Akron to Play Liberty for DC Holiday Hoops Fest Championship

Saturday, December 21

Washington D.C.

3:30 PM

University of Akron

Liberty

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Akron to Play Liberty for DC Holiday Hoops Fest Championship

December 21 | Men's Basketball

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Akron Zips (9-2) vs Liberty (13-0)
Saturday, Dec. 21 • Entertainment and Sports Arena • Washington DC • 3:30 PM • TV: FloHoops

Liberty Head Coach
Ritchie McKay (Seattle Pacific '87)
Overall Record: 302-241 (18th Season)
Record at Liberty: 137-83 (5th Season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 220-167 (12th Season)
Record at Akron: 40-36 (3rd Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 14-22 (3rd Season)
Overall MAC Record: 48-52 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 1-0 – Groce vs Liberty: 0-0 (First Meeting)
Last Meeting: Akron 90, Liberty 56 - November 25, 2001 at the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic (Honolulu)

Broadcast
TV/Video: FloHoops - Jeremy Huber (PxP) - Chris Knoche (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 play for the DC Holiday Hoops Fest Championship on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 3:30 p.m. against undefeated Liberty University. Akron is riding a five-game winning streak, longest under head coach John Groce, and the Flames are off to the best start in program history (13-0). In opening round action, Akron defeated Tulane 62-61 and Liberty defeated Towson, 66-54. The Zips are 7-0 at home, 1-0 at neutral sites and 1-2 on the road this season.

All DC Holiday Hoops Fest games are scheduled to be broadcasted by FloHoops and 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.

The Broadcasts
The Zips game is available for broadcast for a fee on FloHoops with Jeremy Huber calling the action and Chris Knoche 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.

The Akron-Liberty Series
Saturday's championship game marks the second meeting all-time as Akron defeated the Flames 90-56 in the Hawaii Pacific Thanksgiving Classic (Honolulu) in the 2001-02 season. It is the first meeting for a coach Groce against Liberty.

Scouting the Flames
Liberty owns an unblemished 13-0 record and currently ranks 2^nd in the Mid-Major Top 25 poll, 30^th overall in the AP Top 25 poll and 38^th overall in the USA Today Top 25 poll. The Flames average 71.0 points per outing on 47.3 percent shooting from the floor and a 39.2 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 8.7 triples a game.

Liberty is led by Caleb Homesly with 10.8 points per night as the only double-digit scorer. However, the Flames have five additional players averaging eight points or better in Scottie James (9.9), Darius McGhee (9.9), Elijah Cuffee (9.2), Myo Baxter-Bell (9.2) and Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz (8.8).

McGhee and Cuffee led the team from behind the 3-point arc. McGhee knocked down 29-of-70 3pointers for a 41.4 percentage, while Cuffee shoots at a 52.3 percent on 23-of-44 shooting. Kyle Rode (16), Homesly (14) and Pacheco-Ortiz (13) have made double-digit 3-pointers. Cuffee and Pacheco-Ortiz lead the squad in assists with 32 and 30, respectively.

James dominates the paint for the Flames, grabbing 101 rebounds (7.8 rebs/g) while scoring at a 53.8 percent rate on 52-of-97 (mostly in the paint). Baxter-Bell and Rode are active defensively with a team-best 12 steals each.

Defensively, Liberty ranks second in the NCAA in defensive efficiency, limiting its opponents to score 50.5 points per game on 34.9 percent shooting from the floor and 24.7 percent from 3-point range, allowing 5.0 long distance strikes per night. The Flames have caused 162 turnovers (12.5 to/g) with 68 steals (5.2 stl/g). Liberty outrebounds the opponent by a +6.2 margin, allowing the opponent to grab 393 total boards (30.2 rebs/g) compared to the 473 total rebounds secured by the Flames (36.4 rebs/g).

Defending the JAR
Akron is 7-0 at James A. Rhodes Arena and is riding an nine-game home court winning streak, dating back to the 2018-19 season. Last year, Akron posted a 91-67 win over Bowling Green on senior night and hosted the opening round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, defeating No. 9 Miami 80-51. This season Akron has seven wins at the JAR over Malone (81-64), NC Central (57-47), USC Upstate (76-45), Youngstown State (82-60), Merrimack (64-47), Southern (72-57) and Concord (100-50).

The Zips only allow opponents to score 52.9 points per game at home on 32.5 percent shooting from the field (144-of-443) and 19.8 percent from deep (25-of-126). Akron has allowed 370 total points in seven games – 64 points was the most for the opposition at Rhodes Arena this season. In fact, Akron has held six teams to 60 points or less, including four teams to 50 or less.

2020 Vision
The Zips have seen eight 20-point scoring performances this season, including 28-point and 25-point performances from Loren Cristian Jackson and Xeyrius Williams. Jackson posted a season-high (28) against Marshall and scored 20 against Louisville, while Williams was the first to record 20 points against WVU and added the 25-point effort at Marshall. Tyler Cheese owns four 20-plus point performances against N.C. Central (20), at No.2 Louisville (20), Merrimack (20) and Southern (21). In addition, the Zips have three 19-point efforts by Williams (N.C. Central), Cheese (YSU) and Jackson (YSU).

Zips' Scoring in Bunches
The Zips have four players averaging double figures in scoring led by Loren Cristian Jackson and Xeyrius Williams with (14.5) points per game followed by Tyler Cheese (14.3) and Channel Banks (11.9). Over the first 11 games, the Akron Zips have seen at least three players score in double digits in every 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), YSU (Cheese 19, Jackson 19, Banks 12 and Reece 10), Southern (Cheese 21, Williams 15, Banks 14, and Reece 11) and Concord (Banks 19, Sayles 16, Williams 12 AND Tribble 11) ... three against N.C. Central (Cheese 20, Williams 19 and Jackson 10), USC Upstate (Jackson 18, Tribble 11, Reece 10), No.2 Louisville (Cheese 20, Jackson 20 and Banks 18), Merrimack (Cheese 20, Williams 14 and Banks 11) and Marshall (Jackson 28, Williams 25 and Reece 13) and Tulane (Williams 16, Jackson 15 and Banks 14).

