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Kent State is no stranger to playing high-profile games on the road, so Monday's trip to Champaign to play Illinois in the second round of the NIT won't be unfamiliar territory.

You have to admire Golden Flashes coach Geno Ford for his ambitious schedule that featured road games against South Florida, Xavier and Pittsburgh. But even he'll tell you that might have done more bad than good early in the season when his team was 10-7 on Jan. 17.

"We overscheduled," Ford said Thursday. "We played too many good people early, and we were always on the road. But that's the way it works at our level. When you're in a midmajor conference and playing high-major teams, you have to go on the road."

That Kent State played without first-team All-MAC guard Chris Singletary, a Chicago native, for four games because of a knee injury didn't help matters.

"I don't know that there's ever a good time to go to Pitt, but with our best player not available, that's real bad timing. It was a tough stretch," Ford said.

Since that stretch, the MAC regular season champions have won 14 of 16, including a 75-74 win against Tulsa in the first round of the NIT. But after a loss to Ohio in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament, Ford's squad knew an NCAA tournament berth was out of the question, even with a 23-9 record.

"We haven't had an at-large bid out of our league in 12 years," Ford said. "We think the NIT is a great opportunity for us to play some great teams. It's part of an experience for our kids. Big games, they mean a lot, and to play somebody with the history of Illinois – they were playing for a national title just a few of years ago – it's going to be a lot of fun and a great challenge."

Kent State took the Illini to the wire last season at the South Padre Invitational, a game Illinois won 69-63 in overtime. That outcome, Ford said, won't have much bearing on Monday's game.

"Illinois is probably a little better this year," he said. "We have to be up to play, and it might not be good enough. They've got a great team. They're probably better in a lot of areas than we are, and we can be ready to play and that still might not be good enough. We need to be ready to play and execute at a high level to have a chance, and our kids understand that."

NIT second round
No. 4 Kent State (24-9) at No. 1 Illinois (20-14)
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: The Assembly Hall, Champaign
TV: ESPNU
Tickets: Reserved tickets in sections A and B are available to season ticket-holders and I Fund members for $25. General-admission tickets in sections B and C are available for $15. For more information, visit www.fightingillini.com or call 866-Illini-1.