Akron/Kent State Part Two on CBS Sports Network Friday

Friday, March 6

Akron, Ohio

6:30 PM

University of Akron

Kent State

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Akron/Kent State Part Two on CBS Sports Network Friday

March 05 | Men's Basketball

Akron Zips (23-7, 13-4 MAC) vs Kent State (19-11, 9-8 MAC)
Friday, March 6 • James A. Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio • 6:30 PM • CBS Sports Network

Kent State Head Coach
Rob Senderoff (Albany '95)
Overall: 180-119 (9th season)
Record at KSU: 180-119 (9th season)
MAC Record: 87-70 (9th season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 234-172 (12th Season)
Record at Akron: 54-41 (3rd Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 27-26 (3rd Season)
Overall MAC Record: 61-56 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Kent Leads: 78-75 - Groce vs. Kent State: 2-3 (6-8 Overall)
Last Meeting: Kent 68, Akron 67 at M.A.C Center on Jan. 31, 2020
First Meeting: Akron 37, Kent 16 in Kent 1915-16 season
In Akron:42-24, Neutral: 8-2, In Kent: 25-52
Broadcast
TV/Video: CBS Sports Network – Dave Ryan (PxP), Steve Wolf (Analyst)
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - STATBROADCAST
Radio: Akron Sports Network - Steve French (PxP), Joe Dunn (Analyst), WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips

What's Ahead
Akron returns to James A. Rhodes Arena for its final game of the regular season against rival Kent State. On Friday, March 6, CBS Sports Network will broadcast the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge rematch at 6:30 p.m. The intense battle can also 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 Zips are back at the top of the league standings and secured at least a share of the 2020 regular season championship after a 74-67 win over Ohio on Tuesday. Akron is 23-7 overall with a 13-4 league-best mark. The Zips are 6-3 in divisional play, defeating Miami twice, Ohio twice, Buffalo and Bowling Green. The Zips fell to Buffalo, Kent State and Bowling Green. Akron opened league play against five consecutive western division opponents. All other league foes played at least two divisional opponents during that stretch. Akron is 7-1 against the West, defeating Eastern Michigan (2x), Western Michigan (2x), Ball State, Northern Illinois and Central Michigan but fell to Toledo.

Scouting the Golden Flashes
Kent State enters the 100-plus year-old rivalry with a 19-11 overall record and 9-8 in MAC play. The Flashes have posted a 4-5 mark since last playing the Zips. Kent State is 13-3 (6-3 MAC) at home, 5-7 (3-5 MAC) on the road and 1-1 in neutral site games.

Kent State has four players scoring in double figures, led by Antonio Williams with 14.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He connects at a 50.2 percent rate from the field with 19 made triples (.328). Williams leads the squad in assists (105) and is second in steals (34).

Danny Pippen follows with 14.1 points on 40.7 percent shooting from the floor with a second-best 53 made 3-point field goals (.315). Pippen grabs a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game (206) and blocked a team-best 46 shots.

Troy Simons and Anthony Roberts round out the double-digit scoring with 12.8 and 12.5 points per game, respectively. Simons shoots 41.9 percent from the floor and adds a team-best 88 long distance buckets with a 38.9 percentage from deep. Simons is second in assists (62) and leads the team in steals (41). Roberts shoots 44.4 percent from the floor and 37.4 from long distance with 46 threes. He adds 62 assists and 26 steals. In addition, Philip Whittington averages 9.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He shoots 55.0 from the floor while adding 24 blocks, 18 assists and 17 steals.

Defensively, Kent State limits its opponents to 69.5 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting from the floor and 34.1 percent from 3-point range, allowing 7.3 long distance strikes per night. The Golden Flashes caused 434 turnovers (14.5 to/g) with 210 steals (7.0 stl/g). Kent is slightly outrebounds the opponent with a +0.9 margin as the opponent to grabs 1,061 (35.4) total boards compared to the 1,087 (36.2) total rebounds secured.

The Akron-Kent State Series
Friday's game marks the 154th meeting in series history between Akron and Kent State. The first meeting was during the 1915-16 season at Kent State where Akron pulled out the win, 37-16. Kent State owns a 78-75 all-time series advantage.

The Zips have won 13 of the last 24 meetings, including a 72-53 win last season on Feb. 8 at James A. Rhodes Arena. However, The Zips fell 68-65 in the 2019 season finale at the M.A.C Center and the first meeting this season, 68-67 (Jan. 31).

The team from the east entered 2018-19 season winning 2-of-3 contests, including a split in the 2017-18 season series (W 78-68 in Kent), (L 67-65 in Akron) and the 2017 MAC Championship game (W 70-65 in Cleveland).

Akron was the last team to earn a season series sweep, during the 2011-12 season. In fact, the Zips posted three consecutive wins that season, defeating the Flashes 84-75 at home (Jan. 21), 61-55 in Kent (March 2) and 78-74 in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament in Cleveland (March 9).

