The Kent State men’s basketball team will head down to Akron Friday to take on “the school down the road,” in an ever-important rendition of the rivalry. The Flashes have lost five straight to the Zips, with their last win coming in 2023, but the belief is that this season will be different.
“They have had a lot of people’s numbers,” coach Rob Senderoff said. “They are a good team, so we will have to play well.”
Winners of four of its last five, KSU enters the meeting coming off an impressive 72-57 victory over the Ohio University Bobcats. In the win, three players recorded a double-double, including graduate forward Magnus Entenmann, graduate guard Morgan Safford, and senior forward Delrecco Gillespie.
Entering Friday’s meeting at 16-5 (7-2), the Flashes will look to pull off an upset.
The Zips come in fresh off a 91-81, come-from-behind victory against the Toledo Rockets on Tuesday. Currently sitting at 17-4 (8-1), Akron has rattled off seven-straight wins with its only conference loss coming at the hands of the undefeated Miami Redhawks.
Offense has been Akron’s forte, ranking second in the Mid-American Conference in scoring only behind the Redhawks. Both teams rank similarly in many areas, including scoring, with KSU averaging just 3.4 fewer points on the season.
Senior guard Tavari Johnson leads the Zips in scoring, sitting at 20.5 points per game, good for first in the conference. Gillespie, KSU’s leading scorer, sits two spots behind Johnson in scoring at 19.1 points per game.
“It’s gonna present an incredible challenge for us defensively,” Senderoff said. “But that’s the type of challenge we need to see how we hold up.”
While stopping the Zips high-powered offense will undoubtedly be a massive challenge to overcome, KSU’s defensive physicality has stepped up in the previous few matchups. Gillespie and Johnson will leave their prints all over the matchup regardless, paving the way for each team’s supporting cast to be the catalyst that leads to a win.
One key piece of KSU’s supporting cast, currently averaging 12.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, is questionable heading into Friday. Graduate forward Rob Whaley Jr. injured himself late in the Flashes’ meeting with Eastern Michigan and could not play because of it on Tuesday’s game against OU.
“Yeah, I think it’s a possibility, but we are not sure,” Senderoff said when asked if Whaley Jr. will play against the Zips.
If Whaley Jr. is not able to go, Entenmann and freshman forward Dezmon Briscoe will be names to watch.
Briscoe received the start against the Bobcats, scoring zero points and picking up six rebounds. While the freshman has not played a ton this season, averaging just 8.8 minutes per game, those numbers could jump in Whaley Jr.’s absence as the team would be in need of a paint presence.
Entenmann took advantage of a larger opportunity in the win against Ohio. The six-foot-nine forward played 28 minutes, putting up 12 points and 10 rebounds in the process.
For the Zips, senior forward Amani Lyles will look to impact the game. Lyles is second in scoring for Akron behind Johnson, averaging 15.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, which leads the team.
The biggest area of concern Senderoff voiced needing improvement was the offensive side of the ball.
“Offensively we are not playing quite as well as we were earlier in the year,” Senderoff said. “There are some areas we need to improve upon.”
One of those areas is turnovers, as the Flashes committed 38 turnovers over the previous two games. Playing clean basketball and scoring at a high clip will be the key for both teams.
Prior to the matchup, the Flashes sit in third while the Zips are just a spot above in second place in the MAC standings.
KSU will have just under a month to prepare until their second meeting with the Zips on Feb. 28. Until then, the Flashes will shift their focus towards other conference opponents, including rematches against the Toledo Rockets and the Bowling Green Falcons.
“It’s going to be a dogfight, and we are not going to make it a pretty ballgame,” Safford said. “We are going to be prepared for it and be locked in.”
Josh Szeremet is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
