Zips Travel to Ball State for Saturday Afternoon Game on CBS Sports Network

Saturday, January 27

Muncie, IN

Noon

University of Akron

Ball State

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Zips Travel to Ball State for Saturday Afternoon Game on CBS Sports Network

January 26 | Men's Basketball

Akron Zips (10-9, 3-4) at Ball State (12-8, 3-4)
Saturday, Jan. 27 • Worthen Arena • Muncie, Ind. • Noon ET • CBS Sports Network

Ball State Head Coach
James Whitford (Wisconsin '94)
Overall: 66-83 (5th season)
Record at BSU: 66-83 (5th season)
MAC Record: 28-51 (5th season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Overall Record: 190-140 (10th Season)
Record at Akron: 10-9 (First Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 3-4 (First Season)
Overall MAC Record: 37-34 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 23-15 - Groce vs. Ball State: 0-0 (3-3 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 74, Ball State 70 at Quicken Loans Arena on March 10, 2017

Broadcast
TV/Video: CBSSN – Chris Hassel (PxP) and Jordan Cornette (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

What's Ahead
The Akron men's basketball team looks for its first road win of the season in Muncie, Ind. on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Noon against Ball State. The matinee game is scheduled to be televised by CBS Sports Network from Worthen Arena with Chris Hassel calling the action and Jordan Cornette providing analysis.

Fans can also follow the action on 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-Ball State Series
Friday's game marks the 39th meeting in series history between Akron and Ball State, and seventh meeting for a Groce coached squad. Akron holds a 23-15 all-time series advantage while Groce is 3-3 against the Cardinals.

The Zips have won 15 consecutive meetings, and Akron is 13-5 all-time against BSU at home, 8-10 at BSU and 2-0 in neutral site games. Akron is 1-1 all-time against Ball State in the MAC Tournament.

The Zips and the Cardinals met twice last season with Akron claiming both games. Isaiah Johnson lifted Akron to a 65-63 win in dramatic fashion with a buzzer-beating jumper at James A. Rhodes Arena (Feb. 7, 2017). A few weeks later, the two teams met in the semifinal game of the MAC Tournament as the No. 1 seeded Zips defeated the No. 4 Cardinals 74-70 at Quicken Loans Arena (March 8, 2017).

Ball State's last win against Akron came in the 2003-04 season when the Cardinals defeated the Zips 76-72 in the first round of the MAC Tournament at Worthen Arena. Ball State also won the regular season matchup that season 77-71 in overtime.

Scouting the Cardinals
Ball State enters the contest with a 12-8 overall record and 3-4 in MAC play. The Cardinals opened league play with a 72-62 win over Eastern Michigan, claiming their first MAC win at home. The Cardinals have played even since, winning or losing every other game. This season, Ball State is 9-1 (2-1 MAC) at home and 3-7 (1-3 MAC) on the road.

Ball State has two players scoring in double figures led by Tayler Parsons with 14.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the floor (112-of-224) and 34.7 percent from downtown with 17 made 3-point FG (17-of-49). Parsons shoots 73.8 percent from the free throw line (45-of-61) and leads the squad in assists with 4.5 helpers (66) per game, while adding 3.6 rebounds (71).

Kyle Mallers follows with 10.4 points per game. He leads the squad at the charity stripe, draining 56 free throws on 64 attempts for an 87.5 free throw percentage. In addition, Mallers connects with 45.1 percent of his shots from the field (64-of-142) and adds a 34.8 percentage from beyond the 3-point arc with 24 made triples. He pulls down 5.0 rebounds per game (100).

Tahjai Teague and Trey Moses contribute 9.7 and 9.1 points per game, respectively. Moses adds 7.7 rebounds, grabbing a team-best 107 boards on the season. Sean Sellers leads the team from deep with 38 made 3-pointers at a 39.6 percent rate.

