Akron Travels to No. 2 Louisville

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Akron Zips (4-1) at No. 2 Louisville (5-0)
Sunday, Nov. 24 • KFC YUM! Center • Louisville, Ky. • 6 PM • ACC Network

Louisville Head Coach
Chris Mack (Xavier '92)
Overall Record: 240-111 (11th Season)
Record at Louisville: 25-14 (3rd Season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 215-166 (12th Season)
Record at Akron: 35-35 (3rd Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 14-22 (3rd Season)
Overall MAC Record: 48-52 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Louisville leads series: 1-0 - Groce vs UL: 0-2 (at Ohio)
Last Meeting: Louisville 111, Akron 85 at Freedom Hall (Louisville, Ky.) Dec. 10, 2005

Broadcast
TV/Video: ACC Network – Mike Monaco (PxP), Jordan Cornette (Analyst)
Live Stats: (GoZips.com/Schedule) - Live Stats
Radio: Akron Sports Network - Steve French (PxP), Joe Dunn (Analyst), WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips

What's Ahead
The Zips will travel to Louisville, Ky. for the final game of the Global Sports Shootout against nationally ranked No. 2 Louisville Cardinals at the KFC YUM! Center on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network. Akron moved to 4-0 at Rhodes Arena this season and stands at 3-0 in tournament play, defeating NC Central (57-47), USC Upstate (76-45) and Youngstown State (82-60).

The Broadcasts
The game is scheduled to be televised on the ACC Network with Mike Monaco calling the action and Jordan Cornette providing analysis. The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron 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/AkronZips. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats.

Scouting the Cardinals
Louisville enters the game ranked No. 2 in both the USA Today Coaches Poll and the AP Poll with an unblemished 5-0 record. The Cardinals have won five straight home games and 54-straight at home in the month of November. Louisville averages 83.8 points per outing on 55.5 percent (157-of-283) shooting from the floor and a 44.0 percent (44-of-100) effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 8.8 triples a game.

The Cardinals have four players scoring in double figures led by Jordan Nwora 22.0 points per game on 54.9 percent (39-of-71) shooting from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) from deep. He adds 7.0 rebounds and one assist per game. Ryan McMahon follows with 12.8 points per game on 56.8 percent shooting (21-of-37), and 60.0 percent from deep with a team-best 18 made 3-pointers. Steven Enoch and Dwayne Sutton round out the double-digit scoring with 10.6 points per night. Enoch owns a team-high 9.4 rebounds per game with 47 total boards, while Sutton is second-best on the glass 38 rebounds for 7.6 per game.

Defensively, Louisville limits its opponents to scoring 59.8 points per game on 35.2 percent shooting from the floor and 31.5 percent from 3-point range, allowing only 8.0 long distance strikes per night. The Cardinals caused 54 turnovers (10.8 to/g) with 23 steals (4.6 stl/g). The Cardinals hold the edge on the glass, outrebounding the opponent by a +7.8 margin and limiting the opponent to grab 152 total boards (30.4 reb/g) compared to the 191 total rebounds (38.2 reb/g) secured.

The Akron-Louisville Series
Sunday's matchup marks the 2nd meeting in series history between Akron and Louisville, and first for a Groce coached squad. The Cardinals hold the 1-0 edge in the series when they defeated the Zips 111-85 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. Coach Groce is 0-2 overall against the Cardinals, playing both games while coaching at Ohio. The Bobcats fell 91-56 in 2008-09 and 59-54 in 2011-12.

Zips' Scoring in Bunches
The Zips have four players averaging double figures in scoring led by Tyler Cheese with 15.2 points per game followed by Loren Cristian Jackson (15.0), Xeyrius Williams (14.4) and Channel Banks (10.8). Over the first five games, the Akron Zips have seen at least three players score in double digits per game. Akron had five double-figure scorers against Malone (Williams 17, Banks 15, Cheese 15, Reece 13 and Jackson 12), four against West Virginia (Williams 20, Banks 16, Jackson 16 and Cheese 15) and YSU (Cheese 19, Jackson 19, Banks 12 and Reece 10) and three against N.C. Central (Cheese 20, Williams 19 and Jackson 10) and USC Upstate (Jackson 18, Tribble 11, Reece 10).

Pass the Cheese
Senior Tyler Cheese currently leads the Zips scoring efforts, averaging 15.2 points per game. He registered double-digit points in 4-of-5 games with a season high 20 points against NC Central. He is second on the squad in 3-pointers made (11) and is shooting at a team-best 40.7 clip from deep (11-of-27). His 2.2 made 3-pointers a game ranks 13^th in the MAC. He also stands 12^th in league scoring (15.2) and 11^th in free throw percentage (.850, 17-of-20).

Action Jackson
Junior Loren Cristian Jackson is the only Zip to record double-digit points in every game this season. He ranks second on the squad in scoring with 15.0 points per game. He leads the squad in assists and free throws, dishing out 4.0 helpers per game (20) and making 20-of-25 from the charity stripe (.840). Jackson a buried a third-best 10 triples. Jackson is ranked in the top of the MAC in four categories, including assists (7^th, 4.0), assist/to ratio (10^th, 2.0), scoring (13^th, 15.0) and free throw percentage (13^th, .840).

Like Money in the Bank
Senior Channel Banks ranks fourth in scoring for the Zips with 10.8 points per game. He is shooting 40-percent from deep and owns a team-best 12 made 3-pointers (12-of-30). His 2.4 made 3-pointers per game ranks 10^thbest in the MAC. Banks scored in double figures three times in five games, vs Malone (15), @ WVU (16) and vs YSU (12).

Are You Xeyrius?
Senior Xeyrius Williams impacts both sides of the floor for the Zips while nearly averaging a double-double with 14.4points and 9.6 rebounds per night. He owns team-highs in rebounds (48) and blocked shots (12). Williams is shooting 94.7 percent from the free throw line and is one attempt shy of the team lead at 18-of-19. He has scored with double figures three times this season, including a season-high 20 points against WVU – Others: vs Malone 17 and vs NC Central 19. Williams ranks among the league's best in five categories including blocked shots (1^st, 2.4), rebounding (2^nd, 9.6), defensive rebounds (2^nd, 7.6), free throw percentage (6^th, .947) and scoring (17^th, 14.4).

UP NEXT
The Zips return to James A. Rhodes Arena for a non-conference tilt against Merrimack on Friday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/AkronZips. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats.

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Players Mentioned

Channel Banks

Tyler Cheese

Loren Cristian Jackson

Xeyrius Williams

The University of Akron Athletics