University of Akron men's basketball team struggles late in MAC loss at Ball State
Late foul trouble and a 10-0 Ball State run cost the University of Akon men’s basketball team Friday night at Worthen Arena in Muncie, Ind.
The Cardinals beat the Zips 70-63 in a Mid-American Conference defensive slugfest as the Zips couldn’t find any offense down the stretch. UA failed to score a field goal in the final 11 minutes of the game.
Center Payton Sparks led four Cardinals (11-4, 2-0) in double figures with 15 points and added eight rebounds. Forward Enrique Freeman led UA (9-6, 1-1) with 23 points and 14 rebounds, notching his fourth consecutive double-double.
Guard Greg Tribble was the only other Zip in double figures with 14 points.
The bottom line is the night featured a decent start from a physical standpoint for the Zips, but other factors added up to a loss. Here are the key takeaways from the loss:
Foul trouble endangered Akron Zips' shot at winning
With 8:22 left in the game, five Zips already had four fouls. That was significant enough, but two of those players included Tribble and Freeman, the team’s leading scorers at that point in the game. That forced the Zips to gut it out. With 7:01 left and leading 59-56, the Zips had Trendon Hankerson, Sammy Hunter, Tavari Johnson, Kobe Mitchell and Nate Johnson on the floor, with the most experienced player being Hankerson. Ultimately, Hunter and Nate Johnson fouled out.
Coach John Groce received energy from his team
Before leaving for Muncie, Zips coach John Groce said his team had been getting off to flat starts. A couple of his players, including Tribble, agreed. Many would assume flat equates to lack of scoring. Not necessarily.
Instead, Groce was talking about energy and physicality, which the Zips showed in the opening moments of Friday’s game against the Cardinals. Scoring was at a premium, but UA played with a physicality that contributed to their being able to withstand a slow scoring start.
“This was a different road game for us compared to the first two. I mean, we were a lot tougher,” Groce said. “Thought we were physical, thought we had good focus and preparation. The last two days, thought we played with a lot of poise. Even when the game got wacky, had good leadership from our four captains in huddles. They stay poised. I thought that was really good. But bottom line was just made too many mistakes.”
That defense was the key to Akron's physicality
It’s clear the Zips will have to rely on their second-ranked defense as long as leading scorer Xavier Castaneda, who sat for a second consecutive game with a right wrist injury, remains out of the lineup. UA didn’t score its 10th point until the 11:14 mark of the first half. They allowed the Cardinals to open the game with a 7-0 run, but did not surrender a field goal from 18:02 to 11:40 of the first half to erase the deficit.
And that defense held up — Ball State shot 39% in the game (19 of 49), but the Zips offense did not.
Akron Zips guard Greg Tribble shows up again, but needs help
Tribble has taken it upon himself to try to fill Castaneda’s shoes. So far this season, those are Shaquille O’Neal-sized kicks, but Tribble has stepped into them as his team has needed offense as it starts its Mid-American Conference schedule. He scored above his average (6.4 points) again, giving his team 14 points. He’s been more aggressive driving to the hoop out of necessity, and has been efficient offensively the past two games.
Freeman, meanwhile, is like a precision time piece at this point in his collegiate career. There isn’t much more he can do beyond how he performed against the Cardinals, short of slapping an “S” on his chest and donning a cape.
The Zips went without a field goal for the game’s final 11 minutes. Players didn’t move. There was little ball movement.
“Until we have better ball and player movement and execute better offensively, we're going to lose games,” Groce said. “So, you're going to have to figure out how to create more open and easy shots. The shots were too difficult. I didn't think we exercised much patience. I thought the ball player movement was awful. Last seven minutes of the game, too much hero ball over dribbling. It was just bad.”
A third scorer has to reveal himself as long as Castaneda is down, Groce said.
“We need a third scorer tonight. We need a third scorer,” Groce said. “And I thought that Hankerson (1-of-7 shooting, eight points) and Tavari (3-of-11 shooting, seven points, six turnovers) had subpar nights based on what they can bring to the table.”
Reach George M. Thomas at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: University of Akron men's basketball suffers MAC loss at Ball State
