Game 11- Murray State

[1981 grad]

8 minutes ago, Illini Zip said:

I will try…Halligan brings defensive understanding and effort. We have plenty of offense right now. We need to figure out how to stop teams. Or maybe Groce is sending the team a message???

When Halligan came in, he stood out defensively and the Zips went on an 8-0 run.  And nobody else stood out defensively today.  He deserved the time.  

[Captain Kangaroo]

3 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I’m getting a good feeling about this game!

Didn’t last long…

[Let'sGoZips94]

I understand defense is going to be a point of conversation, but it's really hard to get mad when our only 2 mid major losses have statistically ridiculous box scores. Yale and Murray State could run simulated games in practice with zero defenders, take the same shots they did vs us, and not shoot nearly as well as they ended up shooting vs us. 56% from 3 on 32 attempts is unbelievably absurd. That's 54 pts from 3P alone. If Murray State shoots an above-average 40%, that's 13 3P which is 15 less points; Murray State won by 15, and they're a 36.1% 3P shooting team on the season. Murray State committed 18 turnovers; I know some of those are probably self-inflicted, but Akron was doing something right on defense as well. Yet again, a team needed to have a historic night to beat Akron and they did. Akron wasn't nearly as efficient offensively as they were vs. Yale, hence the 15 pt deficit, but they still put up 100 pts. If we start seeing MAC teams shoot ~50%+ from 3P vs us, then I'll be concerned. Until then, hats off to Murray State for an incredible shooting performance. 

 

Regroup and beat the feathers off EMU. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

9 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:

The bad news is the men's game isn't on ESPN+. The good news is that the women's game at #6 Michigan isn't either.

The women had a better showing.

[kreed5120]

Ignoring the problems isn't going to make them magically go away. Even in our wins we've consistently seen breakdowns defensively with many wide open looks. The competition just wasn't good enough to capitalize off of them. Murray State and Yale were good enough to carve us up. As will any 4 or 5 seed we encounter if the tournament if we make it that far.

 

Giving up offensive rebounds because you're not boxing out and leaving 3-pt shooters wide open because you're slow in rotation isn't a winning formula against quality teams. We should constantly be evaluating ourselves and looking for ways to improve. Other teams will be doing the same.

 

 

[clarkwgriswold]

To summarize:

 

Bad defense + good team shooting lights out = 115 points

 

On to EMU.

[ZippyRulz]

On 12/12/2025 at 8:23 PM, Zips1991 said:

174.5

 

Congrats to the degenerates that took the over.

 

[1981 grad]

17 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

Does anyone know what the record is for the most points scored against the Zips.  We might be approaching that number.

Since I did not get an answer from anyone on this board I did an AI search and got the following:

 

The highest points scored against the Zips in a game is 119, which occurred during a matchup against the University of Kentucky on December 21, 1990.

Defensive Performance

Akron typically maintains a strong defensive record, contributing to their ability to limit opponents' scoring.

Recent Trends

In recent seasons, the Zips have continued to focus on defensive strategies, further reducing the likelihood of allowing high-scoring games.

 

Well, would anyone like to comment on AI and the defensive stratagies we have employed in recent seasons to reduce the likelihood of allowing high-scoring games? (LOL)

[UAZipster0305]

8 hours ago, 1981 grad said:

Akron typically maintains a strong defensive record, contributing to their ability to limit opponents' scoring.

That is about the most AI statement ever. I think I heard Frank Caliendo say something similar when he was impersonating John Madden.

Edited yesterday at 01:15 AM by UAZipster0305

[Blue & Gold]

Neither Shammah, nor either of the Mahaffey brothers had strong games vs. Murray St. Yeah, we still put up 100 points but our defense is concerning.

 

And Murray St. looked very good.

[RoyalBlu]

2 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

Neither Shammah, nor either of the Mahaffey brothers had strong games vs. Murray St. Yeah, we still put up 100 points but our defense is concerning.

 

And Murray St. looked very good.

 

I know/understand coaching goes through cycles, but it is a puzzle to me why two of the better most consistent and successful MAC programs the last decade or so -- built on a foundation of strong/solid defense (Akron and Kent) -- suddenly seem to turn into almost exclusively offensive programs with defense becoming clearly secondary.

 

I don't get it. One look at Toledo, or Miami, should prove that is not the way to true success. Defense travels. Offense comes and goes.

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

1 hour ago, RoyalBlu said:

 

I know/understand coaching goes through cycles, but it is a puzzle to me why two of the better most consistent and successful MAC programs the last decade or so -- built on a foundation of strong/solid defense (Akron and Kent) -- suddenly seem to turn into almost exclusively offensive programs with defense becoming clearly secondary.

 

I don't get it. One look at Toledo, or Miami, should prove that is not the way to true success. Defense travels. Offense comes and goes.

 

 

Offense wins. 

 

Houston is the one of the top defensive teams in the country and has been for several years. They have zero national championships in that span because in their final game of the season, they couldn't score more than their opponent. 

 

Akron isn't ignoring defense. Every single post game interview this season has included Groce harping that the defense needs to get better. However, if our opponent isn't shooting nearly 60%, we're winning by 20+. Akron has 3 losses, one of them to easily one of the best teams in the country. The other 2 losses, our opponent had to nearly set shooting records to outscore us; in fact, I'm not so sure they didn't. Those other 2 losses have been to some of the top mid majors in the country on neutral courts as well. I'm not so sure we lose to Yale if Barre is up to speed and playing significant minutes in that game, either. 

 

Defense is one of those things that takes longer to pull together with so many new pieces every single year in today's landscape. Shot making doesn't require chemistry and communication with rotations, help defense, etc. Maybe that's why we're seeing a shift at Akron and Kent. 

 

That being said, there aren't going to be many teams that will beat us this year without historic offensive performances because Akron's offense is legitimately that good. We've all seen Akron teams struggle to shoot 30% from 3. Didn't matter how good their defense was, they fell short plenty of times against competition that they shouldn't have because they couldn't put the ball in the hoop. The offense never came with those teams because teams can either score or they can't. Give me a team that can score at will with a coach who keeps defense a priority over a team that keeps defense a priority but struggles to score. I'm quite confident the defense will get better, but the blessing with this team is we don't have to pray for the offense to get better because history has proven that's not something that truly improves.