2001–02 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team

2001–02 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball
MAC tournament champions
MAC Regular Season Champions
MAC East Division Champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
ConferenceMid-American Conference
DivisionSouth
Ranking
CoachesNo. 12
Record30–6 (17–1 MAC)
Head coach
Assistant coachJim Christian
Home arenaMemorial Athletic and Convocation Center
Seasons
2001–02 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Kent State† 17 – 1   .944 30 – 6   .833
Bowling Green 12 – 6   .667 24 – 9   .727
Ohio 11 – 7   .611 17 – 11   .607
Miami (OH) 9 – 9   .500 13 – 18   .419
Marshall 8 – 10   .444 15 – 15   .500
Buffalo 7 – 11   .389 12 – 18   .400
Akron 5 – 13   .278 10 – 21   .323
West
Ball State 12 – 6   .667 23 – 12   .657
Toledo 11 – 7   .611 16 – 14   .533
Western Michigan 10 – 8   .556 17 – 13   .567
Northern Illinois 8 – 10   .444 12 – 16   .429
Central Michigan 5 – 13   .278 9 – 19   .321
Eastern Michigan 2 – 16   .111 6 – 24   .200
† 2002 MAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2001–02 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represented Kent State University in the 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Stan Heath, the Flashes finished their best season in program history, posting a 30–6 record and advancing to the Elite Eight of the 2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament after defeating seventh-seeded Oklahoma State, upsetting second-seeded Alabama and third-seeded Pittsburgh, before falling to eventual national runners-up Indiana. The team set program and Mid-American Conference (MAC) records for overall number of wins in a season with 30 and conference wins at 17, while the team's 21-game winning streak set the MAC and team records for both overall winning streak and single-season winning streak.[1]

Roster

2001–02 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
C 2 Nate Gerwig 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Fr Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
G 10 Demetric Shaw 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Fort Worth, Texas
G 12 Andrew Mitchell 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Sr Detroit, Michigan
G 13 Bryan Pellegrino 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Solon, Ohio
F 15 Jonathan Merritt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr West Bloomfield, Michigan
G 22 Eric Haut 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Lansing, Michigan
G 24 Trevor Huffman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Petoskey, Michigan
G 32 Brian Howard 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Troy, Michigan
G 32 Anthony Wilkins 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Cleveland, Ohio
F 34 Bryan Bedford 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Racine, Wisconsin
F 40 Eric Thomas 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Springfield, Ohio
F 44 Antonio Gates 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Detroit, Michigan
C 54 John Edwards 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 275 lb (125 kg) So Hudson, Ohio
Head coach

Stan Heath

Assistant coach(es)

