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Akron basketball score vs. Northern Kentucky | Recap of Zips' win led by Tavari Johnson
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- Akron basketball score vs. Northern Kentucky | Recap of Zips' win led by Tavari Johnson
The University of Akron men's basketball team extended its winning streak Tuesday night with a win over Northern Kentucky.
The Zips (5-2) were 86-73 winners over the Norse (2-6), their fourth straight win after home victories over Lamar, Nebraska-Omaha and Alabama State before Thanksgiving.
Here's how the game unfolded through our live updates .
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Tavari Johnson leads Akron to men's basketball win over Northern Kentucky
Tavari Johnson scores a career-high 27 points to lead Akron to an 86-73 men's basketball win over Northern Kentucky.
Johnson made 8 of 11 shots from field, including 4 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc, and 7 of 8 free throws in 26:17. He also had five assists, six turnovers, two rebounds and a block.
"The ball was moving," said Johnson, a 5-foot-11 junior. "I was getting open shots and I was shooting confidently. My teammates were driving. A lot of my shots was off of their penetration and I was able to finish them."
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Akron' 6-8 senior James Okonkwo finished with a career-high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in 16:09. He made 5 of 5 shots from the field and 7 of 7 free throws before fouling out.
"As TJ was saying, the ball was moving and my teammates found me in easy spots and I finally made a free throw," Okonkwo said. "Everything was clicking."
Akron's other leading scorers were senior Isaiah Gray (13 points, five rebounds), freshman Sharron Young (eight points), junior Josiah Harris (seven points, seven rebounds, two steals), senior Seth Wilson (six points) and redshirt junior Nate Johnson (five points, four assists, four rebounds).
"A lot of growth still needs to happen," Gray said. "We are all new together, but a lot of us have experience playing college basketball. Different system, different coaching, but at the end of the day we know how things can be early in the season, but also how important it is to be playing our best basketball in March. Game-by-game, practice-by-practice, we want to keep improving and learning."
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Graduate senior Trey Robinson paced Northern Kentucky with 28 points and five rebounds, senior Sam Vinson totaled 13 points, six assists and two steals and sophomore Randall Pettus II contributed 11 points and five rebounds.
"A good win," Akron coach John Groce said. "They have a played a brutal schedule [with losses to Florida State 74-62, Purdue 72-50, Cincinnati 76-60 and College of Charleston 79-64]. Darrin [Horn] does such a great job and they are hard to play against with the matchup zone. I have got a lot of respect for him and the job he does. He has got good good players.
"... In terms of us, I thought we played a little bit like we have practiced. We were sloppy. Fouled 25 times and turned the ball over 16 times. I hope these guys will have a chance to learn from a win. We always say we don't allow winning to be a deodorant. There were certainly some things we did well. We were efficient from the field, from 3, from 2 and from the free throw line. I thought our assist rate was pretty good [at 15]. I thought our ball movement and cutting was good early in the game. It got us the lead up to 17 in the first half [when Gray made a layup and a free throw with 2:08 remaining]."
Akron's largest lead was 64-45 with 12:28 left in the second half after Okonkwo made a layup and Wilson made a 3.
Akron guard Tavari Johnson drives past Northern Kentucky guard Trey Robinson on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in Akron.
Tavari Johnson, James Okonkwo of Akron men's basketball set career-highs for points in a game
Tavari Johnson and James Okonkwo have each set a career-high for points in a game tonight.
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Johnson made two free throws with 4:15 remaining in the second half to give himself 22 points and Akron a 81-67 lead over Northern Kentucky.
Okonkwo has 17 points.
Timeout on the floor with Akron leading 81-67 with 3:57 to go in the second half.
Tavari Johnson, Akron men's basketball maintain lead over Northern Kentucky in second half
Tavari Johnson swishes a 3-pointer to give Akron a 74-59 lead over Northern Kentucky.
Johnson has 20 points. Timeout on the floor with 7:28 to go in the second half.
Akron guard Bowen Hardman dives for the ball asNorthern Kentucky guard Hubertas Pivorius starts heading down court during the game at the James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.
James Okonkwo, Tavari Johnson, Seth Wilson guide Akron men's basketball to larger lead against Northern Kentucky in second half
Akron lead Northern Kentucky 64-48 with 11:56 to go in the second half.
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James Okonkwo is up to a career-high 17 points and Tavari Johnson is also at 17 points, four points shy of his career-high.
Okonkwo has eight points in the second half. Seth Wilson made a 3-pointer to give Akron a 64-45 lead.
