The Toledo Rockets (10-6) welcome the Akron Zips (13-3) in a matchup that pits the Mid-American’s sixth-ranked offense against the sixth-ranked defense. The game gets underway at 7:00 pm ET on Friday, Jan. 15 and will air on CCS.
The Toledo Rockets lost to Northern Illinois 71-66 on Tuesday. Nathan Boothe was the game’s high scorer, finishing with 30 points. The Zips, meanwhile, are coming off a 92-81 loss to Central Michigan on Tuesday. Noah Robotham recorded 19 points, five assists, and one steal.
The Toledo Rockets should be expected to protect the ball well in this contest. They rank 24th in the nation at avoiding errors (TO% of 15.5%). Meanwhile, Akron forces the 76th-fewest turnovers in the nation (17.3%).
The Toledo Rockets enter the game with records of 10-6 Straight Up (SU) and 7-6 Against The Spread (ATS). Few teams in the nation have a higher assist-to-turnover ratio than Toledo, which ranks 11th at 1.64.
Across the court, the Zips head into the game with records of 6-4 ATS and 13-3 SU. The Zips are an excellent long-range shooting team with 179 three-point shots made (11.0 per game), ranking eighth in Division I. Akron is one of the better rebounding teams in Division I. The Zips average 41.1 rebounds per game, making them the 32nd-best team in the country for that category. Switching gears to the Akron defense, teams seem to consistently miss three-point shots against the Zips, who are the top team in the country in terms of three-point field goal percentage allowed at .242.
This is the first meeting of the season for Toledo and Akron. The last time they played, Toledo came out on top, but Akron still leads the head-to-head record over their most recent games, 7-3 SU. At 5-5, they are even ATS. Toledo had the advantage in three key areas (field goals, rebounds, and three-pointers) once over the last five matchups. Akron has never had the edge in all three categories.
Predictions: SU Winner – Akron, ATS Winner – Akron
Notes
Toledo is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toledo’s last 7 games when playing Akron.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Toledo’s last 6 games when playing at home against Akron.
Ranked 24th, the Akron Zips have one of the top defenses in the country, giving up just 93.8 points per 100 possessions. The Toledo Rockets rank 41st in offense, scoring 114.0 points in the same number of possessions.
On average, Toledo has 70.6 possessions per game and scores 1.140 points on each possession. Akron has both fewer possessions (69.4) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.103).
Akron has an average effective field goal percentage of 51.4%. Toledo is an underachieving 3-5 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
The Toledo Rockets average 23.0 three point attempts per game and are 7-5 when attempting at least 20 in a game. The Akron Zips average 29.0 attempts and have an exceptional record (12-3) when attempting 20 or more.
The 11th-ranked team in the category, Toledo has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.64 this season. Akron ranks 72nd with an A/TO of 1.25.
Toledo ranks 260th in offensive rebounds, while Akron ranks 27th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Toledo makes 4.8 steals per game. Akron has a solid 8-3 record when it gives up at least 4 steals.
