Kent State Golden Flashes (16-5, 7-2 MAC) at Akron Zips (17-4, 8-1 MAC)

Akron, Ohio; Friday, 6 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Akron hosts Kent State after Tavari Johnson scored 25 points in Akron’s 91-81 victory over the Toledo Rockets.

The Zips have gone 11-0 in home games. Akron is the top team in the MAC with 19.9 assists per game led by Johnson averaging 5.5.

The Golden Flashes are 7-2 in MAC play. Kent State is 3-1 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Akron makes 51.8% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.4 percentage points higher than Kent State has allowed to its opponents (43.4%). Kent State has shot at a 47.2% rate from the field this season, 4.5 percentage points higher than the 42.7% shooting opponents of Akron have averaged.

The Zips and Golden Flashes match up Friday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Johnson is averaging 20.5 points, 5.5 assists and 1.5 steals for the Zips. Amani Lyles is averaging 15.7 points and 9.4 rebounds while shooting 60.8% over the last 10 games.

Cian Medley is averaging 10.9 points, 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals for the Golden Flashes. Delrecco Gillespie is averaging 18.9 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Zips: 9-1, averaging 89.0 points, 35.5 rebounds, 19.1 assists, 8.7 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 51.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.3 points per game.

Golden Flashes: 7-3, averaging 81.0 points, 36.1 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 4.9 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.7 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.