It will be a battle between Mid-American opponents when the Bowling Green Falcons (12-6) welcome the Kent State Golden Flashes (13-5) to Stroh Center. The game gets underway at 4:00 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 23 and will air on ES3.
The Falcons are hoping for a better outcome after their 81-74 loss to Toledo on Tuesday. Zack Denny was the team’s leading scorer, recording 19 points. The Golden Flashes are coming off a 76-68 win over Ball State on Tuesday. Xavier Pollard shot 9 for 14 and led in scoring with 22 points.
Bowling Green is a small one-point favorite at home against Kent State. The matchup currently has a 148-point Over/Under (O/U). The Falcons enter the game with records of 12-6 Straight Up (SU) and 8-6 Against The Spread (ATS). Bowling Green is excellent from the perimeter, shooting a superb .390 from three-point range.
On the other side, the Golden Flashes have 13-5 SU and 6-8 ATS records. Don’t expect Kent State to give away the ball much on offense, where its 10.9 turnovers per game ranks 27th in the country.
This game marks the season’s first head-to-head clash between these conference rivals. Their previous game was a Golden Flashes victory, moving their SU record against Bowling Green to 6-4 in their most recent head-to-head meetings. However, Bowling Green holds the advantage ATS with a record of 6-3-1. Neither Bowling Green nor Kent State has led in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, or three-pointers) over their most recent five games.
Predictions: SU Winner – KentSt, ATS Winner – KentSt, O/U – Over
Notes
Bowling Green is 11-4 SU in its last 15 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Bowling Green’s last 5 games.
Bowling Green is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games at home.
Bowling Green is 6-1-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Kent State.
Bowling Green is 5-10 SU in its last 15 games when playing at home against Kent State.
The Kent State Golden Flashes hold a solid 4-1 SU record in matchups against Mid-American Conference rivals, while the Bowling Green Falcons currently sit at 3-2 in these games.
Ranked 58th, the Kent State Golden Flashes have an offensive rating of 112.4. The Bowling Green Falcons rank 140th with a defensive rating of just 100.7.
Bowling Green has an average field goal percentage of 45.0%. Kent State is a subpar 2-5 when opponents have a similar or higher field goal percentage.
The Bowling Green Falcons and the Kent State Golden Flashes both rank higher in average field goal percentage when compared to their effective field goal percentages. Bowling Green is 138th and 121st in the nation for eFG% and FG% respectively, while Kent State ranks 161st and 88th in these categories.
Kent State ranks 89th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.21. Bowling Green is ranked lower at 195th with an A/TO of 1.01.
Bowling Green ranks 51st in defensive rebounding. When it comes to offensive rebounds, Kent State ranks 80th.
On average, Bowling Green forces a turnover rate of 17.8%. When Kent State turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a solid 5-3 record.
