Akron Zips on the Road to Battle the Ball State Cardinals

Akron Zips on the Road to Battle the Ball State Cardinals
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Game 29 Notes: Akron vs Ball State (PDF)

Akron Zips (19-9, 12-6 MAC) vs Ball State (13-5, 8-9 MAC)
Tuesday, March 1 • Worthen Arena • Muncie, Ind. • 7 PM • ESPN3

Akron Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 271-190 (14th Season)
Record at Akron: 89-58 (5th Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 52-38 (5th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 86-68 (at Ohio and Akron)

Ball State Head Coach
James Whitford (Wisconsin '94)
Overall: 130-146 (9th season)
Record at Ball State: 130-146 (9th season)
MAC Record: 68-92 (9th season)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 26-18 • Groce vs. Ball State: 3-3 (6-6 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 88, Ball State 79 at Worthen Arena on Feb. 19, 2021 First Meeting: Ball State 39, Akron 38 in Akron 1937-38 season
The Zips in Akron 15-6, at Neutral Site 2-0, in Muncie 9-12

Broadcast
TV/Video: ESPN3 – Baylen Hite (PxP), Kyle Sellers (Analyst) and Hudson French (sideline)
Radio: Akron Sports Network -Dave Skoczen (PxP), Joe Dunn (Analyst)-WHLO 640 AM (iHeart Radio)
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats

What's Ahead
The final week of regular season is here as the Zips travel to Muncie, Ind. to battle the Ball State Cardinals on Tuesday March 1, followed by the Zips final home game at 7 p.m. against Central Michigan. Bothe games can be seen on ESPN3. The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron Sports Network WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen and Joe Dunn calling the action. The pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to the contest. The free audio stream is available at iHeart Radio. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats.

The Akron-Ball State Series
Tuesday's game marks the 46th meeting in series history between Akron and Ball State, and 14th meeting for a Groce coached squad, eighth at Akron. Akron holds a 27-18 all-time series advantage while Groce is 7-6 against the Cardinals and 4-3 at Akron. Akron is 16-6 all-time against BSU at home, 9-11 at BSU and 2-0 in neutral site games. Akron is 1-1 all-time versus Ball State in the MAC Tournament.

The Zips won the first meeting of the season at The JAR (84-74) on Jan. 11. Akron swept the season series in 2021-22, defeating BSU 88-79 (Feb. 19, 2021) at Worthen Arena and winning 74-42 (Jan. 30, 2021) at James A. Rhodes Arena. In 2019-20, Akron snapped the Cardinals three-game winning streak with a convincing 75-60 win on Jan. 10 at The JAR. Ball State ended Akron's 15-game winning streak in 2017-18 which included a double overtime thriller in Muncie, Ind. (111-106). UA's Jimond Ivey broke Worthen Arena's all-time scoring mark of 41 points previously held by Bonzi Wells (Ball State, 1996) and Earl Boykins (Eastern Michigan, 1998). Ivey's nine 3-pointers set an arena record and he tied the arena record for made field goals (15) set in 1992 by Xavier's Brian Grant. In addition, the 217 combined points are the most in Worthen Arena history, while Akron's 106 points are the most ever by a visiting team and by the losing team in that arena.

The Cardinals won the second meeting of 2017-18 by a 90-77 score at Rhodes Arena and claimed 2018-19 lone meeting 57-56 on a tip-in at the buzzer. In 2016-17, Akron claimed both games. Isaiah Johnson lifted Akron to a 65-63 win in dramatic fashion with a buzzer-beating jumper at James A. Rhodes Arena (Feb. 7, 2017). A few weeks later, the two teams met in the semifinal game of the MAC Tournament as the No. 1 seeded Zips defeated the No. 4 Cardinals 74-70 at Quicken Loans Arena (March 8, 2017). Ball State's previous win against Akron came in the 2003-04 season when the Cardinals defeated the Zips 76-72 in the first round of the MAC Tournament at Worthen Arena. Ball State also won the regular season matchup that season 77-71 in overtime.

Scouting the Cardinals
The Cardinals own a 13-15 overall record and 8-9 in league play, standing 9-4 at home, 3-9 on the road and 1-2 in neutral site games. Ball State averages 75.5 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the floor and 36.4 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 8.6 triples a game. In addition, the Cardinals shoot 69.2 percent from the free throw line on 15.1 attempts per game.

Ball State has three players scoring in double figures and four players with double-digit 3-pointers as Luke Bumbalough leads the way from long distance with 73 made 3-point FG on 104 total FG made. He averages 11. 4 points per game with and shoots 36.9 percent from deep and 39.2 from the floor. He also leads the team in assists (78).

Payton Sparks is the leading scorer, averaging 13.6 points per night on 55.3 percent shooting from the floor. Sparks also leads the squad on the glass, grabbing 8.3 rebounds per game (232 rebs)

Tyler Cochran and Thomas Miryne follow with 11.6 points per game. Cochran owns a team-best 55 steals and is second in rebounds (5.7 reb/g, 159 reb) and assists (55), while Miryne adds a second-best 49 made 3-pointers at a 37.1 clips and grabs 4.8 boards per game (130 rebs) .

Defensively, Ball State limits its opponents to scoring 77.2 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting from the floor and 35.9 percent from 3-point range, allowing 9.1 long distance strikes per night. The Cardinals caused 353 turnovers (12.6 to/g) with 172 steals (6.1 stl/g). Ball State is outrebounded the opponent by a -0.5 margin as the opponent grabbed 1,011 total boards (36.1 rebs/g) compared to the 997 total rebounds (35.6 rebs/g) secured.

On the Road
Akron is 7-4 on the road this season, dropping the season opening game to Ohio State (67-66) as time expired and defeating Wright State by a decisive 18 points (66-48). The Zips second road setback came against Kent State (67-55) in the first installment of the 2021-22 Wagon Wheel series. Zips bounced back with 91-66 win over Bowling Green and a 60-56 win over Central Michigan. The Zips fell at Toledo (84-76). Zips defeated Miami (71-59) and NIU (70-64) in back-to-back road contests but fell to WMU (61-57). Akron defeated Eastern Michigan 67-48 and Ohio (91-83)

UP NEXT
Akron returns to James A. Rhodes Arena for the final game of regular season play against Central Michigan on Friday, March 4 on ESPN3. Fans can also follow the action on Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (analyst) or live stats on GoZips.com.

The University of Akron Athletics

Akron Zips on the Road to Battle the Ball State Cardinals

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