Akron Opens MAC Play with 76-51 Win Over NIU

Tuesday, January 3

Akron, Ohio

7 PM

University of Akron

9-5,1-0MAC

Northern Illinois

4-10,0-1MAC

NIU

Akron

January 03 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score PDF

AKRON, Ohio – New year, new chapter of the season and first Mid-American Conference win of the campaign as the Akron Zips defeated Northern Illinois 76-51 on Tuesday at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Behind the seventh double-double this season from junior forward Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio), who scored a season-high 27 points and tied his season best with 15 rebounds, the Zips rode a dominant defensive performance for the first MAC win.

Freeman and junior guard Greg Tribble (Cincinnati, Ohio) directed the Akron defense that hassled the Huskies (4-10, 0-1 MAC) into 35-percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers, which the Zips (9-5, 1-0 MAC) converted into 24 points on offense. Tribble, helping carry the scoring load with leading scorer Xavier Castañeda out with an injury, proved to be efficient with a season-high 16 points on just six shot attempts.

The game turned early in the second half as Akron found its shooting stroke and kept pressuring the visitors defensively, stifling a struggling Northern Illinois attack.

Following the back-and-forth first half, the Zips stunned the visitors with a 16-5 run punctuated by a fastbreak 3-pointer from freshman guard Tavari Johnson (LaGrange Park, Ill.) to stretch its lead to 13 (44-31). The blue and gold were never threatened the rest of the way, leading by as many as 25 en route to their eighth win in as many home games this season.

The contest quickly shaped up as a defensive battle, with the two sides combining for 38.4-percent shooting in the opening half. Akron kept itself in the game at the foul line, offsetting a slow shooting start with eight points from the stripe before intermission.

Tribble's hustle and defensive energy helped turn the tide late in the half, as the junior guard drained two free throws, then delivered a steal and a subsequent layup on the other end before a corner 3-pointer by sophomore guard Kobe Mitchell ( and a dunk by Freeman capped an 11-0 run that staked the Zips to a 28-21 lead.

Sophomore guard Zarique Nutter topped Northern Illinois with 11 points and the Huskies also got 10 from junior guard Keshawn Williams in defeat.

Akron begins a two-game MAC road swing with a game against Ball State on Jan. 6 at 8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.