Zips Men's Basketball Weekly Update: January 5
Akron finally picks up their first true road win
Welcome to Akron Zipped Up! Now that Akron will finally be playing a normal, regular schedule in conference play, I plan on doing weekly updates published every Sunday. As always, its free to subscribe!
Friday, January 3—Akron 71, BGSU 68
For the first time in 5 years, the MAC has begun conference play on “Saturday” as opposed to the middle of the week. The Zips (8-5, 1-0 MAC) ended a five game away-from-home stretch with their first road win of the season, a 71-68 victory at Bowling Green (5-8, 0-1 MAC) on Friday night. Akron never led until the final 70 seconds of the game, when Nate Johnson found Cornell grad transfer Isaiah Gray in the corner for the open three. That gave the Zips a 68-65 lead they would hold onto until the final buzzer.
True freshman Sharron Young led the Zips in scoring with 17 in just 18 minutes of game action. He made the key steal of BG’s Marcus Johnson (an Akron native) that led to the Gray three, and made a layup to stretch the lead to four on the next possession. Young is emerging as one of the top contributors on this Akron team already. He is efficient with his minutes, and I’d expect to see those minutes continue to increase. In just 17 minutes per game, he averages 8.9 points per game on 50% shooting from the floor, 40% from three, and a perfect 10-10 at the FT line so far. It’s been a very long time since Akron had a true freshman contribute numbers like these. He is going to be tested quite a bit over this long MAC grind, but to lead in scoring in a road win in a MAC debut is impressive no matter the opponent.
It wasn’t pretty, but it felt great to finally get the “road win” monkey off the back. Granted, the Zips should have taken care of that on Monday, when they blew a 13-point lead at Princeton. Funny enough, 13 was Bowling Green’s largest lead of the day. The Falcons opened the game on a 10-0 run and led 17-4 at the 13:00 mark of the first half. Overcoming that deficit took all 40 minutes in the end. Akron clawed back into the game to trail by just two at the half. BG held onto the lead and grew it all the way to nine with 6:34 remaining before Shammah Scott, Young, and Gray hit big shots for the Zips.
Winning Isn’t Deodorant
As head coach John Groce likes to say, the Zips cannot allow winning to overshadow what stinks. While the effort was there all night, there were plenty of lapses at both ends of the floor. Since my December update post, Akron’s offense has regressed a bit in efficiency, but defense has improved quite a bit. In KenPom defensive efficiency, Akron has climbed all the way up to 136, while playing the 35th fastest pace in the country. However, guys like Nate, Bowen Hardman, and Tavari have not shot the ball as well from the perimeter. Seth Wilson has begun to play much more lately, but is only shooting 20% from the perimeter.
The front court has been struggling more often than not as well. Between Amani Lyles, James Okonkwo, and Marvin Musiime-Kamali, no one player has stepped up in a way that the lineup can truly rely on, especially on the offensive end. There were obviously big shoes to fill, but I don’t think the results at this position have been what the coaching staff has hoped for. With that said, they are guarding without fouling better lately, and Okonkwo nearly had the game-winning tip-in at Princeton. If the front court can improve and become more reliable on offense, this team can perform at a much higher level.
Up Next for the Zips
Tuesday, January 7: vs. Central Michigan (7:00pm EST)
The Chippewas (6-7, 0-1 MAC) hold the MAC’s best nonconference win to their name, a wild 70-69 win over George Mason (#80 KenPom). Their only other DI win came in the season opener at South Alabama (#110 KenPom). Besides that, the Chips have beaten 4 non-DI opponents and played the likes of Marquette and Minnesota pretty tough. They dropped their MAC opener in heartbreaking fashion to Ohio, 57-55. CMU trailed most of the way and a mid-ranger for the tie went off the mark at the buzzer. Bethune-Cookman transfer Jakobi Heady leads the way in scoring at 13.2 ppg along with 7 rebounds and 2 assists per game. Anthony Pritchard also returns from last year’s squad that drew the no. 4 seed in the MAC tournament.
KenPom predicts a 78-71 Akron win.
Saturday, January 11: at Eastern Michigan (3:30pm EST)
This will be the night cap of a double-header, with the Akron women’s basketball team facing off against the Eagles starting at 1:00pm.
Last time Akron faced EMU, the Eagles spoiled the last game in the JAR for Enrique Freeman, Ali Ali, Sammy Hunter, and Greg Tribble. It was on a Jalin Billingsley last second put-back dunk. Akron had the game won, they needed to come back down 8. They took the lead, got the stop on the last second shot, but nobody blocked out Billingsley and he gave EMU the lead and the win.
The Eagles opened MAC play with a home win over Northern Illinois, 75-71. They currently stand at 7-6 going into Tuesday night’s game at Toledo. In nonconference play, wins against Oakland and Wright State stand out. Former Oregon and Depaul transfer Jalen Terry paces the Eagles in many statistical categories, including points (15.8), assists (3.5), and steals (1.5). The aforementioned Billingsley is also still hanging around in Ypsi.
KenPom predicts an 80-72 Akron win.
Around the MAC
Saturday, January 4
Toledo 76, WMU 70 (H)
Miami 93 (H), Buffalo 79
EMU 75 (H), NIU 71
Ball State 75, Kent State 67
Ohio 57, CMU 55 (H)
Standings courtesy of ESPN.com
