Regular Season Finale, Rivalry Round Two, Zips at Flashes, ESPNU

Akron (21-9, 13-4) at Kent State (24-6, 14-3 MAC)
Friday, March 3 • M.A.C Center
Kent, Ohio • 6 PM • ESPNU

What's Ahead
Round two of the Crystal Clinic Wagon Wheel Challenge game between rivals Akron and Kent State will be played on ESPNU Friday, March 3 at the M.A.C Center in Kent, Ohio. ESPN's Connor Onion (pxp) and Terrence Oglesby (analyst) on the call. Fans can listen to Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (analyst). Live stats are also available on GoZips.com.

Game Coverage
TV: ESPNU: https://bit.ly/3Ze31Pz
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/3azdrkP
Live Radio: WHLO 640AM - https://ihr.fm/3fFmzLo

Head Coaches
KSU Head Coach
Rob Senderoff (Albany '95)
Overall: 243-146 (12th season)
Record at KSU: 243-146 (12th season)
MAC Record: 129-83 (12th season)

Akron Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 297-200 (15th Season)
Record at Akron: 115-68 (6th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 101-72 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Series Tied: 80-80 • Groce vs. Kent State: 7-5 (11-10 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 67, Kent 55 at James A. Rhodes Arena on Feb. 3, 2023
First Meeting: Akron 37, Kent 16 in Kent 1915-16 season
In Akron:45-25, Neutral: 9-2, In Kent: 26-53, MAC Tournament: 6-3, MAC Title Games: 2-2

The Akron-Kent State Series
Friday's game marks the 161st 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 18 of the last 31 meetings, including a two-game winning streak that started with the 2022 MAC Championship defeating Kent State 75-55 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Zips won earlier this season 67-55 at The JAR. However, the Flashes swept the 2022 season series (67-55 and 66-64) after the Zips claimed three consecutive games to even the all-time series record at 78-78, dating back to March 6, 2020. The series is tied 80-80.

Akron and Kent State have met in the MAC Tournament nine times. Akron is 6-3 in the MAC Tournament against the Golden Flashes. In addition, Akron and Kent State have played for the MAC Tournament championship four times and the series is split 2-2 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), Kent State won the tournament in 2016-17 (70-65) and the Zips won in 2022 (75-55).

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 earned 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 9-2 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 owns and 24-6 overall record and an 14-3 league mark. The Flashes are 6-1 suffering the 67-55 loss to the Zips on Feb. 3. KSU is 14-0 at home, 9-6 on the road and 1-0 in neutral site games. The Flashes average 75.6 points per game on 45.1 percent shooting from the floor and 33.6 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 7.9 triples a game. In addition, the Flashes shoot 72.2 percent from the free throw line on 13.3 attempts per game.

Kent State has three players scoring in double figures led by 2022 MAC Player of the Year Sincere Carry with 16.8 points per game, shooting 40.5 percent from the floor and 29.7 percent from deep with a team second-best 52 trifectas. He also leads the squad in assists (148) and is second in steals (53).

Malique Jacobs follows with 12.6 points per game while leading the team in steals with 80 takeaways. He is second in assist (105) and third on the glass (145). Miryne Thomas leads the team rebounding, grabbing 5.0 boards per game for a 151 total while scoring 10.4 points per outing. Thomas leads the team from beyond the arc with 62 long distance strikes. Jalen Sullinger and Giovanni Santiago add 8.5 and 7.5 points per game.

Defensively, Kent State limits its opponents to scoring 64.7 points per game on 40.0 percent shooting from the floor and 31.2 percent from 3-point range, allowing 7.0 long distance strikes per night. The Flashes caused 488 turnovers (16.3 to/g) with 272 steals (9.1 stl/g) and 117 blocked shots (3.9 blk/g). Kent State is slightly outrebounded by the opponent by a -0.1 margin as the opponent grabbed 1058 total boards (35.3 rebs/g) compared to the 1054 total rebounds (35.1 rebs/g) secured.

Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge
Akron battles Kent State as part of the Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Center Wagon Wheel Challenge. The 14-sport rivalry series between Akron and Kent State is based on a time-honored competition for an historic wooden wagon wheel trophy awarded originally in 1945 to the winner of the annual Akron-Kent State football game. The Golden Flashes lead the current series this year, 6.5-1.0, through five events. Since the 2011-12 academic year, the rivalry was broadened to include 14 NCAA varsity sports, with victories in each sport adding one point to the challenge standings. To learn more about the rivalry and follow the results and standings, visit: www.WagonWheelChallenge.com

According to legend, the "Wagon Wheel" trophy traces its beginnings to the spring of 1870 when Akron industrialist John R. Buchtel set out for the town of Kent in search of a site to es-tablish a college. In the muddy Ohio fields, however, his wagon became bogged down in the area where Kent State University is currently located. When horses pulled the wagon, a wheel came loose and became buried until it was discovered in 1902 during the construction of a pipeline along the Western Reserve Trail.

The wheel eventually fell into the possession of Dr. Raymond Manchester, who as the Kent State Dean of Men in 1945, suggested the local historic artifact be offered as the trophy to the winner of the annual Akron-Kent State football game. Through the 2022 game, Kent holds a 24–27–1 series advantage in Wagon Wheel games. Dating to 1923, Akron leads the all-time series on the gridiron, 35-28-2.

On the Road
Akron is 5-5 in true road games this season, Falling to Toledo (84-63) before defeating EMU (78-51). The Zips also fell at Ohio (90-81) before winning four straight games after snapping a three-game setback streak at Bowling Green (74-70) and following with wins at Central Michigan (69-51), Western Michigan (63-55) and Buffalo (81-64). Akron Fell to Ball State (70-63), Marshall (68-57) and Bradley (74-55). The Zips are 1-3 in neutral site games this season. Akron finished 8-4 on the road in 2021-22, 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, Ohio (91-83) and Ball State (79-60) to end the season.

Team Captains
For the first time in six seasons, Akron head coach John Groce named captains for Zips basketball. Enrique Freeman, Xavier Castaneda, Greg Tribble and Trendon Heankerson were nominated and accepted their new roles as Akron heads into Mid-American Conference play.

Akron in the MAC
Akron is 53-20 over the last three seasons in MAC play, owning the highest winning percentage (.714) in the league. The Zips are 39-16 in the MAC under the new conference format without divisions (new in 2020-21). Akron is 90-25 (.795) at home in league play since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule. UA has seen a ton of success in league play since the start of the 2004-05 season, and is 222-102 overall (.681), including a 134-31 mark in MAC play at home (.822). The Zips' 222 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 137 of their last 196 MAC games (.694).

The University of Akron Athletics

Regular Season Finale, Rivalry Round Two, Zips at Flashes, ESPNU

Players Mentioned

Xavier Castaneda

Enrique Freeman

Greg Tribble

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