kent State opponents score 65.7 points per game with a 40.3 field goal percentage and 31.0 3-point shooting. The Golden Flash defense forces 16.0 turnovers per game and boasts three players with 28-plus blocked shots. Jacobs leads Kent State with 2.7 steals per game, which ranks fourth in the country.

Kent State is led by a pair of senior guards, Sincere Carry and Malique Jacobs. At 6-foot-1, Carry averages 17.6 points on 30.9 percent 3-point shooting with 4.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game. Carry played three seasons at Duquesne before transferring to Kent State before the 2021-22 season, and he's started 130 games across five seasons.

At 6-foot-4, Jacobs is second on the team at 13.0 points per game. He adds 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 28.4 percent from beyond the arc. Jacobs has started 75 games across three seasons at Kent State after beginning his career at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. 

Rounding out the perimeter, 5-foot-10 sophomore guard Jalen Sullinger adds 8.6 points per game on 42.9 percent 3-point shooting, and 6-foot-1 senior guard Giovanni Santiago averages 7.5 points on 37.9 percent 3-point shooting. Santiago is doubtful for the first round of the NCAA Tournament due to a hand injury that has kept him out since Feb. 3, per John Rothstein.

Kent State starts two forwards and a center, including 6-foot-5 junior Voncameron Davis, 6-foot-8 senior Miryne Thomas and 6-foot-9 sophomore Cli'Ron Hornbeak. Davis averages 6.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game and scored a season-high 21 points at Western Michigan on Feb. 14. 

In his sixth season, Thomas adds 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, posting three double-doubles this year. Hornbeak played just 6.4 minutes as a freshman, but he averages 5.6 points and 5.0 rebounds in 30 starts as a sophomore.

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