The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Kent State
Akron-Kent State Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Showdown on ESPNU
February 16 | Men's Basketball
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Akron Zips (22-4, 12-1 MAC) vs Kent State (14-12, 6-7 MAC)
Friday, February 17 • James A. Rhodes Arena
Akron, Ohio • 7:00 p.m. ET
TV/Video: ESPNU – John Brickley (PxP) and Adam Finkelstein (Analyst)
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats
Radio: Akron-IMG Sports Network - Steve French (PxP) and Joe Dunn (Analyst) WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips
Head Coaches
KSU - Rob Senderoff (Albany '95)
Overall Record: 114-79 (6th season)
Record at KSU: 114-79 (6th season)
MAC Record: 54-45 (6th season)
UA - Keith Dambrot (Akron '82)
Overall Record: 408-204 (19th season)
Record at Akron: 300-134 (13th season)
MAC Record at Akron: 153-62 (13th Season)
Career MAC Record: 163-86 (15th Season)
All-Time Series
Kent State Leads: 73-72 - Dambrot vs. Kent State: 16-14 (16-18 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 74, Kent State 60 – March 4, 2016 at James A. Rhodes Arena
Akron basketball Notes:
• Akron has won at least 21 games in 12-straight seasons under 13th-year head coach Keith Dambrot, something only a handful of Division I programs have accomplished. In fact, Akron, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Ohio State are the only programs to post 11-straight 21-win seasons, and of those five teams Akron (22-4), Gonzaga (26-0), Kansas (23-3), and Duke (21-5) are the only programs to already accomplish that feat this year - Ohio State (15-12).
• Head coach Keith Dambrot became Akron's All-Time Wins Leader on Jan. 3, with an 89-84 win over Bowling Green. At UA, Dambrot collected 289 wins in 422 games, replacing Russell Beichly's mark of 288 wins in 432 games (1941-59). Dambrot earned his 300th career win at Akron on Feb. 14 against Toledo.
• Akron owns the second longest home winning streak in the country behind Oregon (40). The Zips own a 175-23 (.884) at James A. Rhodes Arena and have been winners of 30-straight games at Rhodes Arena, setting a new Rhodes Arena's longest winning streak record.
• The Zips rode a 12 game winning streak into Ohio, which ranked fifth in the NCAA. As a result, Akron received five votes in the AP Top 25 poll and one vote in the USA Today Coaches' Poll (Week 13 – Jan. 30). In addition, Akron are ranked No. 6 on the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll and currently owns a 37 NCAA RPI and 99 Ken Pomeroy RPI.
• As of Feb. 14, UA ranks in the NCAA's Top 100 in 14-of-32 statistical categories (347 teams), ranking No. 5 in the NCAA for 3-point FG's made per game (10.7), No. 7 total 3-point FG's made (279), No. 7 in 3-point FG's attempted (729), and No. 46 3-Point FG Percentage (.383). The Zips also rank No. 41 in Field Goal Percentage (.476), No. 55 in Scoring Margin (+8.1) , and No. 91 in rebound margin (3.0).
WHAT'S AHEAD
The Akron basketball team is back at James A. Rhodes Arena against rival Kent State for the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. in Akron, Ohio. ESPNU will televise the game as the Zips enter the contest with its 12th-straight season of 21+ wins. Akron owns a four-game lead over the Mid-American Conference with a 12-1 MAC record and 22-4 overall mark. The Zips are 13-0 at home and 7-0 at the JAR in league play. Akron is 5-4 on the road and 5-1 when traveling to a MAC opponent. ESPNU's John Brickley will call the action while Adam Finkelstein provides analysis.
Fans can also follow the action on WatchESPN/ESPN3, GoZips.com via Live Stats or by Zips' radio. The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron-IMG Sports Network SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship) with Steve French calling the action and Joe Dunn providing analysis. The pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to the contest. The free audio stream is available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.
