AKRON, Ohio – The calendar may have flipped over to 2020, but the Akron Zips are still refusing to lose at home, adding a 75-60 comeback win over Ball State to their ledger Friday night at James A. Rhodes Arena.
 
After falling behind by 10 late in the first half, Akron surged back and overwhelmed the visiting Cardinals (9-7, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) behind a blend of strong shooting and even better defense to improve to 10-0 on their home court this season.
 
Senior Xeyrius Williams (Springfield, Ohio) led the Zips with 23 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season, with junior Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) adding 19 points, eight assists and four rebounds and senior Tyler Cheese (Albany, Ga.) also reaching double figures with 17 points and contributing five rebounds.
 
Taking Williams' lead, Akron outrebounded Ball State 41-29 for the game.
 
Following a slow start, Akron caught fire in the middle portion of the contest, outscoring the Cardinals 34-10 in a period of 12:30 spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second half. Three early second-half 3-pointers by Williams were key in Akron asserting control over the game, but a bevy of Zips (13-3, 3-0 MAC) had a hand in maintaining the lead once the hosts pushed ahead.
 
It was a rally made possible by a gritty, determined effort in the first half, when the shots simply weren't falling for the Zips and they watched the visitors slowly build a double-digit lead.
 
Jackson helped keep the Zips close in the first half despite shooting just 1-of-7 from the field. His five free throws, four rebounds and two assists in the half helped breathe life back into the Akron attack and Williams added nine points as the duo accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Zips' first-half scoring.
 
Despite shooting just 30 percent from the field in the first half, the Zips scrapped and battled to stay in the game, getting plenty of defensive stops of their own, including taking multiple charges and playing excellent help defense.
 
They were able to withstand a 10-4 Ball State run midway through the half and pull off a 10-3 spurt of their own as Williams scored four straight points, with the Zips tying the game at 27-all with 1:59 left in the opening frame on a driving, up-and-under layup by Cheese.
 
It was a first half that saw the two teams play to a virtual standoff across the stat sheet. Each side made just two 3-pointers, missed just one free throw, recorded three assists and had 16 defensive rebounds. They were also nearly even in turnovers (9-8 in favor of Akron), second-chance points (4-3 in favor of Akron) and total rebounds (22-20 in favor of Akron).
 
Fouls marred much of the half, disrupting the flow of the game and putting both teams in the bonus with nearly 40 percent of the half still to play.
 
Ball State edged ahead 30-27 heading into intermission with a late 3-pointer, but the Zips retained much of the momentum thanks to their 10-0 run and transferred that positive traction to the second half.
 
Akron took its first lead since the third minute of the game at the 18:31 mark of the second half. The Zips quickly extended that lead to four, 37-33, after Jackson hit a clutch triple from the top of the arc and followed that up by picking the pocket of redshirt freshman guard Jarron Coleman on Ball State's ensuing possession, converting the turnover into a layup to cap an 8-0 Akron run.
 
Even after Ball State scored to snap the run, the Zips simply regrouped and launched another burst, a 7-2 run that gave them their largest lead to that point, 44-37.
 
Improved shooting fueled the run, as the hosts canned seven of their first nine second-half attempts, including three of their first four tries from long distance. It turned out to be a spark that led to an inferno as Akron pulled away for its third straight double-digit win to kick off conference play.
 
Senior forward Tahjai Teague led Ball State with 19 points and junior guard Ishmael El-Amin also reached double figures with 16 for the Cardinals.
 
The Zips will make the long trip west for their next game, a road tilt against MAC West foe Northern Illinois set for Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. The contest can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on 1350-AM, serving as a one-game road trip before Akron returns home to face Toledo on Jan. 18.

OXFORD, OH - Five players scored in double figures led by 25 points from junior Jayvon Graves as the Bulls picked up their first Mid-American Conference victory with an 83-78 win at Miami. The win was UB's 10th of the season.

The first half was a game of runs as the host RedHawks opened the night scoring the first 11 points. However, a bucket from sophomore Ronaldo Segu began a run of 17 straight Buffalo points as the Bulls pulled ahead. It went on to be a 22-2 run as a pair of free throws from Josh Mballa put the Bulls ahead 22-13 with 10:25 left.

Miami tied the game up at 29-29 and then the RedHawks went on a 9-2 run to take a 38-31 lead. Buffalo pulled within two but five straight Miami points put the RedHawks into the break, up 43-36.

Miami scored the first bucket of the second half to take a nine-point lead and they continued to lead 54-49 when the Bulls scored 10 straight, capped off on a three by Segu, giving Buffalo a 59-54 lead and the Bulls never looked back.

A triple from senior Davonta Jordan gave Buffalo a 71-62 lead, its largest of the second half with 7:57 left. A fast-break dunk from Mballa put UB ahead 76-68 with 3:51 remaining, but Miami would make one last push. 

With the Bulls leading by six with 18 seconds left, the RedHawks scored four straight to pull within two. Segu hit a pair of free throws to go back up four and the Bulls hunkered down on defense following the pair, causing a Miami five seconds call.

"I was really happy with the way we defended tonight and we challenged the guys to play with energy and get back to Blue Collar basketball and I thought we did that," said head coach Jim Whitesell. "Offensively, the ball moved much better and we got balanced scoring up and down the lineup."

Graves led all players with 25 points as he went 9-of-16 from the floor, adding three rebounds and three assists.

Segu finished with 16 points off the bench, and he had a team-high six assists. Jordan played all but 28 seconds in the game and had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while chipping in five assists.

It was one of two double-doubles for the Bulls as Mballa finished with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore Jeenathan Williams added 11 points.

Defensively, the Bulls did a nice job on Miami's leading scorer Nike Simbande, who scored just eight points on 4-of-11 shooting. UB held a 43-40 advantage on the glass and had six blocked shots and eight steals.

Buffalo is now 1-2 in league play for the third time in the last five years, finishing with those starts in both 2016 and 2017.

UB returns home on Tuesday night when the Bulls host Ohio at 7pm at Alumni Arena.