# 2015–16 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represented Kent State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, their 100th season of play. The Golden Flashes, led by fifth year head coach Rob Senderoff, played their home games at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, also known as the MAC Center, as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 19–13, 10–8 in MAC play to finish in a tie for third place in the East Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Bowling Green. Despite having 19 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Previous season

The Golden Flashes finished the season 23–12, 12–6 in MAC play to finish in a share for the East Division championship as well as a share of the MAC overall regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament to Akron. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Middle Tennessee in the first round and Texas A&M Corpus–Christi in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to Northern Arizona.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Devareaux Manley | 0 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Senior | Oakland, CA | Graduated |
| Kris Brewer | 1 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Memphis, TN | Graduated |
| Gary Akbar | 13 | G/F | 6'5" | 220 | Junior | Dayton, OH | Graduated & transferred to UT Permian Basin |
| Craig Brown | 15 | G/F | 6'5" | 220 | Senior | Miami, FL | Graduated |
| Marquiez Lawerence | 20 | F | 6'8" | 200 | Sophomore | Columbus, OH | Transferred to Central Missouri |
| Derek Jackson | 23 | G | 6'1" | 170 | RS Senior | Cleveland, OH | Graduated |
| Blake Vedder | 41 | C | 7'4" | 235 | Senior | Chesterland, OH | Graduated |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Galal Cancer | 15 | G | 6'2" | 180 | RS Senior | Albany, NY | Transferred from Cornell. Will be eligible to play immediately since Cancer graduated from Cornell. |
| Desmond Ridenour | 25 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Cleveland Heights, OH | Transferred from Duquesne. Under NCAA transfer rules, Ridenour will have to sit out from the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

## Recruiting class of 2015

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jalen Avery #44 PG | Covington, KY | Shroder Paideia Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 29, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 77 ||||||
| Devon Andrews #73 SG | Lorain, OH | Lorain High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Sep 25, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Jaylin Walker SG | Romulus, MI | Romulus High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 25, 2013 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Yavari Hall SG | Warrensville Heights, OH | Warrensville Heights High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jun 16, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 74 |||||||
| Mitch Peterson SG | Richfield, OH | Walsh Jesuit High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | May 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference Games ||||||
| 11/14/2015* 7:00 pm | | Youngstown State Coaches vs. Cancer Tip-Off | W 79–70 | 1–0 | MAC Center (5,471) Kent, OH |
| 11/18/2015* 8:00 pm | | at Southern Illinois | L 69–72 | 1–1 | SIU Arena (4,362) Carbondale, IL |
| 11/21/2015* 7:00 pm | | Marist | W 79–72 | 2–1 | MAC Center (3,822) Kent, OH |
| 11/24/2015* 8:30 pm | | Saint Francis (PA) | W 79–60 | 3–1 | MAC Center (3,262) Kent, OH |
| 11/28/2015* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Pittsburgh | L 76–85 | 3–2 | Peterson Events Center (7,815) Pittsburgh, PA |
| 12/5/2015* 3:00 pm | | vs. Cleveland State | W 66–62 | 4–2 | Quicken Loans Arena (3,671) Cleveland, OH |
| 12/7/2015* 7:00 pm | | at NJIT | W 80–75 | 5–2 | Fleisher Center (987) Newark, NJ |
| 12/10/2015* 7:00 pm | | Louisiana–Monroe Las Vegas Classic Regional Round | W 73–62 | 6–2 | MAC Center (2,689) Kent, OH |
| 12/12/2015* 7:00 pm | | Canisius Las Vegas Classic Regional Round | W 84–77 | 7–2 | MAC Center (3,107) Kent, OH |
| 12/22/2015* 8:00 pm | | vs. #18 SMU Las Vegas Classic Semifinals | L 74–90 | 7–3 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| 12/23/2015* 8:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. Penn State Las Vegas Classic 3rd Place Game | L 69-75 | 7–4 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| 12/30/2015* 4:00 pm | | at North Carolina A&T | W 61–60 | 8–4 | Corbett Sports Center (1,015) Greensboro, NC |
| 1/2/2016* 7:00 pm | | Oberlin | W 104–58 | 9–4 | MAC Center (2,414) Kent, OH |
| Conference Games ||||||
| 1/5/2016 7:00 pm | | at Western Michigan | W 87–84 $^{OT}$ | 10–4 (1–0) | University Arena (2,016) Kalamazoo, MI |
| 1/8/2016 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | Buffalo | L 67–76 | 10–5 (1–1) | MAC Center (3,522) Kent, OH |
| 1/12/2016 7:00 pm | | Miami (OH) | W 76–68 | 11–5 (2–1) | MAC Center (2,588) Kent, OH |
| 1/16/2016 7:00 pm | | Ohio | W 89–82 | 12–5 (3–1) | MAC Center (3,845) Kent, OH |
| 1/19/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | W 76–68 | 13–5 (4–1) | Worthen Arena (3,190) Muncie, IN |
| 1/23/2016 4:00 pm | | at Bowling Green | W 62–59 | 14–5 (5–1) | Stroh Center (3,100) Bowling Green, OH |
| 1/26/2016 7:00 pm | | Eastern Michigan | W 73–58 | 15–5 (6–1) | MAC Center (3,858) Kent, OH |
| 1/29/2016 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Ohio | L 61–72 | 15–6 (6–2) | Convocation Center (6,713) Athens, OH |
| 2/2/2016 7:00 pm | | at Central Michigan | L 61–88 | 15–7 (6–3) | McGuirk Arena (2,138) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| 2/6/2016 7:00 pm | | Toledo | L 67–82 | 15–8 (6–4) | MAC Center (4,503) Kent, OH |
| 2/9/2016 7:00 pm | | Northern Illinois | W 75–74 | 16–8 (7–4) | MAC Center (2,764) Kent, OH |
| 2/13/2016 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | L 70–75 | 16–9 (7–5) | Convocation Center (1,059) Ypsilanti, MI |
| 2/16/2016 7:00 pm | | Western Michigan | W 85–78 $^{OT}$ | 17–9 (8–5) | MAC Center (3,035) Kent, OH |
| 2/19/2016 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | Akron | W 85–76 | 18–9 (9–5) | MAC Center (6,327) Kent, OH |
| 2/23/2016 6:00 pm, TWCSC | | at Buffalo | L 70–87 | 18–10 (9–6) | Alumni Arena (3,284) Buffalo, NY |
| 2/27/2016 3:30 pm | | at Miami (OH) | L 65–74 | 18–11 (9–7) | Millett Hall (1,330) Oxford, OH |
| 3/1/2016 7:00 pm, TWCSC | | Bowling Green | W 70–54 | 19–11 (10–7) | MAC Center (3,531) Kent, OH |
| 3/4/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Akron | L 60–74 | 19–12 (10–8) | James A. Rhodes Arena (5,301) Akron, OH |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| 3/7/2016 7:00 pm | (5) | (12) Bowling Green First round | L 69–70 | 19–13 | MAC Center (2,660) Kent, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||