Defensively, BSU limits their opponents to 74.6 points a night on 43.0 percent shooting from the field and 37.2 percent from downtown with 8.3 made 3-pt FG per game (164-of-486).The Cardinals caused 239 turnovers (12.0 tpg) while collecting 107 steals (5.4 stl/g) and 75 blocked shots (3.8 blk/g). On the glass, BSU slightly outrebounds its opponents 733-718 for a 0.8 margin.

Last Two Times Out Against Ball State

Regular Season: Isaiah Johnson hit 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 Cardinals scored to take a 62-61 lead with seven seconds remaining, but the Zips raced down the court and Johnson was fouled. He split the pair of free throws 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 two-point win.

Johnson led the way for the Zips, scoring 20 points and pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Jimond Ivey chipped in 10 points and Antino Jackson added eight points and five assists. Franko House paced the Cardinals 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.

MAC Tournament: Akron led wire-to-wire for a 74-70 triumph over Ball State in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament on Friday, March 10, at Quicken Loans Arena. The victory sent Akron into the championship game for the ninth time in the last 11 campaigns.

Akron and Ball State traded blows during the final 5:10 as the Zips held a 3-point lead throughout. Akron garnered key free throws from Jimond Ivey with 31 ticks on the clock, before redshirt freshman Daniel Utomi sealed the victory with a pair of charity tosses with 10 seconds to play.

Antino Jackson shared top scoring honors in the tilt with Isaiah Johnson as the Zips' duo each registered 19-point scoring efforts, while Kwan Cheatham, Jr. added 11 points. Teague paced Ball State with a career-high 19 points, while Francis Kiapway and Jeremie Tyler contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Akron concluded its semifinal triumph connecting on nearly 52 percent (.519) of its shots from the floor, including making eight three pointers, three which came in the second half. Ball State posted a 41.9 percent shooting mark, while dialing long distance for 13 three pointers.

The Cardinals outrebounded the Zips, 34-31, including a 9-5 margin on the offensive end. Ivey crafted an all-around effort for Akron pulling down a team-high eight rebounds, while scoring seven points and distributing three assists. Franko House narrowly missed a double-double for Ball State notching a game-high 10 rebounds, while adding nine points. The Zips turned in a 34-18 margin in points and the paint registered a 13-5 advantage in second-chance points. Akron registered seven second-half steals, which directly lead to 12 points off turnovers and 20 points in the paint over the final 20 minutes.

Zips in the MAC
The Zips have posted a 47-24 mark (.662) in the last 71 games against the MAC East dating back to the start of the 2012 league schedule. Akron is 5-2 against the MAC East at the conference tournament during that stretch. Akron is 99-44 in the regular season against the West Division (.692), including winners of 42 of the last 52 regular-season games since divisional play began during the 1997-98 season.

Akron is 51-10 at home in league play since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule (.836). UA has seen a ton of success in league play since the start of the 2004-05 season, and is 158-69 overall (.696), including a 96-17 mark in MAC play at home (.850). The Zips' 158 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 77 of their last 108 MAC games (.713).

Akron is 27-10 in the MAC Tournament in the last 12 seasons, going 21-6 in its last 27 tournament games. The Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year and have made nine MAC Tournament title game appearances in the last 11 seasons with an unprecedented 12-straight semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of the consecutive title game and semifinal appearances are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 24-10 at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Zips won 12 consecutive regular season MAC games, dating back to the 2015-16 season. 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).

In 2016-17, the Akron Zips finished 14-4 in league play. Akron averaged 76.8 points per game in the MAC while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 36.7 from long distance with 10.0 made 3-pointers a game. The Zips averaged 14.8 assists (266), 10.7 turnovers per game (193), 5.8 steals (104), and 3.1 blocked shots (56), but were slightly outrebounded 604-615 in league play.

Home Sweet Home
Akron is 10-1 at Rhodes Arena under first-year head coach John Groce, who became the third Akron coach since 1940 to win his first six home games in his first season as head coach. The Zips rattled off seven straight wins at the JAR before falling in the MAC home opener to Buffalo.

