The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Ball State
Akron Travels to Ball State on Tuesday
January 08 | Men's Basketball
Tuesday, Jan. 9 – Worthen Arena – Muncie, Ind.
7:00 pm ET – ESPN+ - WHLO 640
HEAD COACHES
Akron: John Groce | Overall Record: 308-206 | At Akron: 126-74
Ball State: Michael Lewis | Overall Record: 28-18 | At Ball State: Same
ALL-TIME SERIES
Akron Leads: 29-19 Groce vs. Ball State: 6-4 (9-7 Overall)
First Meeting: Ball State 39, Akron 38 In Akron 1937-38 season
Last Meeting: Akron 87, Ball State 83 In Akron on February 28, 2023
The Zips in Akron 17-6 | at Neutral Site 2-0 | in Muncie 10-13
Current Streak: 1W
WHAT'S AHEAD
The Akron Zips hit the road to face the Ball State Cardinals on January 9 for the 49th all-time meeting. Akron and BGSU can be viewed on ESPN + with Jack McMullen (PxP) and David Eha (Analyst). 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.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals come into Tuesday's match with an 8-6 overall record and 0-2 in the MAC. Ball State is currently on a four-game losing streak with losses to Indiana State, Minnesota, Kent State, and Central Michigan.
Ball State is 7-1 at home this season while posting a 1-5 on the road and at a neutral site.
The Cardinals most recently fell 71-65 to CMU on January 6. Down by just two points at the half, Ball State was outscored 40-36 in the second. Davion Bailey led the way with 21 points against CMU while three others ended in double-figure scoring. Basheer Jihad finished with a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double while also having two assists and one block.
Basheer leads the way in points (18.4), rebounds per game(7.4), and total blocks (12). Jalin Anderson is the leader in assists (4.5) and steals per game (1.2). Anderson (15.4), Davion Bailey (11.7), and Mickey Pearson Jr. (11.6) are all averaging double-figure scoring.
The Cardinals come in with a NET ranking of 292 and a 285 ranking from KenPom.
BSU is 55th in the country in free throw percentage (75.0), 49th in free throws made per game (16.3), and 72nd in 3pt percentage (36.5). Jihad is 41st in the country in double-doubles (5), 39th in free throws made (100), 85th in total points (259) and 58th in points per game (18.5). Jalin Anderson is 83rd in assists per game (4.5).
ZIPS AT A GLANCE
Akron is riding a two-game winning streak to begin conference action. The Zips have posted wins over Northern Illinois (73-51) and Bowling Green (83-67) after falling to St. Bonaventure in Cleveland (62-61).
The Zips are led by Enrique Freeman's 18.4 points per game along with 13.0 rebounds per game and 21 total blocks. Kaleb Thornton leads the way with 3.29 assists per game while Nate Johnson is leading in steals per game with 1.4 per game.
Posting a 6-0 record at the JAR this season, Akron is 3-1 on the road so far this season. The lone road loss was a narrow 72-70 defeat at UNLV. The Zips are also 1-3 at neutral site contests.
Akron most recently defeated Bowling Green at the Jar on January 5. After trailing 41-36 at the half, Akron outscored BGSU 47-26 in the second to post a home win.
Freeman recorded a 24-point performance that featured a 12-of-13 night from the free throw line. Greg Tribble had 16 points on a 7-of-8 shooting night from the field while Shammah Scott had 10 points in the win.
Akron is 91st in the country in assists per game (15.2), 35th in effective fg% (.555), 63rd in fg% (.474), 53rd in rebound margin (+6.2), 52nd in scoring defense (65.4), 58th in scoring offense (11.6), 73rd in 3pt% (36.4), and 42nd in three-pointers made per game (9.3).
Greg Trible is currently 47th in the country in free throw percentage (88.1).
LAST TIME OUT (JAN. 5, 2024)
AKRON, OHIO- The Akron men's basketball team used a 47-point second half to defeat the Bowling Green Falcons 83-67 at the JAR on Friday evening.
Enrique Freeman notched a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds as he moved to ninth for all-time scoring with 1,448 career points. Freeman surprised Don Williams (1963-67). Romeo Travis (2004-07) is next with 1,491 career points.
