Akron 90, Ohio 70
Boxscore
AKRON, Ohio – Every time the Ohio Bobcats thought they had the answer, the Akron Zips changed the question, befuddling the visitors and earning a resounding 90-70 win in their Mid-American Conference opener on Tuesday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena.
Junior guard Bryan Trimble, Jr. (Kansas City, Mo.) led Akron with a season-best 22 points on 6-of-6 shooting from long distance, while senior guard Loren Cristian Jackson (Chicago, Ill.) added 21 points and eight assists. In a well-balanced offensive effort, senior guard Maishe Dailey (Beachwood, Ohio) tallied 16 points and senior forward Camron Reece (Oakland, Calif.) banked 10 points and eight rebounds.
Akron torched the nets all afternoon long, burying the Bobcats under an avalanche of 3-pointers as they sank 14-of-25 shots (56 percent) from long distance and shot a sparkling 63.6 percent from the field overall. Each time Ohio looked to make a run, the Zips (3-1, 1-0 MAC) quickly countered with a big shot. Leading the long-range shooting brigade were Trimble, Jackson and Dailey who combined to make 14 of their 20 combined triples on the day.
Additionally, the Zips dominated in the rebounding battle, besting Ohio 37-25 and outscoring the Bobcats 40-32 on points in the paint.
Trimble, Jackson and Dailey countered time and again with a three after a small Ohio scoring run, allowing Akron to maintain a double-digit lead throughout the second half. The margin reached as high as 25 late in the game, helping the hosts make an emphatic statement in their first MAC contest of the campaign.
The Zips surged out of the gate, building an early 11-2 lead behind stifling defense and 3-pointers by Jackson and Trimble. Ohio steadily inched its way back into the game behind the inside-outside play of junior guard Jason Preston, with the two sides settling into a hard-fought defensive battle in which baskets were at a premium for much of the opening 20 minutes.
With the game played mostly in the half court and at a slower pace early on, possessions were few and Akron's 62.1-percent shooting - including 7-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc - in the half gave the Zips a decided edge. They also controlled the glass as sophomore forward Enrique Freeman (Cleveland, Ohio) followed up his 20-point, 20-rebound effort from the team's most recent game by snaring five rebounds and blocking two shots before intermission.
Buoyed Freeman's post presence, the Akron defense held Ohio to 13 first-half field goals and outrebounded the Bobcats 18-10. Following their strong start, the Zips built their edge to as many as 13 points (44-31) and never trailed in the half.
Preston led the Bobcats (4-3, 0-1 MAC) with 16 points and senior forward Dwight Wilson contributed 11 points in defeat.
Toledo 78, Northern Illinois 55
Boxscore
TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo closed out 2020 with a dominating 78-55 Mid-American Conference triumph over Northern Illinois on Tuesday afternoon in Savage Arena. The Rockets' victory extended their winning streak to a season-high four games and kept them perfect in four contests on their homecourt.
"I thought we were really locked in defensively today," Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "We stayed in front of the dribble against a very physical rebounding team. It was a very solid win for us and now we can look forward to the holidays before having a chance to gets some practices in next week."
Senior Spencer Littleson led Toledo (7-3, 2-0 MAC) with a game-high 18 points, thanks to a 4-of-8 shooting performance behind the three-point arc. Freshman Ryan Rollins registered his second double-double, tallying 16 points and a game-high 11 rebounds to help the Rockets to a 43-33 advantage on the boards.
Also posting double-digit scoring totals for Toledo were redshirt freshman Mattia Acunzo (season-high 15 pts., six reb.) and senior Marreon Jackson (11 pts.).
Junior Trendon Hankerson and sophomore Tyler Cochran topped NIU (1-6, 0-2 MAC) with 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Toledo shot 47.4 percent from the field and was 12-of-30 (40.0 percent) from behind the three-point arc. The Rockets limited the Huskies to a 36.7 shooting mark from the field, including a miniscule 1-of-15 clip from three-point range.
Ball State 76, Western Michigan 68
Boxscore
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Sometimes you, sometimes me. Always us. That was the message for the Ball State men's basketball team from associate head coach Jason Grunkemeyer, who assumed the head coaching duties for the Cardinals while head coach James Whitford was home with a non-COVID illness. The Cardinals took that message to heart in a 76-68 victory at Western Michigan on Tuesday, giving the team a 2-0 start in conference play.
K.J. Walton scored 20 points, surpassing the 1,000-point mark for his career, and Luke Bumbalough played his best game of the season with 17 points and four assists. Brachen Hazen added 15 points.