The Zips set the all-time longest home winning streak record at Rhodes Arena with 30 consecutive wins during the 2015-17 seasons, 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. In 34 seasons at the JAR, the Zips own a 391-121 (.764) all-time record, and in the last 13 seasons, Akron has posted a 184-26 (.879) record at the JAR.

Chasing 1,000 Points
Malcolm Duvivier is currently 107 points shy of reaching the 1,000 career points milestone. During his three-year career at Oregon State, Duvivier scored 623 points for the Beavers. Currently, Duvivier has posted 270 points for Akron, bringing his career total to 893 points.

Zips Starting Lineup
With the losses of Emmanuel Olojakpoke (surgery) and Jaden Sayles (injury), the Zips have shuffled the lineup depending on the opponent's personnel. In fact, of the seven scholarship players that are present, all seven have been thrust into a starting role over the last few weeks. Duvivier, Ivey, and Utomi have started all 19 games to date, and they have been joined by Parrish (15), Patton (5), Cotton (2), and Kostelac (1).

in the Spotlight
Sophomore guard/wing Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) opened the 2017-18 season as a starter and used the opportunity to lead the Zips to a season-opening win over Cleveland State with a (then) career-high 20 points. He topped that performance in the second game of the season, dropping 32 points and knocking down a career-best eight 3-pointers to lead Akron to a 76-59 win over UT Martin. Utomi is the only Zip to score double digits in 15 games with five 20-plus point performances.

Utomi currently leads the team's scoring efforts with 15.4 points per game, shooting 43.2 percent from the floor (96-of-222) and 40.6 percent from beyond the 3-point arc with a second-best 56 made triples (56-of-139).

Currently, Utomi ranks 46th in the NCAA in 3-pointers per game (2.95), 77th in 3-point FG percentage (.406), 65th in 3-point FG made (56), and 86th in 3-point attempts (138).

Leading a Young Crew
The Akron Zips look to veteran leaders junior guard Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) and graduate transfer Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ontario) to navigate through the 2017-18 campaign. Ivey, the only returning starter from last year's squad, has played 87 career games for the blue and gold, starting 48 of those contests. He earned a starting role last season and has averaged 10 points per game for two consecutive seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17).

In 2017-18, Ivey ranks third in scoring for Akron with 13.1 points per night and is second in rebounds with 6.1 per game (115). Ivey Leads in assists with 4.0 per outing (76). He posted two double-doubles, most recently against Northern Illinois (1/20) with 15 points and 10 rebounds and App State (12/9) with 15 points and 10 assists. Ivey scored a career-high 25 points against Davidson and followed with 24 points against Concord.

The other seasoned vet on the squad is a transfer from Oregon State. Duvivier played three seasons with the Beavers, accounting for 95 games played with 62 starting appearances. Over that three-year span, he averaged 23.85 minutes per game against some of the best competition in college basketball with 6.56 points, 2.03 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per night. As a sophomore, He scored 10.7 points per game. Only two additional Zips have appeared in more than 30 games for their collegiate careers.

In 2017-18, Duvivier averages a second-best 14.2 points with 3.5 assists per game (66 assists). Duvivier scored a career-high 24 points against App State and Concord. He has scored in double figures in 14 games with four 20-plus performances, 21 points against Davidson and Western Michigan. Against Concord, Duvivier hit a career-best seven triples and has made at least five 3-pointers in five games, including 6-5-7 three-straight game stretch. Duvivier leads the squad with 59 made 3-pointers.

Currently, Duvivier ranks 30th in the NCAA in 3-pointers per game (3.11), 48th in 3-point FG made (59), 55th in 3-point FG percentage (.424), and 81st in 3-point attempts (139).

Duvivier Selected as Mid-Major Madness Top Canadian
Duvivier is a graduate transfer from Oregon State, where he helped lead the Beavers to their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1990 in 2015-16. He has a wealth of experience having played against several future NBA stars in the Pac-12, and has brought that leadership with him to Akron. Duvivier is big, strong and explosive and has made a major impact this year. He's averaging 14.1 points, along with 3.7 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. Expect to see Duvivier receive all-conference accolades, and be in the running for MAC POY.

