The Kent State Golden Flashes (17-9) will have their chance to bring down the Mid-American’s best team when they play the Akron Zips (21-5) at Memorial A & C Center. Action gets underway at 6:00 pm ET on Friday, Feb. 19 and will air on ESU and ES3.
The Golden Flashes enter this game hoping for similar success after defeating Western Michigan 85-78 on Tuesday. Galal Cancer was the team’s leading scorer with 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting. The Zips are coming off an 80-70 win over Buffalo on Tuesday. Antino Jackson shot 7 for 13 and led in scoring with 20 points.
Josh Williams has been on fire for the Zips, averaging 17.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.0 steal, and 4.2 three-pointers over the past five games.
The Golden Flashes have gone 17-9 Straight Up (SU) and 9-13 Against The Spread (ATS).
Over on the other bench, Akron has a SU record of 21-5 and an ATS record of 12-8-1. The Zips rely heavily on three-pointers on offense, ranking third in the nation with 304 made (11.0 per game). The Zips are the better of the two teams when it comes to assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking 48th in Division I at 1.33. The Akron defense has allowed an average of 73.6 points per game during the last 10 games, higher than their season average of 67.8. Akron’s three-point defense is one of the top in the country, with opponents making only 5.0 shots from the three-point line per game.
These conference rivals will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, Kent State came out on top, but the win was not enough to overtake Akron in their recent head-to-head series. Its record is now 3-7 SU over the last few meetings. The teams are even ATS, with a 4-4-2 record. Akron held the advantage in field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers once in the last five matchups. On the other side of the court, Kent State never accomplished this feat in that span.
Predictions: SU Winner – Akron, ATS Winner – Akron
Notes
“Kent State is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games “.
“Kent State is 10-5 SU in its last 15 games “.
“Kent State is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games “.
“The total has gone OVER in 4 of Kent State’s last 5 games “.
“Kent State is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games at home”.
“The total has gone OVER in 5 of Kent State’s last 6 games at home”.
“Kent State is 4-6-2 ATS in its last 12 games when playing Akron”.
“Kent State is 3-9 SU in its last 12 games when playing Akron”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kent State’s last 7 games when playing Akron”.
“Kent State is 1-3-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Akron”.
“Kent State is 14-6 SU in its last 20 games when playing at home against Akron”.
“Kent State is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Akron”.
“The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kent State’s last 6 games when playing at home against Akron”.
Kent State scores an average of just 74.7 points per game (ranked 116th). Akron ranks 72nd in points allowed, giving up 67.8 points per game.
Kent State scores 79.2 points per home game (ranked 96th). Akron ranks a poor 111th in points allowed on the road, allowing 73.1 points.
The Kent State Golden Flashes rank 95th for their offensive rating of 109.5. The Akron Zips have a defensive rating of 98.2 (ranked 65th).
With 68.2 possessions and 1.095 points per possession, the Kent State Golden Flashes perform worse on both metrics than the Akron Zips. Akron averages 68.9 possessions and 1.127 points per possession.
The Kent State Golden Flashes average an effective field goal percentage of 50.0% this season. The Akron Zips have a superb 7-2 record in games where opponents have an eFG% of 50.0% or greater.
The Kent State Golden Flashes average 17.0 three point attempts per game, and the Akron Zips attempt 29.0 per game. When going for at least 20 three pointers in a game this season, both teams have winning records; Kent State is 5-2 and Akron is 20-5.
Akron ranks 48th in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.33. Kent State is ranked lower at 189th with an A/TO of 1.02.
Kent State ranks 72nd in offensive rebounding. When it comes to defensive rebounds, Akron ranks 73rd.
On average, Kent State forces a turnover rate of 17.8%. When Akron turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a winning 8-3 record.
