The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Kent State
Zips' Final Regular-Season Game at Kent State on ESPN2
March 02 | Men's Basketball
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Akron Zips (23-7, 13-4 MAC) at Kent State (18-12, 10-7 MAC)
Friday, March 3 • James A. Rhodes Arena
Kent, Ohio • 9:00 p.m. ET
TV/Video: ESPN2 – Kevin Fitzgerald (PxP), Chris Spatola (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: 118-79 (6th season)
Record at Kent State: 118-79 (6th season)
MAC Record: 58-45 (6th season)
UA - Keith Dambrot (Akron '82)
Overall Record: 409-207 (19th season)
Record at Akron: 301-137 (13th season)
MAC Record at Akron: 154-65 (13th Season)
Career MAC Record: 164-89 (15th Season)
All-Time Series
Kent State Leads: 74-72 Dambrot vs. Kent State: 16-15 (16-19 Overall)
Last Meeting: Kent State 70, Akron 67 - February 17, 2017 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 (23-7), Gonzaga (29-1), Kansas (27-3), and Duke (23-7) are the only programs to already accomplish that feat this year - Ohio State (17-13).
• The Akron Zips secured its fourth all-time Regular-Season MAC Championship after defeating Buffalo, 89-83, on the road at Alumni Arena. In addition, Akron owns the No. 1 Seed for the 2017 MAC Tournament in back-to-back seasons. The Zips have a 65 NCAA RPI and 114 KenPom RPI.
• 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 set the all-time longest home winning streak record at James. A. Rhodes Arena with 30 consecutive wins, replacing the 26-game run the Zips made during the 1985-87 seasons under head coach Bob Huggins. The streak ranked No. 2 in the NCAA. The Zips own a 175-24 (.879) at Rhodes Arena.
• 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).
• As of March 1, UA ranks in the NCAA's Top 100 in 13-of-32 statistical categories (347 teams), ranking No. 5 in the NCAA for 3-point FG's made per game (10.5), No. 6 in 3-point FG's attempted (834), No. 7 in total 3-point FG's made (316), and No. 55 in 3-Point FG Percentage (.379). The Zips also rank No. 43 in Field Goal Percentage (.473), and No. 69 in Scoring Margin (+7.0).
WHAT'S AHEAD
The Akron basketball team will travel to the M.A.C. Center for the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge and final regular season contest against rival Kent State on Friday, March 3, at 9 p.m. in Kent, Ohio. ESPN2 will televise the game as the Zips enter the contest with its 12th-straight season of 21+ wins. Akron owns a three-game lead over the Mid-American Conference with a 13-4 MAC record and 23-7 overall mark. The Zips clinched the Mid-American Conference Title and No 1 seed in the MAC Tournament. The Zips are 13-2 at home and 7-2 at the JAR in league play. Akron is 5-6 on the road and 6-2 when traveling to a MAC opponent. ESPN2's Kevin Fitzgerald will call the action while Chris Spatola 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 147th meeting in series history between Akron and Kent State, and 32ndmeeting for a Dambrot coached UA squad. Kent State owns a 74-72 all-time series advantage while Dambrot is 16-15 at Akron and 16-19 overall. The Zips have won 11 of the last 17 meetings and are 41-24 in Akron, posting wins in five of the last seven games at the JAR. Akron is 22-49 all-time at the M.A.C. Center and 3-9 under Dambrot. Earlier this year, Kent State snapped Akron's home-court winning streak at 30 games, defeating Akron 70-67 (Feb. 17). 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 8-5 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, March 3, as part of the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge. The Zips currently lead the season-long competition, 5.5-3.0, 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. 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 18-12 overall record and 10-7 in MAC play. Kent State is on a five-game winning streak, which began at the M.A.C. Center on Feb. 14, against Miami (76-72). The Golden Flashes then defeated all the top ranked teams, including the Zips and Buffalo on the road, while taking care of Ohio at home. They also defeated Bowling Green at the Stroh Center. 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, and dropped a game at Toledo before rattling-off five consecutive wins. Kent State is 9-5 (4-4 MAC) at home, 7-5 (6-3 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 18.3 points per outing. He is shooting 51.6 percent from the field (214-of-415) while leading the squad with 10.5 rebounds per game (315), 76 assists, and 37 blocked shots. Jaylin Walker follows with 15.0 points per night on 39.9 percent from the floor (145-of-363) and 33.6 percent from downtown with a team-high 71 triples on 211 attempts. Deon Edwin rounds out the double-digit scoring with 13.3 points per night on 45.8 percent shooting from the field and 34.1 from downtown with a second-best 31 made 3-pointers on 91 attempts. He also adds a second-best 69 assists, a team-best 42 steals with 14 blocked shots. In addition, Mitch Peterson, Jaylin Avery, and Kevin Zabo have all knocked down at least 20 long distance shots. Peterson is 29.7 percent from deep with 27 made triples, Avery has 26 trifectas with a team-high 40.0 percentage, and Zabo made 22 3-pointers with a 28.2 percentage.
