The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Northern Kentucky
Zips Host Northern Kentucky on Tuesday
December 02 | Men's Basketball
Akron (4-2, 0-0 Mid-American) vs Northern Kentucky (2-5, 0-0 Horizon)
Tuesday, Dec. 3 – James A. Rhodes Arena – Akron, Ohio
7:00 pm ET – ESPN + - WHLO 640
HEAD COACHES
Akron: John Groce | Overall Record: 326-215 | At Akron: 144-83
Northern Kentucky:Â Darrin Horn | Overall Record: 270-176 | At NKU: 99-65
ALL-TIME SERIES
Northern Kentucky Leads 2-1 | Groce vs Northern Kentucky: 2-0
First Met: December 17, 1977 (L, NKU 75 - Akron 72) At NKU
Last Met: December 9, 2023 (W, Akron 77 - Northern Kentucky 76) At NKU
Current Streak, W2
INSIDE THE SERIES
Akron and Northern Kentucky will square off for the fourth time in the all-time series. The Norse own a 2-1 record against the Zips, with the two victories coming when both squads played at the Div. II level. Akron came away with a 77-76 victory at Northern Kentucky last season when Enrique Freeman put a last second go-ahead dunk away to give the Blue and Gold the win.
LAST TIME AGAINST NORTHERN KENTUCKY (12/9/23)
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY - Enrique Freeman collected 21 points, which was capped off by a last-second dunk off a pass by Ali Ali, while Sammy Hunter added 20 as the Akron men's basketball team beat the Northern Kentucky Norse 77-76 on the road Saturday.
The Zips (6-3) had four players score in double figures, led by Freeman, who secured a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Hunter tacked on 20 points and Nate Johnson helped out with 13 points. This was the first time Akron had two players score at least 20 points since Freeman and Xavier Castaneda recorded the feat against Kent State in the MAC Tournament last season.
The Akron offense made hay from three-point land, knocking down eight threes. Hunter hit five treys for the Zips, which was one shy of tying his career high.
SCOUTING THE NORSE
The Northern Kentucky Norse come into Tuesday with a 2-5 overall record and an 0-3 record on the road. NKU has gone 2-1 in its last three games with wins over Kentucky State and most recently at Bellarmine.Â
The Norse came away with an 86-70 victory at home against the Knights where Trey Robinson led all scorers with 24 points on a 9-of-12 shooting night. He also went 6-of-9 from the free throw line while bringing in eight rebounds and dishing out two assists. Randal Pettus II also scored 20+ points with 20 of his own after going 8-of-13 in the contest.
The Norse were selected to finish third in the Horizon league Preseason Poll while Robinson and Sam Vinson representing the Norse on the Preseason All-League First Team. Milwaukee was selected to finish first and recieved 15 first-place votes while Purdue-Fort Wayne earned the second spot and 14 first place votes. NKU earned four first place votes along with its third place finish.
Vinson leads the Norse in scoring (12.7), assists (3.6) and steals (2.3) while Robinson is the leader in rebounds (7.4). Keeyan Itejere and Paulius Rapolis are currently tied for the lead in blocks with five each while Robinson is next in line with four.
The Norse rank in the top five in the Horizon League in scoring defense (5th - 70.1), turnover margin (4th - +1.86) and assist-turnover ratio (5th - +1.09).
Individually, Sam Vinson ranks 14th in points per game (12.7). Trey Robinson ranks 8th in rebounds per game (7.4) while Josh Dilling is 6th in 3-point shots made per game (2.1). Vinson is 6th in the conference in assists (3.6) and is 10th in assist-turnover ratio (+1.5). Paulis Rapollis is currently 9th in blocks per game (0.8) while a trio of Norse ranks in the top 10 in steals. Vinson is 2nd in steals (2.3) while Randal Pettus II is third (2.0) and Trey Robinson is 7th (1.7).
NKU is ranked 45th in the NCAA for fewest fouls per game (15.0), 30th in steals per game (9.7) and 63rd in forced turnovers oer game (15.14). Individually, Vinson is 73rd in the NCAA for steals (16) and 51st in steals per game (2.29).
ZIPS AT A GLANCE
The Akron Zips return to the JAR after going 3-0 at the Akron Basketball Classic from November 22-24.
The Zips beat Lamar, Omaha and Alabama State while Nate Johnson was named the MVP of the tournament while Amani Lyles and Isaiah Gray were named to the All-Tournament team.
