Enrique Freeman leads Akron to men's basketball win over Ohio in MAC Tournament semifinal

CLEVELAND — The University of Akron men's basketball team compiled its lowest scoring first half in over 30 years Friday night and still recorded a win.

A rough first half became merely a footnote after Akron put together a strong second half to earn a 65-62 win over Ohio University in a Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinal at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Senior forwards Enrique Freeman, Ali Ali and Sammy Hunter spearheaded a 10-point comeback to propel Akron (23-10) to the MAC Tournament championship against rival Kent State (17-16) at 7 p.m. Saturday. KSU topped Bowling Green 73-60 in Friday's other semifinal. The Zips beat the Flashes twice in the regular season.

Hunter said "mental toughness" was the key as Akron overcame a 26-16 halftime deficit to OU.

"Coach [John Groce] always says mental toughness," Hunter said. "You got to keep a strong head and that's what we did. Nobody folded. The seniors, especially Greg Tribble [Jr.], just was very vocal and we came up with the win."

Freeman, the MAC Player of the Year, recorded his NCAA-best 30th double-double this season with 24 points and a MAC Tournament record 21 rebounds. He also had seven blocks and one assist in just over 39 minutes.

"I just work hard," Freeman said. "I know my teammates are counting on me so I just try to play for them."

Freeman made 8 of 14 shots from the field, including 1 of 1 from 3-point range, and 7 of 10 free throws.

"[He played] like the player of the year in the league and one of the best players in the country," Groce said. "I've been saying that the whole time. I mean just his willpower tonight and his ability to rebound. I keep telling them something, everybody's got to participate in rebounding and some of those guys will say, 'Coach, I can't get any. Freeman gets 'em all.' So, he just has a knack for doing that and some of those he got were way outside his area. We call those range rebounds. Some were unreal. I thought he played with a lot of force tonight."

With assistance from Akron sports information directors, it is believed that the last time the Zips scored 16 points in a first half was Jan. 26, 1991 in a 48-30 loss to Northern Illinois at Rhodes Arena.

The Zips made 6 of 26 shots from the field in the first half (1 of 8 from beyond the 3-point arc) and had 13 turnovers. The Bobcats converted 10 of 29 shots from the field (3 of 10 on 3s) and had nine tunovers.

The second half was a different story. Akron made 16 of 30 shots from the field (7 of 14 on 3s) and had two turnovers. Ohio's second half featured 12 of 32 shooting from the field (2 of 13 on 3s) and three turnovers.

"Showed a lot of resolve and [this is] an amazing comeback," Groce said. "Really give these guys credit, but give Ohio a lot of credit as well. I have a lot of respect for [coach] Jeff [Boals] and the way he coaches his team. They're competitors.

"... I thought in the second half, the key for us was can we continue to defend like we did in the first half? We were able to do that. I felt like the shots would open up. We did a few different things offensively in the second half that I thought helped a little bit, but it's really these guys making plays and just their resolve. They just didn't want to go home. So proud of 'em, but we still have one more. Try to get some rest tonight and get ready for tomorrow's game. I know Kent State's playing really well right now, obviously, and has a lot of momentum, so it'll be a great, great, great challenge."

Senior Jaylin Hunter scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in over 31 minutes for Ohio (20-13). Bobcats senior Miles Brown had 16 points, five rebounds and two steals in over 32 minutes. Senior Shereef Mitchell added 14 points, four assists and four rebounds in over 36 minutes.

"We had won seven in a row, 11 of our last 13, and we got better throughout the whole course of the year," Boals said. "Proud of these guys for their leadership, their perseverance, their togetherness, their growth. It is disappointing not being able to coach them one more day. Give Akron a lot of credit. We controlled the first half. They controlled the second half. They stepped up, made plays and hit big time shots down the stretch. Freeman, obviously, 24 and 21. Hats off to him."

Ali was scoreless at halftime and then finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists in over 26 minutes. He made 4 of 13 shots from the field, including 3 of 5 3-pointers, and 5 of 6 free throws.

Hunter finished with 14 points in over 31 minutes. He converted 5 of 9 from the field, including 4 of 7 3-pointers.

Ali made two 3s early in the second half as Akron's comeback was underway.

"You can't get in your feelings," Ali said. "... We were already down by 10 points, so it's like you can't think about that. Just got to think positive. And my teammates too, they just keep saying shoot the ball, shoot the ball and it worked out."

Hunter contributed a layup, and then made two 3s on consecutive possessions as Akron trimmed its deficit to 38-36 with 10:45 remaining. Moments later, Freeman threw down a two-hand slam dunk, Hunter swished another 3 and Freeman made two free throws to give Akron a 43-42 lead 8:33 left.

"It felt good, especially when I know I got four other guys counting on me," Hunter said of his stroke. "Didn't want to go home, didn't want to lose and needed a little bit of momentum. We weren't hitting shots and I've been struggling myself in recent games, but credit my teammates for just telling me, keep shooting."

Ohio responded and led 48-43 with less than eight minutes to go. Akron countered with a 16-2 run to lead 59-50 with 3:09 left. Freeman started the spurt with a dunk, and also made two layups and a 3-pointer. Ali contributed a layup and a 3 and senior Tribble added a layup.

In the final 1:20, Freeman made 3 of 4 free throws and blocked a shot and Ali made 3 of 4 free throws. Jaylin Hunter fired an off-balance 3-pointer as time expired.

"We had probably the worst first half we have had all season," Freeman said. "In the tournament, a lot of teams would crack and fold, our team, we decided to pick each other up and say, 'Hey, we're better than this. Let's go out to win,' and our will to win obviously showed that in the second half."

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

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron earns men's basketball win over Ohio in MAC Tournament semifinal