Against Toledo on Saturday evening the junior college transfer from Wabash Valley Community College in Illinois must have really been thinking long and hard about his defense because he put up 23 big points to lead the Golden Flashes to an easy 77-61 win over the Rockets at Savage Arena.

Evans garnered his point total by going 9-of-10 from the floor, a figure that included sinking 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed six rebounds, recorded three assists, one block, and four steals. And Evans isn't even a starter!

To be fair, the victory wasn't a one-man show. Kent, chosen as the MAC Eastern Division preseason favorite and the odds-on choice to win the conference post-season tournament is a very experienced team, starting four seniors and a junior. But the Flashes are also a deep team, with very athletic players.

Toledo, fresh off of a 63-61 road victory against Miami back on Wednesday, was looking to make a statement with a home win against the Flashes and for the first 20 minutes of the contest the home team played the visitors almost to a standstill. UT took an early 6-0 lead on three consecutive layups, only to see that advantage quickly disappear after a pair of Kent triples. It then became a punch-counter punch battle throughout the half that ended with Kent State holding a 35-31 advantage. The Flashes had the edge as a result of their three-point shooting; KSU went to the break shooting 5-of-12 from beyond the arc while Toledo was just 1-of-10 from long distance.

Evans led the Flashes with 13 points, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the floor (3-of-3 from long range). Rian Pearson, who had a strong game for the Rockets led Toledo with 10 points.

Most of 4,720 fans who came out for the game were encouraged by what they witnessed in the first half and expected to see more of the same after intermission. And it looked like things were good-to-go when Pearson opened the scoring with a layup to close the gap to a deuce, 35-33.

But Toledo suddenly got careless handling the ball and Kent took advantage of those miscues to slam home three consecutive breakaway dunks for a 40-33 lead. Following their sloppy play, the Rockets started to come undone. “That was the turning point, “ said Senderoff. “ They (Toledo) are a very young team and our kids have been through league play before, so they just amped up the intensity level. Getting those steals and the points off of turnovers was the big difference in the game.”

With Dominique Buckley and “Juice” Brown struggling mightily on the perimeter (a combined 0-for-16 shooting), and the turnovers piling up, Kent State was able to extend its lead to 20 points 74-54,with 3:19 remaining in the contest. Soon the trickle of fans who had been heading for the exits suddenly became a flood.

Pearson who had 22 points to lead Toledo in scoring said this about the Flashes. “Kent State is a great transition team and at the start of the second half we started out with too many turnovers and that led to those transition layups. They tried to speed us up, leading to those turnovers.”

Casual is the word Pearson used to describe some of Toledo's play and the reason for some of those turnovers in the second half. “I thought we were being a little too casual coming to the ball. They like to shoot the gap and that hurt us.”

Also scoring in double figures for Toledo were Matt Smith and Curtis Dennis, each player checking out with 13 points.

In addition to the very strong performance of Evans, a pair of seniors, guard Michael Porrini and forward Justin Green scored 14 points a piece for Kent

The Rockets committed seven turnovers in the first half but that figured ballooned to 12 in the final 20 minutes, leading to 18 Kent State points after the break.

In addition to coming up empty in the scoring department,, Brown and Buckley were responsibly for 12 of Toledo's total of 19 turnovers, four by Buckley and eight by Brown.

As if those turnovers weren't enough, UT struggled from beyond the arc, making just 1-of-16 for 6.3%.

“I was very disappointed in our second half,” said Tod Kowalczyk. “We didn't play great in the first half but we did a lot of great things. Our turnovers just killed us in the second half. They shot 53% for the game but in their half-court offense they probably shot about 38%. We just gave them those transition layups. And when our starting guards go 0-for-16 shooting and commit 12 turnovers we're not going to win.”

As if the Kent State game wasn't enough, Toledo (19-11, 2-5 MAC) must now journey to Akron for a Feb. 1, game against the Zips who are leading the MAC with a 6-1 record. Casual play wont cut it inside the James A/ Rhodes Arena.

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