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Western Michigan
Men's Basketball Opens MAC Play with 72-52 Win Over Western Michigan
January 06 | Men's Basketball
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AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips opened up Mid-American Conference play with a strong showing, downing defending MAC Champion Western Michigan, 72-52, on Tuesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Pat Forsythe led Akron (10-4, 1-0 MAC) with 14 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field to go with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Deji Ibitayo followed with 12 points, two steals and an assist, while Aaron Jackson scored a career-high 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.
The Zips, leading 40-30 going into the half, shot 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the field in the second half and 48.2 percent (27-of-56) for the game. Akron held Western Michigan to just 35.3 percent (18-of-51) from the field. The Broncos entered the game shooting 48.4 percent from the floor, the 27th-best mark in the nation.
Akron dominated WMU in the paint, outscoring the Broncos, 32-16, and held 36-11 advantage in bench scoring.
Tucker Haymond led Western Michigan (9-5, 0-1 MAC) with a game-high 21 points, going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc and 7-of-12 from the field.
The Zips came out of the gates putting pressure on the Broncos with a full court press. Akron played sound defense as WMU was held to three points over the first five-and-a-half minutes of the game.
The Akron offense came alive as the Zips went on a 12-2 run capped off by an Antino Jackson 3-pointer with 13:22 to play in the first half (14-5).
The Zips would later extend their lead to as many as 13 when Noah Robotham hit his second 3-pointer of the half to take a 24-11 lead (8:02).
Haymond single-handedly kept the broncos in the game, hitting his third-straight 3-pointer and fifth of the half with 4:33 to play to close the gap to 31-26. Akron would go on to take a 40-30 lead into the intermission.
The Akron defense blocked five WMU shots and forced seven turnovers that led to nine points in the first half.
The Zips came out of the locker room shooting and went on a quick 12-0 run after Aaron Jackson followed a Robotham missed lay-up with a huge put-back dunk (52-30) at the 15:06 mark.
WMU scored its first point of the second half when David Brown split a pair of free throws. The Broncos did not make their first field goal of the second half until the 14:06 mark with Akron leading, 54-33.
The Zips would go on to lead by as many as 25 (69-44) in the second half before closing the game with a 20-point win.
The Zips hit the road to face Toledo on Friday, Jan. 9, at Savage Arena. Tip off for the ESPNU contest is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Zips Notebook: Tonight's start for Jake Kretzer is his first of the year and the 13th of his career ... Aaron Jackson is the 11th Akron player to score at least 10 points once this season ... the Zips have won the last six games vs. WMU in Akron by an average of 20.5 ppg (75.2 to 54.7) ... Akron is now 8-3 in MAC openers, including winners of six straight, under 11th-year head coach Keith Dambrot.
