Rivals to Clash in MAC Title Game

Rivals to Clash in MAC Title Game
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Game 33 Notes: No. 4 Akron vs No. 2 Kent State (PDF)

2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship
Akron Zips (23-9, 14-6 MAC) VS Kent State (23-9, 16-4 MAC)
Saturday, March 12 • Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse • Cleveland, Ohio • 7:30 PM • ESPN2

Akron Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 268-186 (14th Season)
Record at Akron: 86-54 (5th Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 49-34 (5th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 83-64 (at Ohio and Akron)

Kent State Head Coach
Rob Senderoff (Albany '95)
Overall: 217-137 (11th season)
Record at KSU: 217-137 (11th season)
MAC Record: 115-80 (11th season)

All-Time Series
Kent Leads: 80-78 • Groce vs. Kent State: 5-5 (9-10 Overall)
Last Meeting: Kent 67, Akron 55 at James A. Rhodes Arena on Feb. 11, 2022
First Meeting: Akron 37, Kent 16 in Kent 1915-16 season
In Akron:44-25, Neutral: 8-2, In Kent: 26-53, MAC Tournament: 5-3, MAC Title Games: 1-2

Broadcast
TV: ESPN2 – Robert Lee (PxP) and Mark Wise (Analyst)
Radio: Akron Sports Network - Dave Skoczen (PxP), Joe Dunn (Analyst) WHLO 640 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats

What's Ahead
The fourth-seeded Akron Zips are riding a seven game winning streak and the second-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes have won 14 straight games as the two rivals battle for the 2022 Mid-American Conference Championship on Saturday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2. 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-Kent State Series
Saturday's game marks the 159th 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. The Zips have won 16 of the last 29 meetings, but suffered a pair of setbacks this season (67-55 and 66-64) after claiming three consecutive games to even the all-time series record at 78-78, dating back to March 6, 2020. Kent holds an 80-78 series advantage.

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).

In 2020-21, Akron swept the season series, claiming the New Year's Day game at The JAR (66-62) and followed with a win at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio on Feb. 5 (72-61). The season sweep marked the first time either team swept the series since the 2011-12 season when Akron posted three wins.

In 2019-20, the two teams split the series as Akron posted a 79-76 victory at James A. Rhodes Arena (March 6) and KSU claimed the earlier contest 68-67 (Jan. 31) at the M.A.C Center. In 2018-19, Akron and Kent State split the series -- Zips won at home 72-53 (Feb. 8) and Kent State won 68-65 in Kent (March 8).

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 44-25 against Kent State at home, posting wins in eight of the last 11 games at the JAR. Akron is 26-53 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.

Scouting the Flashes
Kent State closed out regular season play on a 12-game winning streak to claim the No. 2 seed in the MAC Tournament and runner-up for the regular-season title. The Flashes own a 23-9 overall record and 16-4 in league play, KSU is 11-4 at home, 8-4 on the road and 4-1 in neutral site games. The Flashes average 71.5 points per game on 44.0 percent shooting from the floor and 32.8 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 7.5 triples a game. In addition, the Flashes shoot 74.7 percent from the free throw line on 13.8 attempts per game.

Kent State has two players scoring in double figures and three players at 8-plus points led by 2022 MAC Player of the Year Sincere Carry with 18.5 points per game, shooting 43.9 percent from the floor and 35.4 percent from deep with a team best 75 trifectas. He also leads the squad in assists (157) and is second in steals (46).

Malique Jacobs follows with 12.5 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 7.8 boards per game and 242 total rebounds. He leads the team in steals (48) and is second in assists (96).

Andrew Garcia and Giovanni Santiago add 8.7 and 8.6 points per game. Garcis hoots 52.1 percent from the field and is second-best in helpers with 96 assists, while Santiago is second in behind the 3-point arc with 51 made triples and. Justyn Hamilton adds 8.5 points per game and leads the squad in blocked shots (43) and is second on the glass (6.5 reb/g and 203 Rebs).

Defensively, Kent State limits its opponents to scoring 64.3 points per game on 40.5 percent shooting from the floor and 30.3 percent from 3-point range, allowing 7.2 long distance strikes per night. The Flashes caused 435 turnovers (13.6 to/g) with 232 steals (7.3 stl/g) and 114 blocked shots (3.6 blk/g). Kent State outrebounds the opponent by a +4.4 margin as the opponent grabbed 1,021 total boards (31.9 rebs/g) compared to the 1,160 total rebounds (36.3 rebs/g) secured.

Zips in the MAC Tournament
Akron is 33-20 all-time in the MAC Tournament, 25-9 in its last 34 tournament games. The Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year since the 2004-05 season and set an unprecedented 15-of-17 semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of the consecutive title game (7) and semifinal appearances (13) are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 27-14 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Akron is 7-6 in opening round games, 1-0 second round, 12-4 in the quarterfinals, 10-4 semifinals, and 3-6 in title games.

UP NEXT
With a win, Akron Zips would secure its first MAC Tournament Championship since 2013 and await the destination and seed for the NCAA Tournament on selection Sunday, March 13. 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

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