Getting Votes
Akron is receiving votes for The CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, now in its 21st season of existence. The Zips received 52 votes which places Akron 28^th overall among teams from the America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast and Western Athletic.

In addition, the Zips debuted at No. 63 in the first NCAA NET Rankings and now stands 59^th overall. Statistically, Akron ranks in the NCAA Top 100 in 15 statistical categories, including 5th 3PT FG Defense (24.3), 9th FG % Defense (36.2), 9th D-REB/g (30.5), 22nd Total Reb./g (41.5), 22nd Scoring Margin (15.8), 24th Free-Throw % (77.2), 32nd FT Made (173), 57th 3PT FG/g (9.0), 43rd Scoring Defense (61.9), 46^th Win-Loss percentage (80.0), 71st Scoring Offense (77.7), 82nd FT attempts (224), 86th Total #PT FGM (90), 97th Rebound Margin (4.2) and 98th Blocked Shots/g (3.9).

Williams Named MAC East Player of the Week
Xeyrius Williams (Springfield, Ohio) was named Mid-American Conference Eastern Division Co-Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Ohio's Jason Preston (12/9/19). Williams led the Zips to a pair of wins last week, averaging 20 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 blocked shots and 1.0 steals per game. He connected with 44.1 percent of his shots from the field (15-of-34) which included a 50 percent showing from beyond the 3-point arc (8-of-16). For the week, he scored 40 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, dished out four assists, blocked two shots and had two steals. Against Marshall, Williams posted his second double-double of the season with 25 points and 14 rebounds, both career-highs. He added a blocked shot and a steal en route to the Zips 85-73 triumph. Against Southern, Williams tallied 15 points with five boards, a blocked shot and a steal for Akron to remain unbeaten at home, 72-57.

Are You Xeyrius?
Senior Xeyrius Williams impacts both sides of the floor for the Zips, averaging a double-double with 14.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per night. He owns team-highs in rebounds (115) and blocked shots (19). Williams is shooting 87.5 percent from the free throw line (21-of-24). Williams ranks among the league's best in five categories including rebounding (2nd, 10.0), defensive rebounds (2nd, 8.3), blocked shots (3rd, 1.9), free throw percentage (4th, .875) and scoring (15th, 14.4). Among the NCAA, Williams ranks 6^th in defensive rebounds per game, 30^th rebounds per game, 49^th total rebounds, 56^th blocked shots, 58^th total blocks and 86^th double-doubles (3). He has scored with double figures eight times this season, including a career-high 25 points against Marshall – Others: vs WVU (20), vs Malone (17), vs NC Central (19), vs Merrimack (14), vs Southern (15), vs Concord (12) and vs Tulane (16). He has four double-doubles this season.

Pass the Cheese
Senior Tyler Cheese leads the scoring for the Zips, averaging 14.3 points per game. He registered double-digit points in 8-of-11 games with a season high of 21 points. He posted 20 points three times – NC Central, No.2 Louisville and Merrimack and also scored 15 twice (Malone and WVU) and 19 (YSU). Cheese is third on the squad in 3-pointers made (17) and is shooting at a 37.0 percent clip from deep (17-of-46). He stands 11th in league scoring (14.3) and 7th in free throw percentage (.792, 42-of-53).

Action Jackson
Junior Loren Cristian Jackson ranks first in scoring for Akron with 14.6 points per game (tied with Xeyrius Williams). He scored double-digit points in 8-of-11 games, including a season-high 28 points against Marshall. He leads the squad in assists (54), dishing out 4.9 helpers per game while making 40-of-47 from the charity stripe (.851). Jackson buried a third-best 20 triples. Jackson is ranked in the top of the MAC in four categories, including free throw percentage (3rd, .851), assists (4th, 4.9), assist/to ratio (3rd, 2.4) and scoring (14th, 14.5). In the NCAA, Jackson ranks 36^th assists to turnover ratio and 71^st assists per game.

Like Money in the Bank$
Senior Channel Banks ranks fourth in scoring for the Zips with 11.9 points per game. He is shooting a team-high 47.1 percent from deep and owns a team-best 33 made 3-pointers (33-of-70). His 3.3 made 3-pointers per game ranks 2nd best in the MAC. Banks scored in double figures in 8-of-11 games, vs Malone (15), @ WVU (16), vs YSU (12), @ No.2 Louisville (18), vs Merrimack (11), Southern (14), Concord (19 – season and career high) and Tulane (14). Beyond the arc in the NCAA, Banks ranks 20^th 3-point FG percentage, 39^th 3-point FG per game and 59^th total 3-pointers made.

Reece's Piece's
Junior Camron Reece is a huge piece for the Zips frontcourt, clocking 18-minutes per game and averaging 7.8 points on 56.9 percent shooting from the floor. He scored in double-digits five times this season, including a career-high 13 points on two occasions, vs Malone and Marshall. Reece is an electric player that gets the crowd involved as a result of his supreme athleticism and high-flying dunks. He grabs 5.1 rebounds per game and posted five blocked shots. Reece has made 20-of-28 free throws for a 71.4 free throw percentage.

UP NEXT
Akron will have a few days off for the holiday break, and the Zips return to action on Monday, Dec. 30 at James A. Rhodes Arena against UMass. The final game of the calendar year scheduled for 7 p.m. and is scheduled to be broadcasted on ESPN3 and 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.