Canada has become a hot bed for top college and NBA players, with well over 100 Canadians currently playing Div. I basketball. There are currently 77 Canadian-born players on mid-major rosters, which includes a four-way tie for the most Canadians; Harvard, Vermont, Sienna and Canisius all have three Canadians on the roster.

E-MAN Season Cut Short
On Wednesday morning (1/10), sophomore frontcourt player Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) received difficult news. Due to a medical condition that required surgery, Olojakpoke will miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season. Full details will be disclosed at a later date.

Statement from Akron Basketball head coach John Groce on Emmanuel Olojakpoke:
"Yesterday (1/10), Emmanuel Olojakpoke had successful open-heart surgery. He is resting and expecting a full recovery. We fully anticipate this recovery will require him to miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season. The Zips basketball family is committed to assisting E-Man in his return to full health. We ask to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Please allow E-Man and the entire Olojakpoke family the privacy they deserve at this time." #EManStrong

Building on a Career Week
During the week of Jan. 9, freshman guard Virshon Cotton led the Zips men's basketball team through a 1-1 week en route to lifting Akron to its first Mid-American Conference win by draining a game-winning 3-pointer against Bowling Green. Cotton led Akron's scoring effort in both games, scoring a career-high 23 points twice last week. For the week, Cotton scored 46 points (23 pts/g) on 11-of-19 (.579) shooting from the field and 6-of-11 (.545) from deep. He buried 18-of-22 (.818) free throws to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Against Bowling Green, Cotton buried the game-winner from long distance with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation. He led Akron to an 80-78 victory with a career-high 23 points on 6-of-9 (.667) shooting from the floor which included a 5-of-7 (.714) performance from downtown. Cotton added a 6-of-7 (.857) effort from the free throw line to go along with three rebounds and three assists.

The Zips opened the week with an 87-65 loss to Buffalo as Cotton posted a team-high 23 points on 5-of-10 (.500) shooting from the field. Cotton made a career-best 15 trips to the free throw line and connected with a career-high 12 bonus buckets for an 80.0 percent showing from the charity stripe. He added two steals, two rebounds, and an assist.

E-MAN SHATTERS CAREER MARK
Sophomore frontcourt player Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) shattered his career-scoring record against Fort Wayne, pouring in 24 points in 25 minutes of work. E-Man erased his previous game-high scoring effort (11 points) by halftime, tossing in 14 points before the break. He continued to elevate his personal stat sheet by doubling his career field goals made and attempted. He knocked down 10 field goals, six more than his previous high, on 13 shot attempts, seven more than before, for a 77.0 shooting percentage. E-Man also made two more trips to the free throw line, burying career-best four freebies on six attempts. In addition, Olojakpoke tied his career-high blocked shot performance with four denials.

Akron vs. Ohio Recap
A career night from freshman center Mark Kostelac and a big night from beyond the arc powered the Akron Zips to their second straight win as they held off the Ohio Bobcats 71-68 in Mid-American Conference action Tuesday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Kostelac, who eclipsed 20 minutes of playing time for the third straight contest, scored several key baskets late in the game on his way to 10 points and three rebounds. Junior guard Jimond Ivey led the Zips with 17 points, including two clutch free throws with 20 seconds remaining and Akron clinging to a 67-66 lead. The Zips played good defense on the ensuing Ohio possession, forcing a missed shot, and freshman guard Virshon Cotton made two additional free throws to salt away the win in the closing seconds.

Graduate transfer guard Malcolm Duvivier had 16 points and made 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc and sophomore guard Daniel Utomi both scored 13 points to give Akron four players in double figures. Ivey had seven points, including a clutch 3-pointer, to punctuate a 9-0 run that put Akron in front after Ohio tied the game for the final time at 58-all with 5:35 remaining on a layup by junior guard Jordan Dartis.