Akron men's basketball maintains lead over Northern Kentucky in second half
Tavari Johnson is heating up for Akron as the Zips lead Northern Kentucky 57-43 with 15:53 remaining in the second half.
Johnson has seven points in the second half and 17 points in the game. James Okonkwo is at 13 points for Akron, Isaiah Gray has 11 points and Sharron Young has eight points.
Trey Robinson is up to 26 points for Northern Kentucky.
Akron guard Isaiah Gray secures a rebound against Northern Kentucky guard Trey Robinson, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024.
Akron men's basketball leads Northern Kentucky at halftime
Trey Robinson makes a 3-pointer as time expires to give him 23 points at halftime and cut Akron's lead to 46-36.
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Isaiah Gray leads Akron with 11 points, Tavari Johnson has 10 points, James Okonkwo has nine points and Sharron Young has eight points.
James Okonkwo, Tavari Johnson lead Akron men's basketball on run against Northern Kentucky
Akron leads Northern Kentucky 42-27 with 3:35 to go in the first half.
Akron is on a 9-2 run with a 3-pointer from Seth Wilson, two free throws from James Okonkwo, a layup from Amani Lyles and a jumper from Tavari Johnson.
Akron men's basketball extends lead over Northern Kentucky in first half
Akron leads 31-21 with 7:20 to go in the first half following a timeout by Northern Kentucky coach Darrin Horn. Akron's Sharron Young made a layup one second before the timeout to give the Zips a 10-point lead.
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Young and Isaiah Gray each have eight points for Akron, Tavari Johnson has seven points and James Okonkwo has five points.
Trey Robinson has 14 points for Northern Kentucky.
Akron guard Tavari Johnson, attempting a layup against Kent State last season, scored 21 points Tuesday at Northern Illinois.
Akron men's basketball leads Northern Kentucky in first half
Akron has made 4 of 6 3-point shots, 2 of 4 shots from 2-point range and 3 of 3 free throws to lead Northern Kentucky 19-14 with 14:21 to go in the first half.
Akron's Sharron Young has made two 3-pointers for six points, James Okonkwo has made a slam dunk and three free throws for five points and Isaiah Gray has a 2-pointer and a 3-pointer for five points.
Trey Robinson has 10 points for Northern Kentucky.
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Akron coach John Groce trotted out a starting five of Nate Johnson, Tavari Johnson, Isaiah Gray, Josiah Harris and Amani Lyles. The first five reserves for the Zips were Okonkwo, Bowen Hardman, Seth Wilson, Young and Marvin Musiime-Kamali.
Akron Zips basketball starters
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Nate Johnson
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Tavari Johnson
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Isaiah Gray
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Josiah Harris
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Amani Lyles
Northern Kentucky basketball starters
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Sam Vinson
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Trey Robinson
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Josh Dilling
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Keeyan Itejere
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LJ Wells.
Akron Zips forward Enrique Freeman (25) dunks the ball during the second half of a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal against the Miami Redhawks on March 14, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Akron beat Northern Kentucky last year in dramatic fashion
Akron graduate and current Indiana Pacers forward Enrique Freeman made a slam dunk with 3.6 seconds left off of a pass from Ali Ali to lead the Zips to a 77-76 win at Northern Kentucky last year on Dec. 9 .
Freeman scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. Sammy Hunter made five 3-pointers and finished with 20 points for the Zips. Nate Johnson and Ali scored 13 points apiece. Ali also had five assists.
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Marques Warrick finished with 30 points, six rebounds and three steals for the Norse. Trey Robinson added 20 points and seven rebounds and Sam Vinson had 10 points and four steals for Northern Kentucky.
Akron Zips guard Nate Johnson (34) shoots during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Friday, March 15, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio.
Akron basketball scores 2024
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Nov 4, at Arkansas State ... L 80-75 / OT
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Nov 8, Ohio Wesleyan ... W 88-57
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Nov 12, at Saint Mary's ... L 87-68
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Nov 22, Lamar ... W 79-72
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Nov 23, Nebraska-Omaha ... W 92-84
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Nov 24, Alabama State ... W 97-78
Akron guard Tavari Johnson, making a layup last season, scored a career-high 35 points Monday night.
Northern Kentucky basketball scores 2024
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Nov. 4, at Florida State ... L 74-62
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Nov. 8, at Purdue ... L 72-50
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Nov. 14, Nicholls ... L 61-59
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Nov. 19, Cincinnati ... L 76-60
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Nov. 23, Kentucky State ... W 85-59
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Nov. 27, College of Charleston ... L 79-64
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Nov. 30, Bellarmine ... W 86-70
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron men's basketball score today vs Northern Kentucky live updates
