Head Coach John Groce of the Akron Zips.
Sole possession of first place in the MAC is on the line as Bowling Green plays host to Akron on Tuesday night in a highly-anticipated rematch.
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The game (7 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV anywhere, but anyone in the U.S can watch it live on ESPN+:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can then watch Akron vs Bowling Green live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
Akron vs Bowling Green Preview
Bowling Green has found a way to win tight games in conference play this season, but against Akron in their first matchup, they simply had no answers. The Zips took a six-point lead into the half and cruised to a 74-59 victory.
“I think it’s big for us to keep that in the back of our heads that they beat us so bad the first time, but also use it to make adjustments,” Bowling Green wing Trey Diggs told the Toledo Blade. “It’s in the past, but we had to make adjustments after the first game. … On defense, that was the model game of what we can’t do.”
Bowling Green bounced back from the Feb. 11 loss with two wins against Ball State and Ohio by a combined seven points. The latest victory came over the Bobcats behind 22 points from Trey Diggs.
“Coach Huger is big on treating every game the same way,” Diggs said. “He’s excited as we all should be excited for this game, but you have to treat it exactly the same and don’t try to be heroes, even if this is a big game for first place.”
A big part of the game plan will be to minimize fouling. Akron had 27 attempts the first time around to Bowling Green’s 11.
“We have to be able to guard without fouling, and I thought we fouled way too much, especially with Loren Jackson,” Bowling Green coach Michael Huger said. “Instead of sticking to our principles and guarding the right way, we didn’t. We just said, ‘OK, I’m gonna hack,’ and that’s what we did.
“They get all the credit because they were able to capitalize on our mistakes,” Huger said. “When you’re playing over there, you’ve got to play great basketball just to have a chance, and we didn’t.”
After suffering back to back losses at the end of January, Akron has won five in a row, including the win against the Falcons. However, the Zips are weary of the addition of Dylan Frye to the mix on the Bowling Green side. Frye — Bowling Green’s second leading scorer — previously announced he would be leaving the program.
“We’re aware that he’s back,” Akron point guard Loren Cristian Jackson told the Akron Beacon Journal. “It makes the game a little bit more fun because he’s another good player, so we just might have to change up how we guarded the first time. Other than that, it’s just another added body. We’ve just got to go get a win.”