The top two teams in the Mid-American Conference are set to meet at Rhodes Arena at 9 p.m. today, when the University of Akron Zips host the Toledo Rockets .
Akron (16-5, 8-1) defeated Eastern Michigan on Tuesday night and Toledo (14-7, 8-1) topped Western Michigan. Central Michigan (12-9, 7-2), the Zips' opponent this upcoming Tuesday, enters the weekend third in the MAC.
Check back throughout Friday night for updates on the matchup between Akron and Toledo.
Ali Ali scored 26 points to lead Akron to a 77-70 win over Toledo at Rhodes Arena.
Ali also had two assists, two rebounds and two blocks in 36 minutes.
Akron's Enrique Freeman finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 26 minutes.
Akron's Mikal Dawson scored 14 points, Greg Tribble Jr. added six points and Tavari Johnson chipped in five points.
Ra'Heim Moss, Javan Simmons , Dante Maddox Jr. , Sonny Wilson and Tyler Cochran all reached double figures for Toledo.
Moss scored 16 points, Simmons and Maddox both had 14 points and Wilson and Cochran had 11 points apiece.
Ali Ali made a jumper with 2:24 to go and Enrique Freeman added two free throws at 1:47 and the Zips lead 74-65.
Akron leads Toledo 67-59 with 3:55 to go in the second half.
Akron's Enrique Freeman, Sammy Hunter and Greg Tribble Jr. each have four fouls.
Akron's Ali Ali leads all scorers with 21 points and only has one foul.
Freeman has another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Akron's Mikal Dawson is at 14 points after recently making a 3-pointer.
Toledo has four players in double figures: Javan Simmons, Ra'Heim Moss and Dante Maddox Jr. each have 12 points and Sonny Wilson has 11 points.
Sonny Wilson makes two free throws and a jumper to cut Toledo's deficit to 58-54. Akron coach John Groce calls a timeout with 8:29 to go in the second half.
Akron's Enrique Freeman is subbing back into the game with four fouls.
Freeman picked up his fourth foul with 10:59 left in the second half. Tyler Cochran made two free throws and Freeman subbed out with Akron ahead 56-50.
Akron leads Toledo 55-44 with 11:59 to go in the second half.
Ali leads the Zips with 17 points, Mikal Dawson has 11 points and Enrique Freeman has 10 points.
Dante Maddox Jr. leads Toledo with 12 points.
Akron leads Toledo 53-40 with 14:58 to go in the second half.
Ali Ali, Enrique Freeman and Greg Tribble Jr. have scored in the second half for the Zips.
Ali Ali surpassed 1,000 career points during the first half.
The 1,000 career points for Ali is his point total at Akron and Butler combined.
Ali returned to Akron prior to this season after one season at Butler.
Ali Ali closed the first half strong with eight points in the final 3:30 of the first half to propel Akron to a 47-36 halftime lead over Toledo at Rhodes Arena.
Ali delivered a jumper, a two-hand slam dunk, a shot in the paint off the glass and two free throws in the final 3:30.
Ali heads into halftime with 15 points.
Mikal Dawson has 11 points at the break for Akron and Enrique Freeman has eight points.
Akron leads Toledo 37-28 with a media timeout at 3:30.
Mikal Dawson made a 3-pointer to give Akron a 37-26 lead and then Toledo's Dante Maddox Jr. delivered a jumper to make it 37-28.
Dawson hit a 3 to give the Zips a 27-17 lead, and a couple of minutes later the Zips were up 34-20 with 5:50 to go after Ali Ali made two free throws and a 3-pointer. His free throws came after a flagrant-1 foul.
Ali was whistled for a technical foul for chirping at Toledo's bench after he swished the 3.
Toledo's Andre Lorentsson made two free throws after the T and Bryce Ford dropped in a layup.
Enrique Freeman has eight points, Mikal Dawson has six points and Akron leads Toledo 25-17 with 8:00 remaining in the first half.
Dawson and Tavari Johnson each recently swished a 3-pointer prior to the 8:00 mark.
Enrique Freeman has moved up to the No. 6 spot on the Akron men's basketball career scoring list.
Akron compiles a 7-0 run to lead 15-11 with 11:43 to go in the first half.
Freeman made two layups during the spurt and Shammah Scott made a 3-pointer.
Tyler Cochran made a layup and a short jumper to help Toledo lead 11-8 by the first media timeout at the 15:07 mark.
Sonny Wilson, Javan Simmons and Ra'Heim Moss have also scored for Toledo.
Akron's Greg Tribble made a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game.
Mikal Dawson and Enrique Freeman have also scored for Akron.
ESPN2 is televising the game live at 9 p.m. and ESPN+ is also livestreaming the game.
2 Greg Tribble Jr.
11 Sammy Hunter
22 Mikal Dawson
24 Ali Ali
25 Enrique Freeman
0 Ra'Heim Moss
1 Javan Simmons
3 Sonny Wilson
21 Dante Maddox Jr.
23 Tyler Cochran
The Rockets host the Zips at 7 p.m. Feb. 20.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips men's basketball game score vs. Toledo live updates
