The Akron Zips (19-4) will attempt to keep their six-game winning streak alive when they take on the Bowling Green Falcons (13-10) at Stroh Center. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Tuesday, Feb. 9 and will air on ES3.
The Falcons lost to Miami (OH) 55-51 on Saturday. Demajeo Wiggins finished with 12 points to lead the team. The Zips, meanwhile, are coming off a 92-87 win over Central Michigan on Friday. Josh Williams led the game in scoring with 22 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
The Falcons come into this game 13-10 Straight Up (SU) and 9-10 Against The Spread (ATS).
Over on the other bench, the Zips head into the game with records of 10-7-1 ATS and 19-4 SU. The Zips will be looking to pick it up in this one after recent offensive struggles. In their most recent 10 games, their scoring has dropped to 70.7 PPG, compared to 71.9 for the duration of the season. The Zips are an excellent long-range shooting team with 260 three-point shots made (11.0 per game), ranking fifth in Division I. The Zips rarely make costly errors handling the ball. They have the 45th-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the country at 1.34. Moving on to the Akron defense, teams don’t seem to hit many three-pointers against the Zips, who are 36th in the country in terms of three-point field goals allowed at 133 this season.
These conference foes will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, Akron came out on top, bumping its SU record over their most recent meetings to 10-0. Furthermore, Akron holds the advantage ATS with a record of 7-3. Akron held the edge in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers three times in the last five game, while Bowling Green wasn’t able to do so in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – Akron, ATS Winner – Akron
Notes
Bowling Green scores an average of just 71.9 points per game (ranked 165th). Akron ranks 59th in points allowed, giving up 67.2 points per game.
Akron scores 73.9 points per away game (ranked 76th). Bowling Green ranks a poor 127th in points allowed at home, allowing 67.9 points.
Ranked 55th, the Akron Zips have an offensive rating of 112.3. The Bowling Green Falcons rank 127th with a defensive rating of just 101.1.
The Bowling Green Falcons average a field goal percentage of 43.6% this season. The Akron Zips have a stellar 9-2 record in games where opponents have a FG% of 43.6% or greater.
The Bowling Green Falcons rank higher based on their field goal percentage (201st) than their effective field goal percentage (235th). The Akron Zips rank higher based on their effective field goal percentage (61st) than their field goal percentage (216th).
Akron ranks 86th in assists, recording 15.0 per game. Bowling Green performs worse at 297th with 11.6 assists per game.
Akron, the 99th-ranked team in blocked shots, registers an average of 4.1 per game. Bowling Green does worse, ranked 157th with 3.5.
Bowling Green ranks 165th in offensive rebounds, while Akron ranks 64th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Bowling Green makes 6.1 steals per game. Akron has a solid 8-3 record when it gives up at least 6 steals.
