Enrique Freeman, Greg Tribble guide Akron Zips men's basketball over rival Kent State

Friday night went about as well as could be expected for the University of Akron men's basketball team.

Akron defeated Kent State 83-70 in a rivalry game before a sellout crowd of 5,160 fans at Rhodes Arena. Elsewhere in the Mid-American Conference, Bowling Green beat Toledo 76-68.

Those results put Akron (20-7, 12-2) back atop the MAC by itself. Toledo (17-10, 11-3) dropped to second in the standings with Central Michigan (16-10, 10-3), which plays Saturday at Miami of Ohio.

Seniors starters Enrique Freeman, Greg Tribble Jr., Mikal Dawson, Ali Ali and Sammy Hunter played the starring roles for Akron as it swept the regular-season series against Kent State (13-14, 6-8).

"It was a super physical game," Freeman said. "I know I missed a few block-outs there at the end but, yeah, going into these games you always prepare for that type of physicality, especially against your rival team and we know the last few games, a lot of teams have been trying to play us really physical. ... I think as a team we took that to heart and we kind of came out today and tried to match the physicality and be the more physical team."

Enrique Freeman leads Akron to men's basketball win over Kent State

Freeman was slowed by foul trouble early, but finished strong with 24 points, 12 rebounds and two steals. He compiled his NCAA-best 24th double-double this season.

"Rique doing Rique things," Akron coach John Groce said. "I've said this a ton and I'll say it again, I hope people appreciate the guy. I mean, he's a generational dude. Just his approach, who he is, person, mental, emotional, student. The whole nine. Leader, cares about winning, cares about other people, humility, he's got the whole package, and then you can get on him during games. He knew he missed two block-outs. I got into him pretty good. You can do that because he's coachable and he responds."

Freeman made 8 of 14 shots from the field, including both 3-pointers he shot, and 6 of 6 free throws in 27 minutes. He said making the two 3s felt "amazing."

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Tribble had 15 points, four rebounds, three steals and a powerful two-hand slam dunk that was reminiscent of another jam he had as a freshman on March 6, 2020 against Kent State in a 79-76 win.

"It was a big play," Groce said of Tribble's dunk. "It took it to two possessions [32-27 at halftime]."

Tribble made 6 of 13 shots from the field and 2 of 3 free throws in 35 minutes.

"I didn't get to play the first time [this season because of an illness] and I wanted to be out there so bad," Tribble said. "I just felt like I had to bring the intensity for the guys so we could come out and win. I felt like I haven't been playing to my standard on defense, so today I kind of wanted to set the tone on the defensive end."

Ali and Dawson scored 14 points apiece. Ali added four assists and four rebounds in 35 minutes. Dawson made 4 of 5 3-point shots and a layup and had two steals in 30 minutes.

"I just stayed in my shot," Dawson said. "There are guys on the team, and even the coaches are telling me that before that when I would shoot, I'm falling back and just to stay in the shot, just straight up, straight down, and that's what I did tonight.

"... I got in the gym a lot more in the mornings. I like doing my work in the mornings. I'll just shoot a lot of shots before practice and then I'll come back later and shoot. Just same repetition all the time and making sure that I'm not leaning anywhere, not leaning left or right or leaning backwards on my shot."

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Groce said he "wasn't really worried about" Dawson's shooting "as long as he takes good ones."

"I always tell him, water finds its level," Groce said. "What people don't understand is what he brings to the table aside from shot making. People just look at the stat sheet and see whatever he shoots. His force, his physicality, his passion, his motor, his diving on loose balls, not afraid to make contact, stealing extra possessions for us. He did it again tonight. Those are winning plays, and I hope our young guys are watching."

Groce's trust extends to Freeman and Tribble, who have become more consistent offensively.

"These guys are totally different shooters than they were five years ago, four years ago," Groce said. "Credit to the staff to [assistants] Dustin [Ford], Rob [Fulford], Robby [Pridgen], John [Ekey] and Devin [Morrow]. The amount of time those guys spend with those guys and the routines they have in the morning. You heard Mike talk about the morning and coming back at night. That's what Rique does. Greg has put in as much time anybody."

Hunter added seven points and five rebounds in 28 minutes.

"A great win for us," Groce said. "I'm happy for these guys. I'm proud of them. I thought that we got contributions from everybody that played for the first time in a couple weeks. I thought we were really, the strength in numbers approach that we try to employ was really good."

Groce offered praise for Kent State and its coach Rob Senderoff.

"I've got a lot of respect for Rob and every time I thought we were going to get a little bit of distance, they swung right back," Groce said. " And that happened about three or four times until we were able to get a little bit of a gap at the end of the game."

Jalen Sullinger paces Kent State against Akron

Junior Jalen Sullinger paced KSU with 20 points in 36 minutes and senior Chris Payton Jr. totaled 14 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in 29 minutes.

"It was a high-level game," Senderoff said. "We didn't defend in the second half the way we needed to to come out with a win. Give them credit for the things that they did. We have got to be a little bit better. Proud of our effort and the story of our season is still ahead of us."

Sullinger made 8 of 14 shots from the field, including 4 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"Sullinger got going and he can really make shots," Groce said. "He's a threat out there as soon as he walks in the building off the bus."

Flashes junior VonCameron Davis finished with 13 points six rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes and senior Giovanni Santiago had 12 points and four assists in 34 minutes.

"[We allowed] too many points in the paint, too many easy baskets," Senderoff said. "And then you know what? Freeman hits two 3s. If he is 2 for 2 from 3 when he is such a dominant inside guy, that makes it even more difficult. Second half, we didn't do a good enough job. The crazy thing is we shot 60% in the second half, too. They shot 54%. We shot 60. We didn't make enough stops and they made their free throws."

Akron made 15 of 19 free throws. Kent State made 7 of 10 free throws.

"We played about as well as we have played offensively in a while," Senderoff said. "... Give them credit. They have got good players that drove the ball well and then they shot the ball from 3 in the second half, 6 for 10. When you have such a great inside player in Freeman who draws tremendous attention by the other team, [it is tough]. They banked in a 3, which started their run, Sammy Hunter did, in the second half [after Dawson made a 3]."

Akron finished with an edge in points in the paint (40-34) and points off turnovers (21-11).

"Our effort tonight was exceptional," Groce said. "Our bench hasn't been as good. Today, it was terrific."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Enrique Freeman leads Akron to men's basketball win over Kent State