KENT, Ohio -- The Cornell men's basketball team dug itself an early second-half hole and couldn't complete the rally in a wild 110-102 loss to Kent State on Friday evening at Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center in the season opener for the Big Red. The visitors dropped to 0-1, while the host Golden Flashes evened their record at 1-1.

Cornell hit 19 3-pointers, including 14 in the first half as the two combined for 37 - just seven off the NCAA single-game record for combined 3-pointers. Senior guard Cooper Noard poured in a career-high 34 points and added five rebounds to lead the Big Red, while classmate Adam Hinton also notched a career best with 29 points behind six 3-pointers. The Big Red shot 52 percent overall and 48 percent from beyond the arc (19-of-40), but Kent State countered with 18 3-pointers of its own and a 22-of-33 performance at the free-throw line. Cornell's 19 3-pointers accounted for the fifth-most in a single game in school history, but tied for the third-most against a Division I opponent.

Kent State's Morgan Safford matched Noard's total with 34 points, hitting nine 3-pointers to spark the Golden Flashes' fast start. Delrecco Gillespie added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Omer Hamama dished 10 assists.

Cornell trailed 58-55 at halftime after a first-half barrage that featured 14 Big Red treys, but Kent State gradually pulled away in the second half behind Safford's hot hand and a 24-11 edge in points off turnovers.

Junior Jacob Beccles contributed six points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Big Red, and DJ Nix hit three 3-pointers for nine points. Kaspar Sepp notched seven points, four rebounds and four assists, while Gio Panzini had seven points off the bench. Cornell finished with 20 assists on 33 field goals but committed 17 turnovers.

The Big Red fell behind by as many as 10 points less than eight minutes into the game (21-11) before a barrage of 3-pointers got Cornell back in it. Five Cornell treys in a little over two minutes got the visitors within three (29-26), and the Big Red eventually made it all the way back to knot the game at 55-55 after a Noard layup on a great find from Sepp. Safford hit one of his nine 3-pointers as time expired at the break to send the Golden Flashes into the locker room up 58-55.

Much like the first half, Kent State came out of the gates quickly, using a 20-5 run to up its lead to 78-60 just over six minutes into the second half. Cornell clawed its way back to within four at 106-102 on Noard's fifth 3-pointer of the night with 1:56 left, but could get no closer as the home team closed out the victory.

NEXT UP

• Two of the nation's top mid-major teams will square off in an early season matchup as Cornell visits Illinois State on Sunday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. ET at CEFCU Arena in Normal, Ill.
• The Redbirds topped the Big Red 80-77 last December en route to a 22-14 season and an appearance in the Purple College Basketball Invitational.