Jim Christian

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-Conference Games
11/19/01*
 Mercyhurst W 90–68  1–0
 MAC Center (4,216)
Kent, OH
11/23/01*
 vs. Hofstra L 64–67  1–1
 Charles L. Sewall Center (1,824)
Pittsburgh, PA
11/24/01
 vs. Robert Morris W 83–55  2–1
 Charles L. Sewall Center (1,416)
Pittsburgh, PA
11/25/01*
 vs. UC Irvine W 75–64  3–1
 Charles L. Sewall Center (1,214)
Pittsburgh, PA
11/28/01*
 vs. No. 13 Kentucky L 68–82  3–2
 Firstar Center (10,352)
Cincinnati, OH
12/1/01*
 Chattanooga W 75–56  4–2
 MAC Center (4,155)
Kent, OH
12/15/01*
 at Youngstown State L 70–75  4–3
 Beeghly Center (3,168)
Youngstown, OH
12/20/01*
 at Xavier L 56–62  4–4
 Cintas Center (10,250)
Cincinnati, OH
12/22/01*
 at Illinois State W 61–48  5–4
 Redbird Arena (4,802)
Normal, IL
12/29*
 vs. Cleveland State W 66–62  6–4
 Gund Arena (10,276)
Cleveland, OH
12/31/01*
 St. Bonaventure W 93–82 OT 7–4
 MAC Center (4,318)
Kent, OH
Conference Games
1/2/02
 Ball State W 81–54  8–4
(1–0) 		MAC Center (5,073)
Kent, OH
1/5/02
 at Marshall W 73–70  9–4
(2–0) 		Cam Henderson Center (5,753)
Huntington, WV
1/9/02
 at Buffalo L 65–66  9–5
(2–1) 		Alumni Arena (1,584)
Buffalo, NY
1/12/02
 Ohio W 71–56  10–5
(3–1) 		MAC Center (5,418)
Kent, OH
1/16/02
 at Akron W 78–54  11–5
(4–1) 		James A. Rhodes Arena (3,838)
Akron, OH
1/19/02
 Western Michigan W 75–72  12–5
(5–1) 		MAC Center (4,213)
Kent, OH
1/22/02
 Buffalo W 91–53  13–5
(6–1) 		MAC Center (4,177)
Kent, OH
1/26/02
 at Bowling Green W 70–67  14–5
(7–1) 		Anderson Arena (4,735)
Bowling Green, OH
1/29/02
 at Eastern Michigan W 82–62  15–5
(8–1) 		Convocation Center (1,581)
Ypsilanti, MI
2/2/02
 Toledo W 79–52  16–5
(9–1) 		MAC Center (5,117)
Kent, OH
2/4/02
 Bowling Green W 76–64  17–5
(10–1) 		MAC Center (5,350)
Kent, OH
2/9/02
 at Central Michigan W 96–66  18–5
(11–1) 		Rose Arena (4,927)
Mount Pleasant, MI
2/13/02
 at Northern Illinois W 73–61  19–5
(12–1) 		Chick Evans Field House 
DeKalb, IL
2/16/02
 Miami (OH) W 73–57  20–5
(13–1) 		MAC Center (5,782)
Kent, OH
2/19/02
 Marshall W 116–76  21–5
(14–1) 		MAC Center (5,102)
Kent, OH
2/23/02
 at Ohio W 70–67  22–5
(15–1) 		Convocation Center 
Athens, OH
2/25/02
 Akron W 67–57  23–5
(16–1) 		MAC Center (6,209)
Kent, OH
3/2/02
 at Miami (OH) W 70–67  24–5
(17–1) 		Millett Hall (5,012)
Oxford, OH
MAC Tournament
3/7/02
 (1) vs. (8) Marshall
MAC Tournament Quarterfinal 		W 82–70  25–5
 Gund Arena 
Cleveland, OH
3/8/02
 (1) vs. (4) Toledo
MAC Tournament Semifinal 		W 86–61  26–5
 Gund Arena 
Cleveland, OH
3/9/02
 (1) vs. (3) Bowling Green
MAC tournament championship 		W 70–59  27–5
 Gund Arena (14,106)
Cleveland, OH
NCAA Tournament
3/14/02*
 (10 S) vs. (7 S) No. 20 Oklahoma State
First Round 		W 69–61  28–5
 BI-LO Center 
Greenville, SC
3/16/02*
 (10 S) vs. (2 S) No. 9 Alabama
Second Round 		W 71–58[2][3]  29–5
 BI-LO Center (13,962)
Greenville, SC
3/21/02*
 (10 S) vs. (3 S) No. 8 Pittsburgh
Sweet Sixteen 		W 78–73 OT[4] 30–5
 Rupp Arena (22,338)
Lexington, KY
3/23/02*
 (10 S) vs. (5 S) Indiana
Elite Eight 		L 69–81[5]  30–6
 Rupp Arena (22,435)
Lexington, KY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
S=South.
All times are in Eastern.

[6]

Rankings

Main article: 2001–02 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

[7]

References

  1. ^ 2015–16 Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Mid-American Conference. December 2, 2015. p. 32.
  2. ^ "The Guard That No One Wanted". The Washington Post. March 16, 2002. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  3. ^ "COLLEGE BASKETBALL; Overlooked Kent State Overwhelms Alabama". The New York Times. March 17, 2002. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  4. ^ "For Kent State, 'Validation'". The Washington Post. March 22, 2002. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  5. ^ "Hot-shooting Indiana cools off Kent State with 81-69 victory". The Baltimore Sun. March 24, 2002. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
  6. ^ "2001-02 Kent State Golden Flashes Schedule and Results".
  7. ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1108–1109. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.