Jackson Earns Second Academic All-MAC Recognition

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CLEVELAND – Junior Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Illinois) earned his second consecutive Mid-American Conference All-Academic Team honor the league announced Wednesday.

Jackson was one of 14 total student-athletes to be named from men's basketball. The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport.

Jackson led the Zips to a 24-7 overall record and 14-4 league mark en route to the 2020 regular season MAC Championship while maintaining a 3.31 GPA and graduating in December with a bachelor's degree in business administration. He is currently pursuing a master's in sport science.

Jackson paced Akron's scoring efforts with 19.8 points per game while recording double-digit points in 27-of-31 games. Jackson posted a season-high 35 points three times and scored 30-plus points on five occasions. He finished the season ranked second in league scoring and 30^th in the NCAA.

He led the top-seeded Zips from behind the 3-point arc, draining 92 triples which ranked third in the league and 23rd in the NCAA. His 42.8 shooting percentage from deep was also a team-best and ranked second in the MAC and 14th in the NCAA, while the 2.97 triples per game ranked 23rd in the country and second in the league. At the free throw line, Jackson buried 135-of-154 for an 87.7 percentage and placed first in the MAC and 22^nd in the NCAA. Jackson dished out 4.5 assists per game with a team-high 138 assists and corralled a second-best 31 steals.

During the season, Jackson eclipsed the 1,000-point career scoring mark, becoming the 46th player in Akron history to post over 1,000 points. He currently ranks 40th on the Zips all-time scoring list with 1,075 points in 64 games played. In addition, Jackson earned the #LouHensonAward National Player of the Week honor along with four MAC East Player of the Week awards.

In addition to his second Academic All-MAC honor, Jackson was named to the 2019-20 Lou Henson All-America Team after being selected as a finalist for the Lou Henson Player of the Year award. He collected MAC Player of the Year, first team All-MAC and first team National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 14 accolades.

Inside Jackson's Numbers

Games played: 31	Minutes/game: 34.1	Points/game: 19.8 (615)
FG Pct: 46.5 (194-of-417)	3FG Pct: 42.8 (92-of-215)	FT Pct: 87.7 (135-of-154)
Rebounds/game: 2.7 (84)	Assists/game: 4.5 (138)	Turnovers/game: 2.3 (72)
Assist/turnover ratio: 1.9	Steals/game: 1.0 (31)	Blocks/game: 0.0 (1)

2019-20 Men's Basketball Academic All-MAC Team
$ Loren Cristian Jackson, Akron, Junior, Business Administration, 3.31 GPA
% Kyle Mallers, Ball State, Senior, Finance/MBA, 4.0 GPA
Brock Bertram, Buffalo, Junior, Social Sciences, 3.27 GPA
Derek Ballard Jr., Eastern Michigan, Redshirt Sophomore, Sport Management 3.43 GPA
% Mitch Peterson, Kent State, Senior, Business, 3.28 GPA
$ Ben Vander Plas, Ohio, R-Sophomore, 3.99 GPA, Communication Studies
& Luke Knapke, Toledo, Senior, Management/Marketing, 3.27 GPA
$ Spencer Littleson, Toledo, Junior, Marketing, 3.34 GPA
T.J. Smith, Toledo, R-Freshman, Law & Social Thought, 3.25 GPA
William Boyer-Richard, Western Michigan, Business, 3.81 GPA
Patrick Emilien, Western Michigan, Sophomore, Business, 3.68 GPA
% Adida Ikongshul, Western Michigan, Sophomore, Management, 3.51 GPA
% Jared Printy, Western Michigan, Senior, Sports Management, 3.77 GPA
Jason Whitens, Western Michigan, R-Sophomore, Sales & Business Marketing, 3.35 GPA

& Fourth Academic All-MAC Team Selection
% Third Academic All-MAC Team Selection
$ Second Academic All-MAC Team Selection

The University of Akron Athletics

Jackson Earns Second Academic All-MAC Recognition

Players Mentioned

Loren Cristian Jackson

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