The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
20-4 (10-1)
Ball State
15-9 (6-5)
Johnson Buries Final Shot, Zips Win 65-63 Over Ball State to Keep Home Streak Intact
February 07 | Men's Basketball
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Akron, Ohio- Isaiah "Big Dog" Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio) continued his dominant season, hitting a 16-foot jumper from the wing as time expired to give the Akron Zips a 65-63 victory over the Ball State Cardinals. The victory marks the 29th consecutive win at James A. Rhodes Arena, which is the second-best home-court winning streak in the country behind Oregon (40).
Johnson led the way for the Zips (20-4,10-1 MAC), scoring 20 points and pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) chipped in 10 points and Antino Jackson (Houston, Texas) added eight points and five assists.
Franko House paced the Cardinals (15-9, 6-5 MAC) in scoring with 18 points and seven rebounds and Ryan Weber added 16 points.
For the game, Akron converted 42.6 percent (26-of-61) of their attempts from the floor and shot 67 percent (8-of-12) from the charity stripe. Ball State shot 43.1 percent (22-of-51) from the floor and converted 76.9 percent (10-of-13) of their free throw attempts. The Zips outscored the Cardinals 40-24 in the paint and pulled down 11 offensive rebounds in the contest.
Johnson started the scoring for the Zips with a three-point play, and then used 12 straight points in the paint to take a 13-6 lead into the first media timeout. The two teams traded baskets over the following four minutes, with the Zips maintaining a 15-10 lead with 11:17 remaining in the first half.
The Cardinals held Akron from scoring for nearly four minutes and used a 10-0 run for a 22-19 lead with five minutes to play in the first half. Tavian Dunn-Martin (Huntington, W. Va.) came off the bench and buried a triple from the top of the key to tie the game at 22, and a layup from Johnson gave the Zips a 24-22 lead with three minutes left on the clock.
Dunn-Martin and Ivey nailed back-to-back triples to give Akron a 30-28 lead heading into the halftime break.
Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net to start the second half, and the two teams were knotted at 36 with just under 16 minutes to play in the game.
The Zips came out of the timeout firing and used a 9-2 run to take a 45-38 lead with 13 minutes left in the contest. Two free throws from junior guard Antino Jackson (Houston, Texas) pushed the Zips lead to nine points at the 12-minute media timeout.
Akron continued to score in the paint with three consecutive layups, and held a 56-50 advantage with just over six minutes to play.
The Cardinals continued to hit three-pointers, and cut the Zips lead to just four points with 4:39 in the clock.
Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) threw down a monstrous alley-oop slam off a pass from Jackson to give Akron a six-point cushion and brought the Rhodes Arena crowd to its feet.
Ball State answered with another triple and two free throws, cutting the Zips lead to just one point, 62-61 with one minute left to play.
Ball State held possession of the ball with 16.6 seconds on the clock, trailing the Zips by a score of 62-61.
The Cardinals scored to take the lead with 7 seconds remaining, but the Zips raced down the court and Johnson was fouled, converting one free throw to tie the game at 62 apiece. On the ensuing possession, the Cardinals turned the ball over, allowing the Zips one final attempt to take the lead with 2.3 seconds left.
The ball was inbounded to Johnson on the wing, and Big Dog wasted no time before launching the shot and buried the 16-footer to give the Zips a 65-63 victory.
The Akron basketball team will travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. to battle Eastern Michigan on ESPNU at the EMU Convocation Center on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. ET. Fans can also follow the action on WatchESPN/ESPN3, GoZips.com via live stats, or by Zips' radio broadcast on Akron-IMG Sports Network available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.
