LoyalZIP

Groce went nuclear the 2nd time to draw the T because the refs refused to look at the play where Enrique got hammered in the face. Lol. I feel bad for the teams on the Zips’ schedule moving forward.

If we don’t beat EMU by 30 I’m going to donate my MAC tournament tickets to a children’s charity. I mean, Groce is losing this team. Out of control.

All the Kittens had to do to win by 9 was shoot 60% from 3 and 20-23 at the foul line. A net win, IMO. Everyone congratulate X on being named MAC player of the year!

The way I look at it, Akron basically won this game, tbh lol

Zip offense has actually been fine. Lots of easy looks manufactured all around. Relatively smart in transition. Just not our night. Remember March 12, 2022. We’ll be cool.

Cold shooting vs. a team that can’t miss + Freeman gets absolutely smoked in the face w/ no call = Let’s head up to Ypsi

Freshman have been dreadful. Refs dreadful. It be that way sometimes.

This defense is pathetic. My goodness.

John’s Next Endeavor?

He blossomed into such a nice role player and has all of a sudden looked like a true freshman lately. Absolutely lost.

Just disappointed in what the defense has turned to these last two. Sure, the best offenses in the league, but they’re not challenging enough shots. Sammy with 3 terrible fouls and a missed wide open shot really hurts too. Hankerson has been solid, pushing the tempo a bit and creating. X is the player of the year. Not feeling great, but not real happy either.

Wiznitzer may be the worst player in the league and we’re really struggling with him at both ends. Wilson a non factor while in, except for the BS continuation.

Groce is gonna melt their faces off at halftime. This is brutal.

Sammy’s worst game. Just absolutely dreadful. Defense on the guards…dreadful.

A made FT would be nice. X drawing fouls left and right, whether they’re actually fouls or not.

Perimeter defense still pretty non-existent. Bobcats seem to be building on Toledo’s ability to free themselves up for open looks.

Go Zips!!! I’m hoping this game is at least more enjoyable than Kent @ Buffalo. That thing is an atrocity.

Kent is beginning to play to the level of their competition regularly. They look average tonight, and Buffalo isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire either.

The Zips are road favorites in Athens. That doesn't happen too often. -1.5

Yes, had like 19 in the first half and started the 2nd half with a beauty of a turnaround jumper. Didn't do much after that. Zips led by 20 at the break and I didn't move a muscle on my couch to jinx it. They were pounding them til BVP and Tommy Schmuck hit a bunch of 3s in the final minutes. Awesome win.

X has come such a long way in his career at Akron. After a nearly invisible performance at Ohio State to start it, a few games of not even shooting the ball more than 2-3 times, and a fair share of no-shows, he came on strong at the right time last year and hasn't missed a beat. The best thing about the clip of the Kent players running over to the students to taunt them last year was the shot that X took at the buzzer. At the time, I was mortified and embarrassed that he was taking that shot. Now, there's nobody else I'd rather have the ball. From the jump this year against SDSU, you could see he looked a lot different. He plays even harder, much more vocal as a leader, and he does all he can to give the Zips a shot at winning. He's even one of the best in the country at drawing fouls. Props to X. A short UA career, but a memorable one. Tying it into this one, he didn't have his best showing in Athens last year. Just 1-6 from the floor. But much like other games down the stretch, it was a total team effort in Athens. 5 Zips scored in double figures and Clarke added 9, and they silenced the Convo. This year, the Bobcats are far less talented, but have been really really good at home. Primetime on a Friday makes that even more difficult. Ball State was a major challenge with X being out, this Friday roadie will be a challenge due to the rivalry. Boals will have them ready to play, and I would expect adjustments on how they play Freeman. Can't rely on him for everything. We need to see Hank continue to step up and play with some confidence, and Sammy needs to get back in a groove. He was very hesitant on Tuesday night. Akron is undoubtedly the better team, but that doesn't matter in an environment like this. Get back to weathering the storm, there will be plenty.

Very disappointing. And it gets no easier Saturday. They’re in a tailspin and seem to not have any answers awaiting on the bench. Just get to Cleveland.

I like to use KenPom for basketball analytics. Toledo is rated as the 6th best defense in MAC play, while Akron is 1st. On the same scale, Akron's offense was not great from the start of the year, but in MAC games, they are #2. Toledo D deserves some credit, refs deserve some credit, Freeman making a few uncharacteristic mistakes deserves some credit, and Dante Maddox deserves some (a ton) credit. Just not the Zips' night, and that's okay. I don't want to fall back into the KD mindset of every win streak and win total being precious. Akron needs to take a look in the mirror after last night and respond, that is all.

In MAC play, they’re middle of the pack in MAC defense. They made things really hard on X early and everyone struggled because of it. They are nowhere close to being as good on defense as Akron, but they executed their game plan pretty well.

Groce is now 2-7 against Toledo as head coach of Akron. Very strange. The good news is, he wins a MAC regular season title every time Toledo beats them by exactly 10 at the JAR (99-89 in 2020) 😂😉 Last night was a slap in the face to this team in that they saw what happens to them when they’re the ones that come out ice cold and go up against a group that’s defending as hard as they do. The big thing was the fouling. Akron fouls less than about 80% of D1 teams, and Toledo on average does significantly more. It was a weird game to watch, and hopefully an outlier moving forward.