Against Alabama State, Akron (4-2) had four players finish in double figures in scoring, led by a career-high 25 points from Johnson. Bowen Hardman collected a career-high 19 points after going 6-of-7 from 3-point range. Gray added 11 points while Sharron Young gave the Zips 10 points in the win.
James Okonkwo and Josiah Harris powered the Zips' rebounding performance with 10 boards each while Lyles and Marvin Musiime-Kamali each had six.
Akron currently has four players averaging 8.5 or more points per game. The Zips are led by Nate Johnon's 13.7 ppg while Isaiah Gray is second with 10.0 ppg. Tavari Johnson is the leading assist producer with 4.2 per game while Gray is second with 3.7. James Okonkwo leads the Blue and Gold in rebounds per game with 8.2 and total blocks with eight. N. Johnson leads the Zips in steals with 1.8 per game
Akron is currently top five in the MAC in scoring offense (1st - 83.2), scoring margin (2nd - +6.8), 3pt percentage (1st - .377), 3pt field goals made ( 1st - 12.8), rebounds (3rd - 38.2), offensive rebounds (1st - 13.7), rebound margin (5th - -0.2) turnover margin (3rd - +2.33), turnover margin (1st - +3.33)assist-turnover margin (1st - +1.95), assists (1st - 20.83) and steals (3rd - 8.17).
As a team in the NCAA, the Zips rank 7th in assist-turnover ratio (+1.95), 5th in assists per game (20.8), bench points per game (33.67), off. rebounds per game (14.5), 76th in rebounds per game (39.33), 56th in scoring offense (83.2), 53rd in 3-point percentage (.377), 2nd in 3pters made per game (12.8), 59th in turnover margin (+3.3) and 74th in turnovers per game (10.7).
Individually, Tavari Johnson is 97th in assist-turnover ratio (+2.5) while Nate Johnson is 68th in free throw percentage (.889). Amani Lyles is 26th in off. rebounds per game (3.5) and James Okonkwo is 62nd (3.0). Okonkwo is also 75th in rebounds per game (8.2) while Bowen Hardman is 37th in 3-point percentage (.471).
NON-CONFERENCE FOES AT THE JAR
Under John Groce, Akron is currently 44-1 (.978) at home against non-conference opponents. Akron is on a 34-0 run against non-conference foes at the JAR since losing to Marshall on Dec. 15, 2018.Â
HOME SWEET HOME
The Zips own a 473-135 (.778) all-time record at the James A. Rhodes Arena. In the last 17 seasons, Akron has posted a 269-40 (.871) record at the JAR. The Zips recorded a 13-1 record at the JAR last season and had won their last 16 home games dating back to the 2022-23 season before falling to EMU on March 5, 2024.
Under coach Groce, Akron is 91-15 (.858) at home. The Zips were 15-1 at home in 2022-23 and 13-1 in 2023-24.
Akron owns a 102-21 (.829) home-opening record and 38-4 (.905) at Rhodes Arena. The Zips have been winners in the last 22-of-23 home opening games. Akron is 21-8 in MAC openers, and 12-1 at home since joining the league in 1992. Over the last 18 seasons, the Zips are 15-3 in MAC openers and 7-1 at home. Akron has won the last 9-of-10 MAC openers.
Akron went 12-4 at Rhodes Arena in Groce's first year as head coach and followed with a 14-3 effort. The Zips went 15-2 at home in 2019-20 en route to the regular season MAC Championship. The Zips set the all-time longest home winning streak record at Rhodes Arena with 30 consecutive wins during the 2015-17 seasons, replacing the 26-game run the Zips made during the 1985-87 seasons under head coach Bob Huggins. The streak ranked No. 2 in the NCAA.
MAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nate Johnson earned Player of the Week honors on November 25.
Johnson helped power the Zips to a 3-0 week in the Akron Basketball Classic and earned himself tournament MVP for his performance.
The redshirt junior led the Zips with 17.3 points per game over the three-day tournament where he recorded a career-high 25 points in a 97-78 victory over Alabama State on Sunday.
Johnson was locked in shooting the ball for the Blue and Gold, hitting on 63 percent of his shots (17-of-27) and 50 percent of his 3-pointers (6-of-12). He shot .500 or better in every game and shot .778 (7-of-9) against Nebraska Omaha where he finished with 18 points.
He was also close to perfect at the free throw line, going 12-of-14 from the charity stripe which featured an 8-for-8 performance against the Hornets on Sunday.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Akron plays at the JAR yet again as it welcomes SUNY Brockport to Akron on December 7 for a 3 p.m. start.
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