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I think we were ~45 when NET was first released this year. The Murray State loss dropped us ~20 or so spots and we have slowly climbed back up.

Akron is ranked 50 in the NET. Is that their season high?

Tavari was funny in the post-game interview messing around with Hardman and Lyles. Not a side you see too much from Tavari. Worth a watch. At the time we debated what the loss of Tavari to the portal would have meant to this year’s team. The fact that Young has hit a wall with his offensive growth answers that clearly for me. Tavari has been exceptional all around. One of my biggest issues with Tavari in the past besides not holding his own defensively was he was always a shoot first point guard. This year he is actually looking to distribute and because of that he is far more dynamic and effective. Good on him. 👍

The refs ignored this rule near the end of the game: (although I don't think the back bencher Kent player meant it as a taunt) In NCAA college basketball, removing a jersey (shirt) within the visual confines of the playing area during the game (including celebration) is prohibited and will result in a technical foul. Key Rules Regarding Jerseys and Technical Fouls: Removal of Jersey: Players cannot remove their jersey while in the visual confines of the playing area. If done, it is treated as an unsporting, non-sporting act or a taunt.

I thought when Barre could get set on defense against Gillespie he was quite effective slowing him down. Dropping the shoulder and bulldozing might work against Lyles, but not Barre. Barre will definitely help keep Lyles out of foul trouble. Not only is it an additional body to throw at teams, but Barre helps where Lyles struggles and that’s much bigger players. At the same time their game is different enough that we should see them on the court together at times.

This is kind of where I'm at. I think it's important to set the tone early defensively. Halligan diving on the floor for the opening tip off are the kind of plays that energize a team early. I do agree with @Zippy87 that Halligan playing 25 minutes isn't ideal. Lyles and Eric both battling foul trouble likely played a role in that.

EMU lost Hart. They took Kent to double OT, and in the process lost two more players. One big guy took a hard fall on his shoulder, screamed out in pain, and the trainer embraced him and took him off the court. Another guy messed up his ankle and limped to the locker room. Then they lose by 35 to Central.

This Kent team had us in their heads and you could tell. Some crazy head scratching decisions. The Mahaffeys are the biggest game wreckers. They were causing problems all night. Getting Whaley back will help Kent but I feel like we didn’t shoot well overall. Let’s see if they can score 80 against us @ Kent if we’re back to normal. Barre being back was awesome. I feel like he could’ve been the difference against Miami

OK I haven’t seen it brought up and it doesn’t bother me but the woman next to me last night was clearly troubled by the Jesus Won warmup shirts. Again no issue here but it did seem odd. Great win. Rock fight as Groce called it. Was glad there was no stress down the stretch. I’d still prefer to see them only twice and not three times.

That was a thorough beat down. It's been a while since the talent disparity between the two teams, in either direction, was as wide as what I saw.

I will add my thoughts from last night. Tavari is awesome. Played 38 minutes. Chabi played well. I see his minutes increasing, especially against bigger teams. Kent sucks. Gillespie is a beast and that's all they have. Enrique's mom was sitting courtside. Pretty cool for her to see all the 25 jerseys. Key to the season is keeping Lyles out of foul trouble.

Agree with this except the starters. Since the change for the most part we have started off very well in games, with more defensive intensity. Zack on the opening tip last night is a prime example. Our best 5 usually get the most minutes and play at crunch time, but I like our starting lineup.

A few thoughts: - Slow start for Akron, with 13 points in the first 10 minutes. Their defense kept them ahead, though, which you love to see. - I know some say it doesn't matter who starts, but I do think it can impact the game. Lyles-Mahaffey-Mahaffey-Scott-Johnson is our best five, I wish we would just start out with them. I think Scott has earned a starting role, and think Young, at this point in his career, is better off the bench, too. - To add to that, I love Halligan's effort, but hopefully as the season goes on, we'll see him settle into more of a 10-15 minutes a night type of role. Hate to see MMK and Oggy fall completely out of the rotation, too. - Chabi Barre could be an X factor for this team. He's so active in the paint and was changing a lot of shots on defense. I think he'll get more buckets rolling to the hoop on P+Rs too as he and the guards have more time to gel. Really happy to see him back. - Where would we be without Tavari?

That was one of the Zips better defensive efforts of the season. It was certainly assisted by some awful PCCC shooting, but overall the perimeter defense was solid. The way they got killed on the boards, however, is a little concerning. It was nice to have Chabi back in the mix. I'm very much enjoying watching Eric come into his own. I expect him to give us a few highlights as the season winds down.

I guess the Zips are still the Dodgers or Yankees. Below are links to the Ohio.com/Beacon Journal content in the game. It's like available only to subscribers. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/kent-state/2026/01/31/kent-state-golden-flashes-mens-basketball-team-ncaa-sidebar-from-loss-to-akron-zips/88402021007/ https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2026/01/31/tavari-johnson-bowen-hardman-akron-mens-basketball-kent-state-coach-john-groce/88419830007/ https://www.beaconjournal.com/videos/sports/college/zips/2026/01/31/video-zips-mens-basketball-coach-john-groce-kent-state-jan-30-2026/88446077007/ https://www.beaconjournal.com/videos/sports/college/zips/2026/01/31/video-zips-mens-basketball-players-kent-state-jan-30-2026/88445992007/ https://www.beaconjournal.com/videos/sports/college/kent-state/2026/01/31/video-kent-state-coach-rob-senderoff-missed-3-pointers-akron-zips-jan-30-2026/88445065007/

The Zips head to Ypsilanti Tuesday night for a 6:30 game against Stan Heath’s Eagles. Going into Saturday’s game against UMASS, the Eagles are 9-12. The Zips beat EMU at the JAR on December 19th to open the MAC season. EMU has been wildly inconsistent, beating teams like UMASS and Cincinnati yet losing by 35 to Central Michigan. Last week they lost to PCCC by one in double OT then turned around to lose by 35 to EMU. In that game, CMU scored 62 second-half points while limiting EMU to 29 points in the final 20 minutes! Mohammad Habnab leads EMY in scoring and rebounding at 14.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg. He's second in the MAC in double doubles.

I wish someone would have stuffed one of the white out towels in the mouth of the woman MC on the floor. Jesus Christ was she over-the-top deafeningly loud.

I agree. Didn’t like a couple of the blocking calls that went against Lyles, but overall the refs were invisible tonight. That’s the way a well officiated game should be.

Well right now we have the longest home streak again. 😊 Amazing that we have only two home games in February and only three total left in the season. Still like our chances of getting to 31.

The refs let themplay for the most part. Very physical, a lot of bodies banging with no calls. Not sure who benefited most from this.

Got out in about 5 minutes parking in the outside lot attached to the deck.

I have a different take on the game. While I have to give out defense some credit, we're pretty fortunate Kent couldn't hit the ocean from a boat tonight. They missed a lot of open looks

I learned my lesson in prior years not to park in the deck during the Kent game. Would it kill the U to have a police officer at the exit of the deck to get people out of the deck.

I feel mudding up the game has always kind of been their stick. The physicality throws you off rhythm. I also feel they came out with a decent gameplan defensively. They were daring Evan to try to beat them early and it was working (on that end of the court). I do agree not all the credit can be given to the Zips defensively. A Kent player missed an uncontested dunk in the 2nd half. That shouldn't happen at the mid-major level. I will say overall I felt our defensive intensity was up compared to prior games. It also seemed we trapped less and when we did trap we were quicker to rotate to recover. I think both things could be true. Kent had an off night shooting and Akron played much improved defense.

Imagine how bad traffic restraints would have been had we not witnessed that mass exodus of fans midway through the 2nd half.