Under the Radar Game of the Day – Tuesday, January 27, 2015: Central Michigan at Kent State

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Central Michigan at Kent State, 7:00 PM Eastern, free streaming at kentstatesports.com

The UTR Game of the Day heads back to the MAC tonight for a clash between the two teams that are (for now at least) leading their respective divisions.  As we discussed last week, the MAC appears to be a free-for-all this year with at least four teams in contention for both division titles.  Kent State (14-5 overall, 5-1 in conference) currently has sole possession of the East Division lead.  The Golden Flashes have won five straight games, including a home win over Toledo, but arguably a favorable early conference schedule is all that has them out to this lead so far.  Jimmy Hall has been leading the way for the Golden Flashes so far this season.  After being held to only 6 points in the Toledo victory last week, he bounced back big time over the weekend, dropping 32 points on Ball State.

Kent State welcomes in West Division co-leader Central Michigan tonight.  CMU enters the game at 14-3 overall and 4-2 in conference (tied with Western Michigan for the division lead).  The Chippewas have been a bit hard to figure out so far this season, after padding their overall record with the 329th (out of 351) ranked non-conference schedule in the country.  They have, however, won at Toledo and at home against Buffalo already in MAC play — but then lost a game by 18 points at Ball State, one of the few teams we do not believe has a shot too contend in this conference.  If the Chippewas team that defeated Toledo and Buffalo shows up in Kent, Ohio tonight, especially with a strong performance by the team’s top scorer, Chris Fowler, they could knock Kent State back to the rest of the pack in the East.  If the team that lost games to Ball State and Bradley shows up instead, it could be a long night.