KENT, Ohio — Kent State announced the non-conference portion of its 2011-12 men's basketball schedule Tuesday (June 21). The 14 contests feature five tilts against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago and a five-game homestand.

"I believe this schedule will provide us a great test against some quality teams both at home and on the road," says Kent State first-year Head Coach Rob Senderoff. "We play a number of teams that will be picked at or near the top of their respective conferences and that should help prepare us to defend our MAC title."

The Flashes will travel to NCAA Tournament participant West Virginia Nov. 14 to open the regular season. The remaining contests against NCAA teams come in back-to-back home games against Morehead State (Dec. 1) and UAB (Dec. 3) and a trip to Logan, Utah to face Utah State and St. Peter's in the Athletes in Action Classic (Dec. 20-22).

In addition, Kent State has a pair of games versus squads that won or shared their conference regular season title (vs. Cleveland State, Nov. 23 & at Arkansas State, Dec. 29) and a third is against a 20-win team from 2010-11 (at James Madison, Dec. 6).

Following an exhibition contest Nov. 7 against Rochester College and the trip to Morgantown, the Golden Flashes kick-off a five-game homestand with the home opener against Alcorn State set for Saturday, Nov. 19.

"The M.A.C. Center crowds have been a huge reason for our success through the years," says Senderoff. "We're looking for our students, alumni and fans to continue their strong support on the heels of back-to-back regular season titles."

Following the conclusion of the extended stay at home, the Flashes then go nearly a month before returning to the friendly confines of the M.A.C. Center to face Shawnee State Jan. 2. The non-conference slate concludes with a home ESPN BracketBuster game Feb. 18.

Kent State is the two-time defending regular season Mid-American Conference Champions and has 12 postseason appearances in the last 13 years. The Flashes return four starters from last year's team that finished 25-12 and advanced to the NIT Quarterfinals.

Contact the Kent State Athletic Ticket Office at (330) 672-2244 for season ticket information. The MAC is slated to announce the conference portion of the schedule later in July.

2011-12 Kent State Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule

11/7               Monday                 ROCHESTER COLLEGE (Exhibition)

11/14             Monday                 at West Virginia

11/19             Saturday               ALCORN STATE

11/23             Wednesday           CLEVELAND STATE

11/28             Monday                 LOUISIANA

12/1               Thursday               MOREHEAD STATE

12/3               Saturday               UAB

12/6               Tuesday                at James Madison

12/10             Saturday               at Western Carolina

12/20-22        Tues.-Thur.            at Athletes in Action Classic in Logan, Utah

                                                   w/Utah State, St. Peter's & UT-Arlington

12/29             Thursday               at Arkansas State

1/2                 Monday                 SHAWNEE STATE

2/18               Saturday               BRACKETBUSTER

Home games in BOLD CAPS