1998–99 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team

1998–99 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball
1998–99 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball
MAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	South
Record	23–7 (13–5 MAC)
Head coach	Gary Waters;
Home arena	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center
	Seasons ← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represented Kent State University as a member of the Mid-American Conference during the 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by head coach Gary Waters, the Flashes played their home games at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center in Kent, Ohio. After finishing second in the MAC East standings, Kent State won the MAC tournament to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament – the first appearance in program history. Playing as the No. 11 seed in the East region, the team was beaten by No. 6 seed Temple in the opening round. Kent State finished the season with a record of 23–7 (11–5 MAC).

1998–99 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
Miami	15	–	3	.833	24	–	8	.750
Kent State †	13	–	5	.722	23	–	7	.767
Akron	12	–	6	.667	18	–	9	.667
Ohio	12	–	6	.667	18	–	10	.643
Bowling Green	12	–	6	.667	18	–	10	.643
Marshall	11	–	7	.611	16	–	11	.593
Buffalo	1	–	17	.056	5	–	24	.172
West
Toledo	11	–	7	.611	19	–	9	.679
Ball State	10	–	8	.556	16	–	11	.593
Central Michigan	7	–	11	.389	10	–	16	.385
Western Michigan	6	–	12	.333	11	–	15	.423
Eastern Michigan	5	–	13	.278	5	–	20	.200
Northern Illinois	2	–	16	.111	6	–	20	.231

† 1999 MAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G		Ed Norvell	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr
G	12	Andrew Mitchell	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Detroit, Michigan
G	24	Trevor Huffman	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Petoskey, Michigan
F		Kyrem Massey	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Columbus, OH
F	40	Eric Thomas	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Springfield, Ohio
C		John Whorton	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Jr

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference Regular season
Nov 14, 1998*		at Dayton	L 73–89	0–1	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio
Nov 18, 1998*		Youngstown State	W 67–56	1–1	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, Ohio
MAC Regular season
Feb 24, 1999		at Miami (OH)	L 60–73	20–6 (13–5)	Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio
MAC Tournament
Feb 27, 1999*		Marshall Quarterfinals	W 79–76	21–6	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, Ohio
Mar 2, 1999*		vs. Ohio Semifinals	W 68–57	22–6	SeaGate Convention Centre Toledo, Ohio
Mar 3, 1999*		vs. Miami (OH) Championship game	W 49–43	23–6	SeaGate Convention Centre Toledo, Ohio
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1999*	(11 E)	vs. (6 E) Temple First round	L 54–61^[1]	23–7	FleetCenter Boston, Massachusetts
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Eastern.

^ "Injured Owl leads late charge". Tampa Bay Times. March 13, 1999. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
^ "1998-99 Kent State Golden Flashes Schedule and Results".
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1075–1076. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.