The Akron-Kent State Series
Friday's game marks the 146th meeting in series history between Akron and Kent State, and 31st meeting for a Dambrot coached UA squad. Kent State owns a 73-72 all-time series advantage while Dambrot is 16-14 at Akron and 16-18 overall. The Zips have won 11 of the last 16 meetings and are 41-23 in Akron, posting wins in five of the last six games at the JAR. Akron and Kent State split the series last season, both protecting their home floors. In the first meeting at the M.A.C Center on Feb. 19, the Golden Flashes won 85-76. In the 2015-16 season finale on March 4, Akron posted a 74-60 win at James A. Rhodes Arena. Under Dambrot Akron is 8-4 at home, 3-9 on the road, and 5-1 in the MAC tournament (Quicken Loans Arena).
The Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge
Valuable points will be on the line when Akron and Kent State battle on Friday, Feb. 17, as part of the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge. The Zips currently leads the season-long competition, 3.5-2.0, which awards points to the head-to-head winners in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, football, men's and women's golf, women's soccer, softball, men's and women's indoor track and field, men's and women's outdoor track and field and volleyball with a half point up for grabs to the winner of the contest. The two sides will again meet on March 3, when the Golden Flashes host the Zips. For more information on the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel challenge please visit WagonWheelChallenge.com.
Scouting the Golden Flashes
Kent State enters the contest with a 14-12 overall record and 6-7 in MAC play. The Golden Flashes opened league play with a win over Ball State, but fell four-straight games including an overtime loss at home to Northern Illinois. Kent State bounced back, winning the two games before suffering a second home overtime loss to Central Michigan, and after two more wins, the Golden Flashes relinquished a third overtime loss at home to Bowling Green, The Kent State is 8-5 (3-4 MAC) at home, 4-5 (3-3 MAC) on the road, and 2-2 at neutral sites this season.
Kent State has three players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Jimmy Hall with 18.0 points per outing. He is shooting 50.7 percent shooting (181-of-357) while leading the squad with 10.5 rebounds per game (274), 66 assists, and 30 blocked shots. Jaylin Walker follows with 14.7 points per night on 39.9 percent from the floor (120-of-301) and 34.5 percent from downtown with a team-high 59 triples on 171 attempts. Deon Edwin rounds out the double-digit scoring with 12.8 points per night on 46.9 percent shooting from the field and 34.2 from downtown with a second-best 26 made 3-pointers on 76 attempts. He also adds 60 assists, a team-best 34 steals, and 11 blocked shots. In addition, Mitch Peterson, Jaylin Avery, and Kevin Zabo have all knocked down at least 20 long distance shots. Peterson is 31.6 percent from deep with 24 made triples, Avery has 21 trifectas with a 37.5 percentage, and Zabo made 20 3-pointers with a 30.3 percentage.
Defensively, KSU allows opponents to score 72.8 points a night on 43.2 percent shooting from the field and 35.1 percent from downtown with 7.5 made 3-pt FG per game. The Golden Flashes caused 394 turnovers (15.2 tpg) while collecting 172 steals (6.6 stl/g) and 70 blocked shots (2.7 blk/g). On the glass, the Eagles have outrebounded its opponents 1,070-889 for a +7.0 margin.
Last Time Out Against Kent State
The Akron Zips finished the regular season perfect at James A Rhodes Arena (15-0) after defeating cross-town rival Kent State. The Zips used 34 points off the bench for the 74-60 victory over the Golden Flashes in front of a sell-out crowd at the JAR.
Akron forced 15 Kent State turnovers and committed only seven while collecting 10 steals. The guard combo of Noah Robotham and Antino Jackson led the Zips, scoring with 12 and nine points, respectively. Isaiah Johnson added 12 points and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season while Jake Kretzer pulled down 10 boards of his own to go along with seven points. Josh Williams added 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the outside.
Jimmy Hall poured in 20 points for the Golden Flashes and grabbed 17 rebounds along the way. Chris Ortiz and Kellon Thomas rounded out the Kent State scorers in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
For the game, the Zips shot 37.7 percent (26-of-69) from the field and 21.2 percent (7-of-33) from behind the arc. Akron shot a collective 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the charity stripe. The Golden Flashes shot 36.1 percent (22-of-61) and converted 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from downtown. Kent State hit 58.8 percent (10-of-17) from the free-throw line. The Golden Flashes held a slight edge on the glass with a final tally of 45-41.
