Akron Zips men's basketball takes control of MAC with win over Kent State

Akron's Xavier Castaneda fires a 3-pointer as Kent State's Malique Jacobs defends at Rhodes Arena in Akron on Friday.
Akron's Xavier Castaneda fires a 3-pointer as Kent State's Malique Jacobs defends at Rhodes Arena in Akron on Friday.

The Zips have control of the Mid-American Conference.

Akron and arch rival Kent State met Friday night tied for first place in the conference with 8-1 records. It is the Zips who have now have the inside track to the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament via a 67-55 win over the Golden Flashes at Rhodes Arena.

Akron led for nearly the entire night as Kent State counter-punched but could never quite close the gap. As has been the case all season, Akron guard Xavier Castaneda and forward Enrique Freeman led the way offensively with a game-high 24 and 19 points, respectively.

For the Zips, it was the best example thus far of following the mantra set forth by coach John Groce at the beginning of the season — attack, don't be on the defensive. Akron is the defending MAC Tournament champion, but that doesn't mean it holds that mindset in 2023. On Friday night, the Zips proved it.

"That's a huge point that coach emphasized at the beginning of the season, that we're not here to defend another title, we're here to attack for another one," said guard Trendon Hankerson, who contributed six points. "I thought we did a great job of doing that tonight."

The Zips held the Golden Flashes at bay throughout the first half, always maintaining a lead of a couple possessions. Akron extended that lead in the second half, at one point opening up a 15-point advantage. Kent State responded with a 15-4 run to cut it to 55-51 with 5:45 left, but the Zips got to the free-throw line and again pulled away.

It was a script these two teams have seen before.

"Obviously I see that they're a good team, too, so you gotta respect them as an opponent," Freeman said. "Both teams are going to go on runs, so it's about stepping up to the plate and making game-winning plays and effort plays and making shots. Just respecting them, like last year in the tournament, we were up 10 at the half, they went on a 9-0 run. You just gotta play through it."

Akron fans celebrate the Zips' 67-55 victory over Kent State Friday night at Rhodes Arena.
Akron fans celebrate the Zips' 67-55 victory over Kent State Friday night at Rhodes Arena.

Kent State's defense disrupted Akron's offensive rhythm, which led to the momentum shift that only momentarily hushed an electric crowd that Groce called the "best environment since I've been the coach here."

"I thought the ball got a little sticky offensively," he said. "I thought they put their head down and drove the ball to the rim, forced the issue al little bit. … I thought one of the things we did continue to do is be aggressive and attack, which led to 18 free-throw attempts, which offensively was the best thing we did in the second half, was our ability to get to the foul line and convert. That carried us offensively."

Kent State coach Rob Senderoff also noted the Zips' ability to get to the free-throw line, saying it's a "hard way to win" when allowing so many attempts. Senderoff wasn't pleased with how the Golden Flashes came out of the gate Friday night.

"Give credit to Akron. They were tougher than us," Senderoff said. "They were more committed than us, more committed to what they're trying to do than we we were. And they played better than us. So give them credit. Obviously, it's hard to be happy at the way we played, but they had something to do that with that, too."

Sincere Carry (15 points), Jalen Sullinger (13) and Malique Jacobs (12) all scored in double figures for the Golden Flashes, who lost starting guard Giovanni Santiago in the first few minutes of the game to a right hand injury. After halftime, Santiago was on the bench with a splint on that hand. Senderoff said afterward the team didn't have any additional information yet other than they know he'll need an X-ray.

"[Losing Santiago] certainly hurt but, again, it's unfair to say, 'Well, if he played, this game would be different,'" Senderoff said. "It certainly hurt he only played three minutes … but they've had guys out all year. Other guys step up. They were committed to winning at a significantly higher level than we were tonight, and we gotta be better from that."

Akron's Enrique Freeman tries to steal the ball from Kent State's VonCameron Davis at Rhodes Arena on Friday.
Akron's Enrique Freeman tries to steal the ball from Kent State's VonCameron Davis at Rhodes Arena on Friday.

The Zips and Golden Flashes next meet in the conference finale for both teams on March 3 in Kent. While Akron showed on Friday night that it wants to be on the offensive, the Golden Flashes know they have to find a level of poise if they want to overtake Akron and earn the No. 1 seed along with the MAC regular-season crown.

"We have to play with poise, we have to play with togetherness," Senderoff said. "We have to compete for all the same purposes if we want to win. We need to learn from this game."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Zips stand alone in first place in MAC after beating Golden Flashes