Zips Fall to Toledo at Rhodes Arena, 77-56

Saturday, February 3

Akron, OH

Noon

University of Akron

10-12 (3-7MAC)

Toledo

16-7 (8-2MAC)

TOLEDO

AKRON

February 03 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Follow Akron Basketball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram | Follow Coach Groce on Twitter
Box Score PDF | Game Notes PDF | Live Stats | Akron-IMG Sports Network | Season Tickets | Akron Basketball Schedule

Akron, Ohio – The Akron Zips started Saturday's game red-hot, but cooled off as the Toledo Rockets defeated the Zips 77-56 on CBS Sports Network at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) paced Akron's offense with 17 points as three Zips (10-12, 3-7 MAC) reached double digits in scoring. Freshman Virshon Cotton (Milwaukee, Wisc.) and Junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Utomi collected 11 points on a perfect 3-of-3 effort from deep in the first half, as Akron started the game firing on all cylinders.

In his third consecutive start, junior Lucas Smith (Omaha. Neb.) started the scoring with a 3-pointer from the top of the key followed by consecutive paint points from Ivey, including a dunk which ignited the crowd. Akron was 5-of-6 from the floor to start the game and buried its only 3-point attempt.

The Zips 7-0 run to open the game was stalled when Taylor Adway answered with a dunk of his own, and the Rockets (16-7, 8-2 MAC) began to cut into the Zips early lead. Toledo outscored Akron 8-4 over the next two minutes with Tre'Shaun Fletcher scoring five of his game-high 23 points before the first media timeout.

Akron led 11-8 at that point, but the Rockets quickly gained control of the scoreboard as James Gordon connected on back-to-back layups for a 12-11 Toledo advantage. Jaelan Sanford added two more points to the run, and the Zips never regained control of the scoreboard.

Utomi knotted the game 14-14 with a 3-ball from the wing with 11:55 remaining, but another run by Toledo pushed the score to 27-18 at the 6:52 mark. Utomi added two more long-distance strikes and Cotton connected with another to bring the Zips within two points, 29-27, with less than five to play in the first stanza.

Toledo finished the half by scoring six straight points for a 35-27 advantage at the break.

The Rockets started the second-half scoring and establishing their first double-digit lead on an Adway layin. In the first five minutes, Toledo outscored Akron 14-5 with interruptions from Ivey (layup) and Cotton (3-pointer).

Moments later, senior transfer Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ohio) added a dunk, but Akron could not get with single digits for the remainder of the game.

Sanford was second in scoring for Toledo with 18 points as the Rockets shot 50 percent from the floor on 28-of-56, while Akron kept them under their 40.8 percent season total from behind the 3-point arc. Toledo shot 37 percent from deep (10-of-27). The Rockets controlled the glass 40-31.

Akron finished the game shooting 23-of-59 (.390) from the field and 8-of-21 (38.1) from downtown.

The Akron Zips will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 6 in Athens, Ohio as the Zips meet the Ohio Bobcats for the second time. The rematch is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start at the Convocation Center. Fans can also follow the action on ESPN3, 1350-AM or GoZips.com.