The debut game for first-year head coach Rob Senderoff couldn't have gone better for Kent State. Live on ESPN Tuesday morning, they kicked their season off with a 70-60 upset over West Virginia. Kent State trailed 33-28 after the first half, but rallied back to outscore West Virginia 42-27 in the second, led by senior guard Carlton Guyton, who scored 17 points with a rebound, steal and four assists. He led a group that included four players in double figures. Forward Kevin Jones followed close behind Guyton for West Virginia, with 15 points and a whopping 18 rebounds.
It was a close game throughout, with Kent State first taking the lead in the second half just a few minutes into it, with a Patrick Jackson layup. The Golden Flashses would go on to control the play from there, grabbing their first 10-point lead with around ten minutes left following a Randal Holt three pointer. They'd hold onto the lead from there, though The Mountaineers got within six after a Deniz Kikicki slam dunk.
West Virginia concentrated a lot on getting rebounds, grabbing 27-of-39 rebounds in the first half, but it wasn't enough to put them past Kent State. 23 team fouls called in the first half of play, and despite the strong rebounding, the Mountaineers coughed up the ball a lot, giving Kent State plenty of chances to take the lead.