KENT, Ohio — The Kent State men’s basketball team had their dancing shoes on Sunday night at the Water Street Tavern near campus. When their name finally got called on the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, it was time to party for the Golden Flashes.
The MAC Tournament champs, who received an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, landed a 13-seed from the Selection Committee and will square off with the Indiana Hoosiers on Friday night in Albany, New York. Tip-off set for 9:55pm ET.
Following the Selection Show on national TV, Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff sat down to chat with 3News' Sports Anchor Nick Camino from the Water Street Tavern about the Golden Flashes run through the MAC Tournament in Cleveland, standout point guard Sincere Carry, a special 28-win season, and their upcoming match up with the storied Big Ten program, Indiana. Camino and Senderoff even reflected on Kent State’s tournament history which includes multiple match ups against the Hoosiers.
Senderoff, 49, is in his 12th season with the Golden Flashes and helped guide the program to its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017.
Kent State finished the season going 28-6, topping Toledo in the MAC Championship Game 93-78 on Saturday night, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
There is plenty of familiarity between Kent State and Indiana, and Senderoff even admitted to Camino that him and current assistant, former head coach, Jim Christian, talked about how the Golden Flashes and Hoosiers have met a few times in The Big Dance.
In 2002, Indiana knocked off Kent State in the Elite Eight, while in 2001, the Golden Flashes won a First Round clash with the Hoosiers with Gary Waters as the head coach.
Watch the interview in its entirety in the player below.