Ali Ali leads Akron men's basketball past Toledo in Mid-American Conference showdown
The University of Akron men's basketball team was in a peculiar position Friday night in a Mid-American Conference showdown against Toledo at Rhodes Arena.
Zips senior starters Enrique Freeman, Greg Tribble Jr. and Sammy Hunter were being limited by the fouls. Akron's other senior starters, Ali Ali and Mikal Dawson, were good to go.
Ali, who is 6-foot-8, scored 26 points and also had two assists, two rebounds and two blocks in 36 minutes as Akron (17-5, 9-1) reclaimed the top spot in the MAC standings over Toledo (14-8, 8-2).
"Ali Ali is a good player," Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "He scored a lot in the post. We got them in foul trouble with Tribble and Freeman in the first half, but Ali Ali was a mismatch problem for us tonight. We gotta defend him better than we did tonight.
"... He made some shots in the post with just his length. He is a good player. In the second half, he made some timely shots as the shot clock was winding down with length."
Akron coach John Groce said Ali played "terrific" Friday.
"He plays both ends," Groce said of Ali. "He is guarding Dante Maddox [Jr.] most of the night. That's a tough cover. ... He was locked in, having fun, smiling and having a great time."
Ali Ali surpasses 1,000 combined points at Akron and Butler
Ali made jumpers, slam dunks, one 3-pointer and converted from the free-throw line. He finished 8 of 13 from the field and 9 of 11 from the line and surpassed 1,000 career points in his combined career at Akron and Butler.
"It feels good," Ali said. "I didn't get this in high school. I kind of came up a little bit short, so it is nice to get it in college. Maybe next year or in a couple of years, I think we can look back on this when we are hanging out after college, when we are playing professionally or whatever we are doing in life, I think that is when it will mean more. I am happy and I am glad that I was able to do it here on the home court."
Ali is also approaching 1,000 career points in just his Akron career, which includes this season and the 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. He has 902 points in 102 games at Akron and scored 117 points in 18 games at Butler during the 2022-2023 season.
"We have the players to make plays," Freeman said. "Ali Ali showed up big time tonight. Mike Dawson showed up big time tonight. ... Ali and Mike are dogs. They are amazing offensive players. Mike locked in on defense, too."
Dawson, who is 6-5, made 4 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc en route to 14 points and added two blocked shots in 33 minutes.
"I don't really try to overcomplicate it," Ali said. "Like we have said in the past, we just practice with so many different lineups, that is not really my first thought, like, 'Oh, Rique is out. I gotta score.' It is more like get to the next play and work with what we got. If the ball comes to me, try to make a play for me or someone else."
Enrique Freeman climbs up Akron men's basketball points chart
Freeman, Tribble and Hunter were each whistled for four fouls, but the fifth and final foul never came.
Freeman, who is 6-7, compiled his 19th double-double this season, finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 26 minutes.
"I use the analogy that Rique gets a double-double like we breathe," Groce said. "He does it again."
Freeman, who also didn't score 1,000 points in high school, passed 2020 MAC Player of the Year Loren Cristian Jackson for the No. 6 spot on the program's career points list. Jackson scored 1,587 points in 87 games from 2018-2021.
The 20 points gave Freeman 1,600 points and he is second on Akron's career rebounds list with 1,235 in 119 games.
"People don't understand how much we idolize those guys," Freeman said of Akron's 2019-2020 team that featured Jackson, Channel Banks, Tyler Cheese, Xeyrius Williams, Deng Riak and Camron Reece. "... If it wasn't for them, our journey would be very different [at Akron]."
Freeman, a seven-time MAC Player of the Week recipient this season, was named one of 10 finalists for the 2024 Karl Malone Award on Wednesday. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame selection committee, which includes Malone, will pick a winner in March.
"I appreciate being recognized," Freeman said. "It feels nice. I am so focused on what we have got going on here that sometimes it is hard to really appreciate the awards as I would want to, but I am thankful. Truthfully, I didn't do this by myself. There is a team behind me, coaches who believed in me and the Zips fans who support me everyday. It is nice to have my face up there, but there is a crowd of people behind me who got me there."
Akron men's basketball coach John Groce pleased with win Toledo
Junior starters Ra'Heim Moss, Dante Maddox Jr. and Tyler Cochran and freshmen starters Javan Simmons and Sonny Wilson all reached double figures for Toledo.
"They are a great team," Freeman said. "It was a great challenge. We know what they are capable of on any given night."
Moss, who is 6-4, led the way 16 points. Simmons and Maddox each scored 14, and Wilson and Cochran had 11 apiece.
"This is a great win against a very well-coached team and a very good team," Groce said. "I have got a lot of respect for Tod, his staff and their team. The way that they play, I knew that they would keep coming."
Ali scored 15 points to help Akron lead 47-36 at halftime.
"Obviously, I thought the first half was about as well as we have played offensively in terms of shot making, ball movement and assist rate," Groce said. "We had 18 field goals in the first half and 12 of them were assisted. The ball moved. We shot 64 percent from the field [18 of 28] and 58 percent from 3 [7 of 12]. We had five turnovers. We were really clicking."
Akron's shooting in the second half was far worse, at just 29 percent from the field and 9 percent from 3.
"Give Toledo credit," Groce said. "They kept swinging. They made it really hard to score. Our guys kept fighting. You are playing an elite national offense — No. 1 offense in our league — so to hold them to 43 percent [overall], obviously that is hard to do. They are so well coached, they have a great scheme and they have got really good players."
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips men's basketball wins over Toledo Rockets led by Ali Ali
