As Yogi Berra would say: it’s like deja vu all over again as the Akron Zips find themselves in the Mid-Atlantic Conference championship game for the ninth time in the last 11 years. This year’s opponent: the six seed Kent State Golden Flashes. Obviously, the Zips have been the cream of the crop in the MAC this season, but were pushed to the edge against Ball State in the Semifinals. Nevertheless, they’re still in great position to earn that automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
This war on the floor will go down Saturday, March 11, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. The game will be televised live on ESPN2.
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The Zips came away with the win in the semifinal bout on Friday afternoon, but they came shy of covering the spread, winning by four despite being the 5.5 point favorites.
The ATS loss snapped a two game ATS winning streak for Akron. The Zips are just 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games. They’re a bit better SU in that time, but still have a few tough conference losses in that span, too.
Meanwhile, when you flip the script, Kent State upset Ohio in the Semifinals for their third straight win both SU and ATS. The Flashes have won eight of their last nine SU and seven of their last eight ATS, including covering each of the last four times this team was the underdog. They’ll be the pups on Saturday.
Player to Watch
This game will be billed as Isaiah Johnson against Jimmy Hall with two of the premier players—and team leaders—in the Mid-Atlantic Conference taking the court.
While a tough game by Johnson could certainly open the door for Kent State and a bad showing by Hall is basically a death sentence for the Golden Flashes’ season, you can generally expect both players to perform.
It’s the supporting cast that will be key and for Kent State, that could be Kevin Zabo. The guard has been a bench player all year, but he came off the bench to have a huge performance in the Semifinals against Ohio.
The young guard came through with a number of huge shots behind the arc, making a career high four threes.
Last Meeting
Kent State closed out the regular season against Akron, falling 66-56 after beating the Zips in their first meeting, 70-67 just a few weeks earlier.
The split shows that a win for Akron should not be a foregone conclusion. This Golden Flashes team beat the Zips in Akron as Jimmy Hall got plenty of support from Deon Edwin who shot 7-for-11 from the floor as well as from Jaylin Walker who served as an X-factor.
The Flashes won the battle on the outside and that transitioned to the narrow three point win. In the loss, Kent State just couldn’t find the hoop. They shot just 33.3-percent from the floor and an absolutely dismal 13.6-percent from beyond the arc.
If Kent State has a chance, they’ll need to come out of the gate hot and have success on the outside.
Free College Basketball ATS Picks
While Akron has made more than its share of these MAC championship games, they’ve been spotty at best in the games themselves. They lost to the No. 3 seed Buffalo last year and have fallen to Ohio in the title game in the past due to mental mistakes and poor play on their part. In the end, given the personnel on the court and experience, that’s what it will take for the Zips to falter.
We’ve seen Keith Dambrot’s team fail to nail down the automatic NCAA bid when they should have before, but this is the best team he’s had since taking over at Akron. He’s got a duo of experienced, and talented, seniors in Isaiah Johnson and Kwan Cheatham Jr. who will be motivated to avoid the disappointment from a year ago.
Kent State got the big upset over the conference’s two seed, but can they supplant the top No. 2 and No. 1 teams in back-to-back games? It seems highly unlikely. Don’t look for the same production off the bench from Zabo who isn’t typically a good shooter from three. Sure, Jimmy Hall is a beast, but he can only do so much and that whirlwind of a game against Ohio was an emotional rollercoaster. It’ll be a close one as Kent State has plenty of positive momentum, but Akron comes away with the invite to the Big Dance.
College Basketball Odds: Akron 73, Kent State 69
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