Defensively, KSU allows opponents to score 72.1 points a night on 43.0 percent shooting from the field and 34.0 percent from downtown with 7.2 made 3-pt FG per game. The Golden Flashes caused 437 turnovers (14.6 tpg) while collecting 201 steals (6.7 stl/g) and 117 blocked shots (3.9 blk/g). On the glass, the Glden Flashes have outrebounded its opponents 1,220-1035 for a +6.2 margin.
Last Time Out Against Kent State
The Akron Zips 30-game home winning streak came to an end on Friday night as the Zips suffered a 70-67 setback against rival Kent State in front of a sold-out James A. Rhodes Arena crowd. In the first of two games of the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge, the Golden Flashes picked up a valuable half of a point, but Akron Athletics still leads 3.5-2.5.
Isaiah Johnson paced the Zips with 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Daniel Utomi added 16 points off of the bench, while Antino Jackson finished with 10 points. Deon Edwin led the Golden Flashes with a game-high 21 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Jimmy Hall added 18 points, and Jaylin Walker rounded out the Kent State scoring with 16 points.
For the contest, the Zips shot 42 percent (22-of-53) from the floor and converted 78 percent (18-of-23) of their free throw attempts. The Golden Flashes connected on 43 percent (25-of-58) of their attempts and made 62 percent (13-of-21) of their attempts from the charity stripe.
Back-to-Back MAC Champions
The Akron Zips secured the MAC Regular-Season Championship, No. 1 Seed in the MAC Tournament, and East Division Title on Friday with an 89-83 road win over Buffalo. Akron has captured the regular season or tournament title six of the last seven seasons. In addition, the Zips were back-to-back regular season champs in 2012 (22-12, 13-3 MAC) and 2013 (26-7, 14-2 MAC), as well as 2016 (23-9, 13-5 MAC) and 2017 (23-6, 13-3 MAC). Akron won the MAC Tournament in 2009 (23-13, 10-6 MAC), 2011 (23-13, 9-7 MAC), and 2013 (26-7, 14-2 MAC). The Zips swept the regular season and tournament titles in 2013, and Akron claimed the East Division title in 2007 (26-7, 13-3 MAC).
Up Next
The Akron basketball team is the No. 1 Seed in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Zips will begin tournament play on March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio against the winner of the No. 8 and No. 9 seed game on Monday, March 6. The fifth game of the MAC Tournament is scheduled to begin at 12:00 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.
Wagon Wheel Challenge Points (Akron Leads 5.5-3.0)
Sept. 24 - VB: Kent 0.5
Oct. 1 Football: Akron 1.0
Oct. 6 Women's Soccer: Kent 1.0
Oct. 28 Women's Volleyball: Akron 0.5
Oct. 29 Men's Cross Country MAC Championship: Akron 1.0
Oct. 29 Women's Cross Country MAC Championship: Akron 1.0
Feb. 11 Women's Basketball: Kent 0.5
Feb. 18 Men's Basketball: Kent 0.5
Feb. 25 Women's Basketball: Kent 0.5
Feb. 24-25 Men's Indoor Track and Field MAC Championship: Akron 1.0
Feb. 24-25 Women's Indoor Track and Field MAC Championship: Akron 1.0
Wagon Wheel Challenge Games Remaining
March 3 Men's Basketball
April 21-22 Softball
April 21-23 Women's Golf MAC Championship
April 28-30 Men's Golf MAC Championship
May 11-13 Men's Outdoor Track and Field MAC Championship
May 11-13 Women's Outdoor Track and Field MAC Championship