In addition to Freeman's strong outing, the Zips (10-4, 2-0) were led by Greg Tribble, who had 16 points, and by Shammah Scott, who added 10 points, four assists, and three steals coming off the bench.
Akron did a great job taking care of the basketball, dishing out 22 assists while turning the ball over nine times. Individually, Kaleb Thornton lent a helping hand the most for the Zips with five assists.
After falling behind 36-27, Akron went on a 5-0 run with 4:06 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Mikal Dawson, to narrow its deficit to 36-32. Bowling Green answered back and added to its lead, leaving the Zips down 41-36 entering halftime.
After intermission, Akron came back to even it up at 52-52 before going on a 12-0 run to seize a 64-52 lead with 6:47 to go in the contest. The Zips kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 83-67 win. Akron got a boost from its bench in the period, as non-starters accounted for 12 of its 47 total points.
LAST TIME AGAINST BALL STATE (FEB. 28, 2023)
AKRON, Ohio - The Akron Zips honored their graduating seniors prior to their final home game of the regular season, then battled through adversity from the opening tip and roared back for a clutch 87-83 win over the visiting Ball State Cardinals on Tuesday evening at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Senior guard Xavier Castaneda scored 29 points to lead all scorers, junior forward Sammy Hunter posted a career-high in points (25) and in 3-pointers (six) while junior forward Enrique Freeman notched his 17th double-double of the season for the Zips with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
In a game filled with big shots, none were bigger than 3-pointers by Casntañeda with 1:57 remaining to extend Akron's hard-won lead to five (75-70) and Hunter with 44.1 seconds remaining for a seven-point margin (79-72), helping the Zips (21-9, 13-4 Mid-American Conference) fend off the Cardinals.
AKRON IN THE MAC
Akron is 55-21 since the 2019-20 season in MAC play, owning the highest winning percentage (.724) in the league. The Zips are 41-17 in the MAC under the new conference format without divisions (new in 2020-21). Akron is 92-25 (.786) 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 224-103 overall (.685), including a 135-31 mark in MAC play at home (.813). The Zips' 224 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 139 of their last 199 MAC games (.698).
THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Freeman has 12 double-doubles this season, ranking 1st in the NCAA, and is the only player in the MAC to average a double-double. He is 1-of-11 players in Div. 1 to average a double-double while recording 20+ points and 10+ rebounds eight times. Freeman has also recorded eight consecutive double-doubles.
Additionally, he ranks 45th in fg% (.582), 36th in made free throws (73), 63rd in points per game (18.4), 92nd in total points (257), 3rd in total rebounds (182), 4th in def. rpg (9.29),15th in off. rpg (3.71) and 1st in rebounds per game (13.0).
MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK X5
Freeman posted back-to-back double-doubles as Akron defeated Northern Illinois (73-51) and Bowling Green (83-67). For the week, Freeman averaged 22.5 points per game with a 12-of-23 (.522) shooting from the field week while posting a 21-of-24 (.875) effort from the free throw line. He added four assists and three blocked shots to the weekly performance. Against Northern Illinois, Freeman recorded 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds, while shooting 6-of-9 (.666) from the field and 9-of-11 (.818) from the charity stripe. He finished the game as the Zip's leading scorer.
He followed with a 24-point, 11-rebound effort against Bowling Green in the MAC home opener. Freeman's 24 points led all scorers with a nearly perfect 12-of-13 (.923) showing from the free throw line while adding four assists and three blocks.
Freeman collected his 11th and 12th double-doubles of the season to maintain his No. 1 ranking in the NCAA and moved to ninth on the all-time scoring list at Akron. In addition, He has posted 20+ point, 10+ rebound performances eight times this season.
WHEN LEADING...
Akron is a perfect 8-0 when leading at the half while just 2-4 when trailing.
When leading with 10 minutes remaining the Zips are 9-0, and with 5 minutes remaining Akron is 10-0 while 0-4 when trailing with 5 minutes to go.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Akron heads back to the JAR for a battle with Buffalo on January 12 for a 7 pm start. The Zips and bulls will be featured on CBS Sports Network.
