Akron at Kent State men's basketball: Chris Payton vs. Enrique Freeman has main event feel

KENT — Chris Payton Jr. and the rest of the Kent State University men's basketball team have encountered several obstacles this season, but no challenge has been more highly anticipated than their next test.

The substantial amount of respect Payton possesses for University of Akron senior forward Enrique Freeman shaped the KSU graduate-student forward's offseason training.

Payton expects to be matched up with Freeman for the vast majority of the first meeting this season between Mid-American Conference rivals Kent State (9-8, 2-3) and Akron (13-4, 5-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at the M.A.C. Center.

“He definitely gave me some motivation in the summer to be better,” Payton told the Beacon Journal on Wednesday. “Now it's time to put all that motivation to use, all that energy to use.

“Knowing how hard he works on every play, how relentless he is on rebounding and finishing, how he plays defense, just knowing how good he's going to make me play, I was just trying to be physically ready for that.”

Payton and Freeman are among the MAC's best players, and this will be the fourth time they have faced one another.

Last season, Kent State went 2-1 against Akron, including 1-0 in the MAC Tournament. The landscape, though, is different this time around.

UA has had the better 2023-24 season thus far, and it's not even close.

In the meantime, Payton has transitioned from coming off the bench in all but four games last season to serving as a focal point for KSU. A dominant outing against a player the caliber of Freeman would be a statement.

“Obviously, you've got to give respect where it's due,” Payton said. “But, at the same time, I feel like if I'm at my best and he's at his, I'm the better player. I don't say that with no disrespect. I say that with confidence.”

Payton knows he must prove it.

Last season against UA, Payton had four points and five rebounds in 20 minutes in a 67-55 Akron win, 22 points and seven rebounds in 32 minutes in an 89-84 Kent State overtime victory and two points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes in a 79-73 KSU triumph during a MAC Tournament semifinal.

In those same three showdowns, Freeman had 19 points and 17 rebounds in 37 minutes, 25 points and 12 rebounds in 43 minutes and 26 points and 18 rebounds in 39 minutes.

“At some point, you've got to realize if you're a good player or not, and I feel like I am,” Payton said. “Obviously, I know how the gym's going to be. I know how the fans are going to be. I know how up he's going to be for the game, and usually I show up for big games. So I hope it's another case of the same thing.”

This season, Payton is averaging 14.6 points on 50.3% shooting from the field, 8.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.4 blocked shots and 29.1 minutes per game.

Meanwhile, Freeman is averaging 18.4 points on 58.9% shooting from the floor, 13.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 blocked shots and 31.9 minutes a game.

Payton realizes what is at stake whenever the two programs collide.

“The first thing you hear when you get here is, 'You've got to beat Akron no matter what happens. We can lose every other game, but as long as you beat Akron, that's all that matters,'” he said.

Payton, listed as 6 feet, 7 inches and 226 pounds, and Freeman, listed as 6-7 and 206 pounds, have more than a rivalry in common.

Freeman arrived at UA in 2018 on an academic scholarship and often played basketball at the school's recreation center before walking on with the Zips. Like Freeman, Payton has had an unusual college hoops journey.

Payton quit his Bloomington High School basketball team in Bloomington, Illinois, late in his senior season. A series of suspensions he received from the Bloomington coaching staff and athletic department resulted in “soured relationships,” Payton said. During a moment of reflection, he conceded he could have improved his decisions and communication back then.

“There's always second chances,” he added.

Indian Hills Community College in Iowa gave Payton an opportunity. He parlayed it into spending the 2021-22 season at the University of Pittsburgh.

Payton said he wasn't as aggressive as he should have been to seize the role he sought at Pitt. In the 2022 offseason, he transferred to Kent State, where coach Rob Senderoff had recruited him before he chose Pitt.

Senderoff has established a pipeline from Indian Hills to KSU. One notable example: Former Golden Flashes standout and 2022-23 MAC Defensive Player of the Year Malique Jacobs was an Indian Hills teammate of Payton. Watching Jacobs succeed at KSU inspired Payton.

“He showed the second half of the [2022-23] season, once he started knowing his role and understanding the league and what we were asking for him, that he can be special for us,” Flashes senior point guard Giovanni Santiago said of Payton.

Instead of returning to his family's home in Illinois last summer, Payton remained at KSU to train. His routine consisted of multiple workouts a day.

“He's a tremendous athlete,” Senderoff said of Payton. “He's got a high motor. His conditioning is the best that it's ever been, and he's really worked on his skill. He was a guy who didn't shoot outside of the paint last year, somewhat with the need of our team and somewhat with where his skill set was. … So he's really expanded his game.”

Payton stressed team success is his top priority. KSU had been on a three-game losing streak until it captured an 83-76 road win over Northern Illinois on Tuesday night.

“He's having a very good year, but I think he would tell you we want to win,” Senderoff said. “ … We've got to win some games for his year to be validated.”

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Given how this season has unfolded, it would be difficult to overstate what prevailing over Akron and Freeman could do for Kent State and Payton.

“I think we were, for a while there, kind of trending in the wrong direction, even more mentally than just on the basketball aspect of things,” Payton said. “I think we just had the wrong mindset about how to take the loss and how to grow from it. I think we kind of saw every loss as kind of the end of the world and not really an opportunity to build.

“But I think the win [over Northern Illinois] right now in our last game is huge for us. Obviously, you can't get too excited about just one win, but we definitely needed it. So I think that as long as we do what we need to do on Friday, I think that's going to be our real turning point.”

But is it realistic? Payton versus Freeman will go a long way toward determining the answer.

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State vs. Akron headlined by Chris Payton, Enrique Freeman