The Zips in the MAC
The Zips have posted a 43-18 mark (.705) in the last 61 games against the MAC East dating back to the start of the 2012 league schedule. Akron is 5-1 against the MAC East at the conference tournament during that stretch. Akron is 98-42 in the regular season against the West Division (.700), including winners of 41 of the last 49 regular-season contests since divisional play began during the 1997-98 season, and 73-25 overall under head coach Keith Dambrot (.745).
Akron is 48-7 at home in league play since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule (.877). UA has seen a ton of success in league play since the start of the 2004-05 season, and is 153-62 overall (.715), including a 94-14 mark in MAC play at home (.870). The Zips' 153 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 73 of their last 97 MAC games (.753).
Akron is 25-9 in the MAC Tournament under head coach Keith Dambrot, going 19-5 in its last 24 tournament games. Under head coach Keith Dambrot, the Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year and have made eight MAC Tournament title game appearances in the last ten seasons with an unprecedented 11-straight semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of consecutive title game and semifinal appearances are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips own a 22-9 record at Quicken Loans Arena.
Streaking Zips
The Zips secured their 21st win for the 12th consecutive season thanks to a 12-game winning streak and bouncing back with three wins over Ball State, Eastern Michigan, and Toledo. In addition, the Zips currently own a 30-game winning streak at Rhodes Arena, setting the facility record, which spanned three seasons from 1985-87 under head coach Bob Huggins. The Zips rattled-off 13 consecutive wins this season at Rhodes Arena over American, Radford, Georgia Southern, Adrian, Coppin State, Marshall, Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, Ball State, and Toledo. In addition, Akron won 12 consecutive regular season MAC games, dating back to the 2015-16 season, second most in Dambrot's tenure.
Akron's current home court winning streak is the second longest in the NCAA and dates back to the 2014-15 season. Akron won the final two home games that season over Ohio and Northern Illinois, and posted an unblemished 15-0 record in 2015-16 at Rhodes Arena. The Zips are 175-23 with an 88.4 winning percentage at the JAR and have not lost at home since Feb. 21, 2015 against Miami (57-52).
The win over Ball State moved Akron to 20-4 on the season, which ties the fastest UA team to reach 20 wins in Akron's Division I era. The 2012-13 team reached the 20-win plateau on Feb. 13, 2013 (20-4, 24 games).
Akron Zips Four Game Lead Over the MAC
The Akron Zips are 12-1 in league play, defeating Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Miami, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, and Northern Illinois before falling to Ohio, and bouncing back with wins over Ball State, Eastern Michigan, and Toledo. In league play, Akron averages 78.5 points per game in the MAC while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 37.3 from long distance with 10.4 made 3-pointers a game. The Zips own a +0.5 margin on the glass, outrebounding the competition 441-435. Akron averages 15.2 assists (197), 10.1 turnovers per game (131), 5.5 steals (71), and 2.9 blocked shots (38) in league play.
The Zips won 12 consecutive regular season MAC games, dating back to the 2015-16 season, which was the second longest MAC winning streak in Dambrot's tenure. The 2006-07 Zips won nine straight games in a single season after dropping the MAC opener to Ohio. However, the 2012-13 Zips won 19-straight games and rattled-off 13 consecutive league games during that run. Kent State owns the MAC regular season consecutive win record (21), and single season record (17-1).
21 WINS, 12 STRAIGHT SEASONS
The Akron Zips recorded its 21st win of the season on ESPNU, using 18 long distance shots and a 52.9 percent shooting effort from downtown to defeat Eastern Michigan 87-76 at the EMU Convocation Center on Friday night.
Under 13th-year head coach Keith Dambrot, the Akron basketball program has won at least 21 games in 12-straight seasons , something only a handful of Division I programs have accomplished. In fact, Akron, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, and Ohio State are the only programs to post 11-straight 21-win seasons, and of those five teams Akron (21-4), Gonzaga (24-0) and Kansas (21-3) are the only programs to already accomplish that feat this year. Duke (19-5) and Ohio State (15-10) need just a few more wins.
The Zips (21-4, 11-1 MAC) had five players score in double figures led by redshirt freshman Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) with a career-high 19 points. Utomi was perfect from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 5-of-5 shots from downtown and finishing 6-of-7 from the floor with a 2-of-2 effort from the free throw line in 15 minutes of action.
