Flashback — Krauser, Pitt look for revenge against Kent State

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Four years ago, a third-seeded Panther team coached by… Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Four years ago, a third-seeded Panther team coached by Ben Howland and led by Brandin Knight stumbled in the Sweet 16 to Kent State, a 10-seed. The Golden Flashes advanced to their first and only Elite 8 in school history, and left the Pitt team with a very bad taste in its mouth.

A bad taste that senior Carl Krauser hasn’t been able to cleanse.

“When I saw that, I knew we had to get some revenge for Brandin [Knight] and Jaron [Brown],” the fifth-year guard told The Pitt News when the seeding was announced.

Krauser was a freshman the last time the Panthers and Golden Flashes met, but he will have the chance for redemption in his last year at Pitt when the fifth-seeded Panthers meet the 12-seed Kent State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Auburn Hills, Mich., tonight.

The Panthers (24-7) entered the tournament with an at-large bid and were awarded the five-seed in the Oakland region, despite finishing the year with wins over No. 21 West Virginia and No. 2 Villanova in the Big East Tournament before losing to Syracuse in the final.

Kent State (25-8) earned an automatic bid with a 71-66 victory over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference championship game last Saturday, and will be the only team the MAC will send to the dance.

But their conference isn’t the only relatively unknown thing about the Golden Flashes. Kent State has recorded eight straight 20-win seasons and are 4-3 overall in the NCAA Tournament.

What is known about coach Jim Christian’s team, however, is what will make the Panthers salivate at the matchup.

The Golden Flashes don’t play physically at all, which is exactly what Jamie Dixon and Pitt will take advantage of. The biggest player Kent State has is senior Nate Gerwig. The 6-foot-9 center leads the team in field-goal percentage, but only averages 6.5 points per game. Because of foul trouble, Gerwig only plays a little more than 17 minutes per game.

Because of their lack of size and physicality, Kent State plays a “run-and-gun” style offense that relies on quick shooting to outscore opponents. Because of their offensive set, the ball is shared just as much as it is shot. Seven different Golden Flashes average between 6.5 and 15 points per game.

Just because Kent State has many sources of scoring doesn’t mean it’s short on playmakers. Senior guards Jay Youngblood and DeAndre Haynes have both earned multiple MAC Player of the Week honors, while Youngblood was first-team all MAC and Haynes was the first Kent State player ever to win MAC Player of the Year.

On top of Haynes and Youngblood, the Golden Flashes have the top bench player in their conference. Forward Kevin Warzynski was touted this year as MAC Sixth Man of the Year. As a reserve, the 6-foot-8 senior averages more minutes and points per game than three starters.

The Panthers make their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, upping their total number of dances to 17. Pitt is 14-18 overall in the NCAA Tournament and 2-2 under Dixon.

Either Pitt or Kent State will move on to play the winner of four-seed Kansas and 13-seed Bradley at Auburn Hills on Sunday before the winner of that game advances to the Sweet 16 in Oakland, Calif.

The game will be played at The Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. Tip-off is set for 7:10 p.m. All NCAA Tournament games will be televised by CBS.