Kent State Finds Itself in a Prime Location

You can talk about underdogs and how Villanova’s great upset of Georgetown in the 1985 NCAA title game happened right here in Rupp Arena.

Or you can simply understand this: Kent State can make it to the Final Four because all it has to do is beat Indiana today, a team it upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year.

If the Golden Flashes win the NCAA South Regional final today, they will be the most improbable team to reach the Final Four since Pennsylvania in 1979--and as a 10th-seeded team, the lowest-seeded since No. 11 Louisiana State in 1986.

So it’s Kent State with a longshot’s chance against a Goliath that has won five NCAA titles?

Not exactly: Indiana is a mere 31/2-point favorite over a school yearning to be known for more than the 1970 National Guard shootings that killed four students during an antiwar protest.

Kent State (30-5) made its first big splash in the NCAA tournament when it beat Indiana last season in the first round of the NCAA West Regional at San Diego, 77-73.

“Last year, that was our shining moment,” said guard Trevor Huffman, the offense-minded guard who was considering playing Division II or Division III basketball until Kent State gave him his only major college offer after he’d played pickup games in what amounted to a tryout for his teammates.

This year, the Golden Flashes have had several shining moments, and they’re after a few more.

“I know Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pittsburgh didn’t know what they were getting into, but we do,” Indiana Coach Mike Davis said. “It’s going to be a tough basketball game. These guys know that.”

Indiana (23-11) pulled the biggest upset of the tournament Thursday when it made up a 17-point deficit and beat defending national champion Duke.

The Hoosiers are trying to return to the Final Four for the first time since 1992 and haven’t won an NCAA title since 1987.

These teams have changed since last year.

Jared Jeffries, Indiana’s sophomore star, for instance, was a meek freshman forward who scored only nine points in last season’s game.

Center Kirk Haston scored 29 despite an ankle injury in his final game, and guard Tom Coverdale played with a hip injury.

But Kent State is a better team too.

Besides Huffman, who scored 24 points in last season’s game, the Golden Flashes have fellow senior guards Andrew Mitchell and Demetric Shaw.

And they have added junior forward Antonio Gates--a 6-foot-5, 240-pound former football player who attended three colleges before Kent State.

There are scores to settle too.

Indiana guard Dane Fife is still miffed at a quote by Huffman saying Fife’s father, a high school coach, thought Huffman would make a nice Division III player.

“One of the things that sticks with me about Kent State is, my dad got ripped by one of their players in Sports Illustrated,” Fife said. “I think that’s a good motivational tool for me.”

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Robyn Norwood