The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Illinois State
Akron Scheduled to Play Illinois State in Round 2 of the Cayman Islands Classic
November 19 | Men's Basketball
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CAYMAN ISLANDS CLASSIC Second ROUND
Game 5 • Akron Zips (3-1) MAC vs. Illinois State (2-2) The Valley
Tuesday, Nov. 20 • John Gray Gymnasium • Grand Cayman Island • 11 AM ET • Facebook Live
Illinois State Head Coach
Dan Muller (Illinois State '98)
Overall: 124-82 (7th season)
Record at Illinois state: 124-82 (7th season)
The Valley Record: 67-41 (7th season)
AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 197-150 (11th Season)
Record at Akron: 17-19 (2nd Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 6-12 (2nd Season)
Overall MAC Record: 40-42 (at Ohio and Akron)
All-Time Series
Illinois State leads series, 6-2 • Groce vs Ilinois Sate: 2-0 • Last Meeting: Akron 89, Illinois State 79 at James A. Rhodes Arena, Nov. 27, 1999
Broadcast
TV/Video: FACEBOOK – Noah Coslov or Doug Gottlieb (PxP),Â
Doug Gottlieb or Tim Scarborough (Analyst) and Kristen Balboni (Sideline)
Watch on:Â Facebook.com/StadiumCollegeBasketball
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
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What's Ahead
The Akron men's basketball program continues its 118th season of non-conference hoops by entering the second round of the Cayman Islands Classic. Eight teams competed in round one on Monday, Nov. 19, at John Gray Gymnasium, just minutes away from world famous Seven Mile Beach.
Akron fell 72-69 to No. 19 Clemson in the opening game. Georgia defeated Illinois State 80-68 to complete the morning session. In the evening session, St. Bonaventure fell 75-65 to Georgia State and Creighton defeated Boise State, 94-82.
On Tuesday, The Zips are scheduled to play at 11 a.m. against Illinois State, followed by the first semifinal game featuring No. 19 Clemson and Georgia at 1:30 p.m. The evening session opens with St. Bonaventure versus Boise State at 5 p.m. and concludes with the second semifinal matchup between Creighton and Georgia State.
On the final day of competition (Wednesday, Nov. 21), the seventh-place game is slated for 11 a.m., followed by the fifth-place game (1:30 p.m.), third-place game (5 p.m.) and title game (7:30 p.m.) to crown the Cayman Islands Classic champion.
The Broadcasts
All of the Cayman Island Classic games are scheduled to air exclusively on Facebook! Fans can find direct links for the Zips broadcast by visiting GoZips.com, the ZipsMBB Facebook page or @ZipsMBB on twitter. Also, Facebook.com/StadiumCollegeBasketball will provide all of the action.
Noah Coslov or Doug Gottlieb will call the action and Doug Gottlieb or Tim Scarborough delivers analysis with Kristen Balboni reporting courtside for Stadium (watchstadium.com).
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-Illinois State Series
Akron and Illinois State have met nine times in series history, but Tuesday's game will be the first time the two teams shared the court since the 1999-2000 season.Â
The Zips and the Redbirds series began during the 1969-70 season. The Zips won the first meeting 83-60 in Akron, but the Redbirds own a 6-2 all-time advantage. Akron won the last outing against Illinois State 89-79 at James A. Rhodes Arena to snap the Redbirds six-game winning streak.
Illinois State claimed wins during the 1970-71 (at Illinois, 99-88), 1975-76 (at Illinois, 88-69), 1976-77 (in Akron, 91-85), 1977-78 (at Illinois, 86-70), 1986-87 (in the NIT at Illinois, 79-72) and 1998-99 (at Illinois, 84-69) seasons.
Scouting the Redbirds
Illinois State dropped the opening round game to Georgia, 80-68, and is 2-2 on the season. The Redbirds opened the season with a win over Florida Gulf Coast (74-66), fell on the road to Belmont (100-89) and defeated Chicago State (75-71).
The Redbirds have two players averaging double figures in points and two players just below 10 points per game. As a team, they shoot 44.1 percent from the floor and have buried 37 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Illinois State is 37-of-108 from long distance for a 34.3 shooting percentage.
Milik Yarbrough is leading the team in scoring, averaging 17.3 ppg on 53.8 percent shooting from the field. He also pulls down a team-best 7.5 rebounds per game with 30 rebounds on the season. Phil Fayne adds 14.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and shoots 61.1 percent from the field. Josh Jefferson and Zach Copeland contribute 9.5 and 9.3 points per game, respectively. Jefferson is leading the team with 10 field goals from deep and shoots the 3-point shot at a 47.6 rate (10-of-21), while Copeland follows with an 8-of-25 showing from long range. In addition, William Tinsley has made seven 3-point field goals.
Defensively, Redbirds' opponents score 79.2 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting from the field and 35.1 percent from downtown with 8.3 made 3-pt FGs per game. Illinois State has caused 60 turnovers (15.0 tpg) while collecting 25 steals (6.3 stl/g) and 22 blocked shots (5.5 blk/g). On the glass, the Redbirds are outrebounded by the opponents by a -4.2 margin, 141-158.
Jackson Drops 25 Points on No. 19 Clemson
Sophomore Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) opened the Cayman Islands Classic with a career-high 25-point performance against No. 19 Clemson. Jackson shot 7-of-17 from the floor (.412), including a 5-of-12 performance from deep (.417). He made eight trips to the free throw line and buried six charity buckets. In addition, Jackson had four rebounds and three assists.
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