After trailing by double digits for much of the first half, Ohio battled its way back into the game by forcing turnovers, pulling to within one at 42-41 with 14:55 remaining in the second half. Akron responded with a 10-4 run keyed by 3-pointers by Utomi and Duvivier, bumping the lead back to seven.

The Bobcats were finally able to tie the game at 52-all on a long 3-pointer by junior forward Gavin Block, but the Zips responded once more to retake the lead and the contest was tied several more times down the stretch.

The Zips used another hot-shooting opening half to establish a large early lead, seeing their edge swell to as many as 14 at 25-11 as they capped a 12-0 run in which they made all six of their field goal attempts, with two free throws by Duvivier.

Ohio was able to rally late in the half thanks to 12 points by freshman guard Teyvion Kirk, but after the Bobcats narrowed their deficit to four at 31-27, a three-point play by freshman guard Eric Parrish helped Akron regain some momentum and take a 36-29 edge to the locker room at intermission.

Akron benefited from avoiding the foul trouble that has plagued it in recent home games, as the Zips were whistled for just 17 fouls on the night, including only seven in the first half. That limited the Bobcats to only four free throws in the opening 20 minutes and 14 overall.

Groce Debuts with a WIN
Zips' head coach John Groce has spent over two decades on the sidelines of a basketball court as a coach and enters his 10th season as the lead man, but first at Akron. On April 6, 2017, Groce was named the 22nd head coach in Akron Basketball history.

For the last six and a half months, Groce has been preparing a young team for the new season. On Nov. 11, Groce and the Zips accomplished something that has only been done 10 times in Akron's history, debuting a coaching career with a win. Akron defeated Cleveland State 67-57 in Groce's Akron coaching debut to become the first coach since the 1984-85 season to win their initial game.

In fact, the last coach to start his Akron career with a win was Bob Huggins during the 1984-85 season against Western Illinois, 64-57. Prior to Huggins, six coaches were unsuccessful in accomplishing that feat since Thomas Dowler did so in 1939-40 against Franklin, 34-25.

The LeBron James Shoe Deal and Nike Apparel
Since June 2008, the Akron men's basketball program has been partnered with Nike under which the Zips' shoes, game uniforms, warm ups and accessories are licensed under the Nike and LeBron James Trademarks.

The Zips are just one of three college programs in the country that are partnered with the LBJ line of Nike equipment, the others are Ohio State and Duquesne. Akron rocks six pairs of LBJ kicks in three different styles all customized to Akron Basketball.

The Akron Zips men's basketball team have four different uniforms. The white (home) and blue (away) uniforms represent a reinvigorated pride in our University, our City, and Zips Athletics. The designs for both home and away were inspired by the "Pride of the City". The goal is to strengthen the pride for the University of Akron within the community.

The home uniforms are white with dark blue trim and accents, while the away are dark blue with white trim and accents. The "Pride of the UniverCity" uniforms display the name Akron in a prestigious oldstyle script font on the chest with the number(s) below. The script font and numbers are the same color as the jersey top (white/white or blue/blue) and outlined with the opposite color. The inspiration for the script writing and to use Akron on the chest stemmed from tradition and an overwhelming amount of pride for the city of Akron and its University. The game shorts have three distinguishing marks. The right side of the shorts depicts the Zips' mascot Zippy, and her Fear the Roo head logo, while the left side dons the University's official seal. The final mark on the shorts is the notorious Z-logo, which appears on the front waistband.

New for 2017-18, Akron has a grey set of uniforms modeled after the Team USA uniforms. The Grey uniforms feature the script Akron on the chest in blue outlined in the university gold. The numbers are depicted the same way which matches the blue piping that outlines the uniform. The shorts feature the Z-logo on both sides of the leg and are piped with the blue.Akron also has a purple set of uniforms that are worn as a tribute to former coach and director of operations Dan Peters.

UP NEXT
The Akron Zips are back on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 30, playing Mid-American Conference foe Miami in Oxford, Ohio. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Millett Hall. Fans can also follow the action on ESPN3, 1350-AM or GoZips.com.