Mountain Hawks head to Kent State for Friday night showdown
11/24/2010 7:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following an impressive 60-57 win over defending Ivy League Champion Cornell, the Lehigh men's basketball team will travel to Kent State over the holiday weekend to face the defending Mid-American Regular Season Champs. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday. It marks a homecoming for sophomore C.J. McCollum, who grew up and went to school less than an hour south in Canton.
McCollum, who is coming off his fifth career double-double on Monday, was a standout at GlenOak High School where he became the leading scorer in school history. Head coach Brett Reed tries to schedule games near players' hometowns whenever possible. Senior Michael Ojo will be playing near home in Southern California when the Mountain Hawks travel to USC to face the Trojans on Dec. 23.
McCollum's double-double was his second in as many home games as he finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, including a clutch three-pointer with just over one minute remaining to break a 53-53 tie and put the Mountain Hawks up for good. Those 13 rebounds tied a career-high as well. Junior Jordan Hamilton had a strong game with nine points to tie a career-best, while his seven rebounds set a new career-high.
The Golden Flashes are the first of three defending regular season champions the Mountain Hawks will face in the next two weeks. Lehigh also plays Stony Brook (America East) and Quinnipiac (Northeast Conference) on Dec. 1 and 7, respectively. The Mountain Hawks' most recent win against Cornell came over yet another regular season champion; the Ivy League does not have postseason tournament.
Lehigh enters with a 2-2 record while Kent State is 5-1. Ironically, like Monmouth last Friday, the Golden Flashes also took part in the College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon on ESPN last Tuesday, where they came back to defeat Robert Morris, 62-59. Kent State returns two starters from a 2010-11 squad, which went 24-10 and 13-3 in the MAC.
Monday's victory over Cornell was Lehigh's first over a defending Sweet 16 team in at least 10 years. It was the Mountain Hawks' sixth game in the 2000s against a team coming off a Sweet 16 appearance (listed below), and their first victory. They had lost to Villanova (2005), Xavier (2004), Illinois (2002), Penn State (2001) and Miami (2000) on the road. The Golden Flashes enjoyed success in the 2002 NCAA Tournament - not only making the Sweet 16, but also the Elite Eight - in 2002 as a No. 10 seed. They finished that season 30-6 overall.
The Golden Flashes have enjoyed incredible success during the 2000s, failing to reach 20 wins only once; that came in 2008-09 when they finished with 19. They also posted 24 or more wins on five occasions. The highlight came at the turn of the century when they not only made two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, but also advanced each time. In 2001, they defeated Indiana in the first round before succumbing in the Round of 32. They took it one step further in 2002, winning three tournament games - over Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh - before falling to Indiana in the Elite Eight. Current San Diego Chargers' tight end Antonio Gates was on that team, averaging 16 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Despite being upset in the conference tournament last year, Kent State did advance to the NIT, its eighth appearance overall and first since 2005. The squad defeated Tulsa in the first round before falling to Illinois to wrap up the season.
The Golden Flashes - who return two of five starters from last year's squad - are off to a fast start in 2010-11, winning five of their first six games, many in convincing fashion. They've defeated Iona (73-72), Bryant (90-49), Robert Morris (62-59), Furman (78-74) and Urbana (94-71) while falling to Cleveland State (69-66). Last year's leading scorer, Justin Greene has gotten off to a fast start again in this, his junior. He is averaging 19.7 points per game, followed by Carlton Guyton with 13. Every other starter has scored at least eight points as well. Greene is the team's leading rebounder, grabbing 7.7 boards per game.
The Mountain Hawks return home on Sunday to host Bryant University at 7 p.m. They then travel to defending America East Champion Stony Brook on Wednesday before returning home to host Atlantic 10 foe Fordham in a Saturday evening showdown at Stabler. Tickets for all home games are now on sale and may be purchased on Lehighsports.com or by calling the ticket office at (610) 7LU-GAME.
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Date:
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November 26, 2010
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Opponent:
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Kent State Golden Flashes
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Tip-off:
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7:30 PM
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Arena/Capacity:
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Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center/6,327
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Location:
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Bethlehem, Pa.
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Lehigh's Record:
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2-2 overall, 0-0 Patriot League
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Cornell's Record:
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5-1 overall, 0-0 Mid-American Conference
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Series:
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First Meeting
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Radio:
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Live on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 and Lehighsports.com with Tom Fallon. Pregame coverage gets underway at 7:00.
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Behind Enemy Lines:
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