In addition, Akron won 2-of-3 games the following season (2012-13), winning on the road (71-67, Jan. 15) and falling at home (68-64, March 8) before winning its second consecutive semifinal matchup in the MAC Tournament (62-59, March 15). During that stretch, Akron won 5-of-6 games.

Akron is 42-24 against Kent State at home, posting wins in six of the last eight games at the JAR. Akron is 25-52 all-time at the M.A.C. Center and 8-2 at neutral sites against the Golden Flashes. In 2016-17, Kent State snapped Akron's 30-game home-court winning streak at the JAR. The longest winning streak in the series for Akron is 9-games from 1941-1947 and Kent State's longest winning streak in the series is 5-games, and it happened twice, 1991-1994, and 1980-1985.

Akron and Kent State have met in the MAC Tournament eight times. Akron is 5-3 in the MAC Tournament against the Golden Flashes. In addition, Akron and Kent State have played for the MAC Tournament championship three times. Kent State leads 2-1 in MAC title games. Kent State won the tournament in 2007-08 (74-55), Akron won the title in 2010-11 in overtime (66-65), and Kent State won the tournament in 2016-17 (70-65).

MAC Regular Season Champions... Again
The 2020 Akron Zips claimed at least a share of the MAC regular season title after defeating Ohio 74-67 on Tuesday. The Zips have won the regular season title five times since the 2012 season, including three of the last five seasons. In addition, the 2020 championship marks the first time head coach John Groce has won a league title in his tenure.

Defending the JAR
Akron is 14-2 at James A. Rhodes Arena and had a 12-game home court winning streak snapped by Toledo and fell to Buffalo the next time out. The Zips only allow opponents to score 62.7 points per game at home on 38.2 percent shooting from the field (369-of-966) and 28.9 percent from deep (95-of-329) with only 5.9 per game. Akron averages +13.6 scoring margin and has allowed 1,003 total points in 16 games – 99 points was the most for the opposition at Rhodes Arena this season. In fact, Akron has held nine teams to 60 points or less, including five teams to 50 or less.

Akron in the MAC
The Zips have posted a 58-36 mark (.617) in the last 94 games against the MAC East dating back to the start of the 2012 league schedule. Akron is 6-3 against the MAC East at the conference tournament during that stretch. Akron is 112-53 in the regular season against the West Division (.679), including winners of 55 of the last 72 regular-season games since divisional play began during the 1997-98 season. Akron is 66-17 (.795) at home in league play since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule. UA has seen a ton of success in league play since the start of the 2004-05 season, and is 182-90 overall (.669), including a 111-24 mark in MAC play at home (.822). The Zips' 182 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 100 of their last 146 MAC games (.685).

Long Distance Attacks
Akron is shooting 36.3 percent as a team from beyond the 3-point arc (279-of-769), ranking 48th NCAA and 2nd MAC. The 279 made 3-pointers ranks 23rd NCAA and 1st MAC while attempts (769) ranks 43rd NCAA and 2nd MAC. Akron averages 9.3 triples per game, standing 26th NCAA and 1st MAC. The long distances attacks are spearheaded by Loren Cristian Jackson with 91 while Channel Banks and Xeyrius Williams follow with 74 and 63, respectively. Jackson ranks 15th in the NCAA, while Banks and Williams rank 77th and 166th, respectively. Cheese has 42 made 3-pointers.

Zips in the MAC Tournament
Akron is 30-19 all-time in the MAC Tournament, 23-8 in its last 31 tournament games. The Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year since the 2004-05 season and has advanced to the MAC Tournament title game in nine consecutive seasons with an unprecedented 12-of-13 semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of the consecutive title game (9) and semifinal appearances (12) are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 24-13 at Quicken Loans Arena. Akron is 7-6 in opening round games, 1-0 second round, 10-4 in the quarterfinals, 9-3 semifinals, and 3-6 in title games.

Strong Defensive Stance and Sacrifice
The Akron Zips have limited opponents to scoring 60 points or less in 12 games, including six games of 50 points or under. The Zips allow only 66.2 points per game, ranking No. 84 in the NCAA for scoring defense and 4th MAC. Akron limits opponents to 40.0 shooting from the floor (39th NCAA, 2nd MAC) and 30.1 from long distance (39th NCAA, 2nd MAC). Akron has caused 404 turnovers (13.5 t/g) with 154 steals (5.1 stl/g). In addition, players are sacrificing their bodies by taking charges as Banks leads with 23 followed by Cheese (21) and Jackson (17).

UP NEXT
It's MAC Tournament time and the Zips are headed straight to Cleveland and the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Akron earned a first-round bye and either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the tournament. A win against Kent State would give Akron sole possession of the No. 1 seed and the MAC regular season title. Bowling Green still has an opportunity to share the regular season MAC championship with the Zips if they defeat Buffalo and the Zips fall on Friday night. In this case, BGSU would win the tiebreaker over Akron and be awarded the No. 1 seed for the tournament.