Akron Wins Sixth Straight with a Balanced Team Effort to Beat Ball State, 74-42

Saturday, January 30

Akron, Ohio

2 PM

University of Akron

10-3,8-2MAC

Ball State

6-8,4-5MAC

Ball St.

Akron

Akron Wins Sixth Straight with a Balanced Team Effort to Beat Ball State, 74-42

January 30 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Akron Wins Sixth Straight with a Balanced Team Effort to Beat Ball State, 74-42
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Postgame Press Conference

AKRON, Ohio – The Akron Zips extended its winning streak to six games and limited the visiting Ball State Cardinals to 42 points while remaining undefeated at James A. Rhodes Arena this season with a 74-42 win on Saturday afternoon.

Akron has won 13-straight games at the JAR, dating back to Feb. 8, 2020, as senior guard Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) led the Zips in scoring and assists with 16 points and six helpers. Junior guard Michael Wynn followed with 10 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the floor, including a 2-of-2 effort from long distance.

The Akron scoresheet was balanced with 11 players scoring and six players with at least six points. Senior Camron Reece (Oakland, Calif.) and sophomore Mikal Dawson (Huntington, W.Va.) followed the double-digit scorers with nine points each. Reece corralled a second-best seven rebounds while Dawson secured three. Sophomore Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) led the squad on the glass with 8 rebounds as Akron controlled the glass 40-30.

The Zips (10-3, 8-2 MAC) defense caused problems for the Cardinals (6-8, 4-5 MAC) all afternoon as Akron denied Ball State a field goal from the 7:11 mark of the first half until 16.2 seconds left in the initial stanza.

The Zips capitalized during that span, outscoring BSU 17-0 for a 32-13 advantage. The Cardinals ended the scoring drought by hitting a 3-pointer with 16-seconds remaining in the first half. Jackson responded with a driving layup as time expired to lift Akron to a 34-16 lead at intermission.

The second half was much of the same as Akron led by as many as 34 points and maintained a double-digit advantage for the final 24 minutes of the game. The Zips never trailed in the contest while limiting the opponent to the lowest point totals of the season, only allowing the Cardinals to score 16 points in the opening half and 26 in the second half.

Akron forced 18 turnovers as seven different players recoded a takeaway with Reece and Dawson leading the way with two steals each. Akron held Ball State to shooting just 34 percent from the field (17-of-50) and 18.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (4-of-22).

Ishmael El-Amin led Ball State's scoring efforts with 13 points as Akron triumphed at home for the eighth time this season. Akron owns the longest winning streak in the Mid-American Conference at six games and has won the last five games by double digits.

Next, the Zips will battle the top-ranked Toledo Rockets, where Akron's winning streak started with late game heroics from sophomore Ali Ali (Kendallville, Ind.) and senior Maishe Dailey (Beachwood, Ohio). Akron will travel to Savage Arena for a Tuesday, Feb. 2 game at 7 p.m. Fans can watch the action live on ESPN+, listen to the game on WHLO 640 AM of follow via live stats on GoZips.com.