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Akron men's basketball plays like 'an unbelievable team' in win over Kent to stay atop MAC
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- Akron men's basketball plays like 'an unbelievable team' in win over Kent to stay atop MAC
KENT — The University of Akron men's basketball team maintained its spot atop the Mid-American Conference standings Friday night at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.
Akron never trailed in its rivalry game against Kent State and headed back to Summit County with a 85-71 win in front of 6,327 spectators .
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Redshirt junior Nate Johnson led reigning MAC Tournament champion Akron (16-5, 9-0) with 20 points, five rebounds, three assists and one block in over 36 minutes.
"Great win for our program," Akron coach John Groce said. "This was a hard-fought game. We have a lot of respect for Kent and their players and their team. I thought our guys got off to a great start [with a 9-2 lead].
"You look at the stat sheet and we have six guys in double figures again. We have done that fairly regularly, and it could be a different six each night when we play. It makes us very blended and maybe hard to key on one guy. We had 19 assists on 29 field goals."
Consider Kent State coach Rob Senderoff impressed.
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"When I watch them, to me, I equate it to Major League Baseball," Senderoff said. "This is something that maybe people don't quite understand. They are right now in this conference, like when I grew up it was the New York Yankees or nowadays like the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Akron's Nate Johnson looks for a second-half basket as Kent State's Cian Medley defends Friday, Jan. 31, 2025.
"They have great players. They get in what's free agency. They get the best free agents in our league. They have an unbelievable coach who does a great job. I refer to John Groce as like Joe Torre. He is a great coach. They are undefeated.
"The regular season is basically over in my eyes. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe somebody makes a run at them. They play a different style than they did last year, but it is like the New York Yankees. We are playing for March and trying to get ourselves a seed [in the MAC Tournament]."
Akron Zips guard Tavari Johnson (5) drives to the basket ahead of Kent State Golden Flashes guard Jalen Sullinger (13) during the first half Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Kent, Ohio.
Akron junior Tavari Johnson contributed 15 points, five assists, three rebounds and one block in over 25 minutes.
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"We were playing together," Tavari Johnson said. "We were playing the Akron way — trusting our teammates and trusting we would make the right pass."
Senior Jalen Sullinger paced Kent State (13-8, 4-5) with 23 points, two assists, a steal and a block in over 36 minutes. He shot 7 of 15 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free-throw line.
"Their returning players [Nate Johnson, Tavari Johnson, junior Amani Lyles and seniors Shammah Scott and Evan Wilson] have gotten better," Senderoff said. "Their incoming players are monsters. To me, it is like playing the New York Yankees. They had [Derek] Jeter and they added A-Rod [Alex Rodriguez].
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"Until the rest of the league is able to compete with them in recruiting and all of the other things, and they have a great coach, and they have got great assistant coaches. One of them, Dustin Ford, who I have known for a long time, somebody should be hiring him as a head coach in my opinion."
The new "monsters" for Akron made an impact Friday.
Akron senior James Okonkwo totaled 11 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and an assist in over 28 minutes.
"It was pretty cool," Okonkwo said of playing in the rivalry game. "Coach told us to stay prepared and don't cheat any days. Treat this like any other game that we play, and make sure we are prepared."
Akron forward Amani Lyles dunks between Kent State center Cli'Ron Hornbeak (42) and guard Jamal Sumlin (4) during the first half, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Kent.
Zips senior Seth Wilson had 11 points and two assists, senior Isaiah Gray contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists and freshman Sharron Young added 10 points, two assists and two steals.
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Groce, who is friends with Senderoff, said his rivals comments are "a setup for Game 2 [on March 1 in Akron]."
"Tell Rob I am not falling for that and neither are these guys," Groce said with a smile.
Akron's James Okonkwo (left) and Kent State's VonCameron Davis fight for the ball in the first half, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Kent.
Okonkwo previously played at West Virginia and North Carolina. Gray transferred in from Cornell, Wilson transferred in from West Virginia and junior Bowen Hardman transferred in from Ohio State.
"The free agents they get, they develop their returning players, they got Joe Torre as the head coach and you are just sitting there saying I am trying my best to compete and right now my team, we did not play great tonight," Senderoff said. "I gotta credit Akron for that to some degree. They played really well."
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Akron made 11 of 27 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and Kent made 6 of 25.
"We all played our roles and it was a team effort," said Nate Johnson, who shot 7 of 15 from the field and 5 of 8 from the free-throw line. "... You never know whose night it is going to be. Tonight, we had six players in double digits."
Seth Wilson made three 3s, Tavari Johnson, Scott and Young each made two and Nate Johnson and Gray made one apiece.
Akron Zips guard Sharron Young celebrates after a first-half 3-pointer at Kent State, Jan. 31, 2025.
"We typically play 10 guys close to double-figure minutes," Groce said. "Occasionally, Marvin [Musiime-Kamali] will be under 10, and he accepts that role and embraces it. ... James had it going. Obviously, [both Johnsons] did. Seth made some big shots. Zay made plays. I thought we got contributions from everybody."
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Flashes graduate senior Anthony Morales scored 10 points and redshirt sophomore Jamal Sumlin added nine points. Junior Delrecco Gillespie totaled eight points, eight rebounds and two steals and redshirt senior VonCameron Davis had six points, seven rebounds and two steals.
"Jalen played pretty well," Senderoff said. "... Disappointed, obviously, for our fans. Disappointed for our team and obviously our community because we had a great crowd. Great atmosphere as always for the Kent-Akron game. The first half, we just didn't have it. They played great and we played poorly and dug ourselves a ridiculous hole that we couldn't dig ourselves out of.
"They have an unbelievable team. Just too big of a hole for us to get out of. Everybody who came into the game for them played well, and that just didn't happen for us. We competed, certainly in the second half we played better than we did in the first half. Not enough really to make a dent in the game."
Akron Zips guard Sharron Young (3) takes the ball up the court during the first half against the Kent State Golden Flashes on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Kent, Ohio.
Seth Wilson scored the first five points of the game and Akron extended its lead to 27-9 with 9:59 remaining in the first half on a 3-pointer by Nate Johnson.
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Akron led 48-31 at halftime and started the second half on a 10-4 run to stretch its lead to 58-35 when Gray made a 3-pointer with 16:45 to go.
"I thought we were pretty locked in to the scouting report and what we wanted to get down from the jump," Groce said. "Then we made some adjustments throughout the game and they were locked in to those."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com .
Akron forward James Okonkwo (32) celebrates with guard Evan Wilson (20) during the first half against the Kent State Golden Flashes on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Kent, Ohio.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron beats Kent State to remain atop MAC men's basketball standings
