Tuesday, February 7
Akron, OH
6:00 PM ET
Ball State University
15-9 (6-5)
63
at
65
Akron
20-4 (10-1)
1
2
F
Ball State
28
35
63
Akron
30
35
65
Akron Beats Buzzer to Top Men’s Hoops
February 07, 2017 | Men's Basketball
Cardinals come within seconds of snapping Zips’ home court streak
AKRON, Ohio -- The Ball State men's basketball team was seconds away from snapping the nation's second-longest home court winning streak Tuesday.
But Akron's Isaiah Johnson capped a wild finish with a game-winning jumper to lift the Zips to their 29th consecutive victory at James A. Rhodes Arena. Akron won 65-63 in a matchup of the top teams from each of the Mid-American Conference's divisions.
Ball State (15-9, 6-5 MAC) took a 63-62 lead on a lay-in from Franko House with just 7 seconds to play. But Akron quickly got the ball to Johnson at the rim, where he was fouled. The Zips' big man hit 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game with 2.3 seconds to go.
The Cardinals attempted to throw the ball the length of the floor, but the inbounds pass sailed out of bounds untouched, giving Akron the ball underneath its own basket. The inbounds came to Johnson, who drained a 17-footer to put the Zips up 65-63 with 0.2 seconds left.
Ball State's full-court desperation pass deflected off the basket and then a couple players as time expired and Akron (20-4, 10-1 MAC) escaped.
"I thought our guys played a really good game and did a lot of good things," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "Really unfortunate the way it ended for us."
House led the Cardinals with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Ryan Weber scored 16 on 4-of-7 from 3-point range and Sean Sellers added 11 on 3-of-6 from deep.
Johnson scored a game-high 20 points for Akron, and Jimond Ivey added 10.
Ball State led early in the second half but trailed by as many as nine at 47-38 with 12:00 to play.
It was still a 60-53 deficit with 5:03 left before the Cardinals rattled off 10 of the game's next 12 points to grab the lead. Sellers hit two 3's in that stretch, and Tahjai Teague had a big dunk before House put BSU on top.
"It's another game that shows we can play with just about anyone," Whitford said. "It's being able to play this way consistently that has been our challenge. But we're certainly more than capable of winning a game like this, and we're really disappointed that we weren't able to pull this one out."
The Cardinals will return home to host Ohio for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Friday. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
But Akron's Isaiah Johnson capped a wild finish with a game-winning jumper to lift the Zips to their 29th consecutive victory at James A. Rhodes Arena. Akron won 65-63 in a matchup of the top teams from each of the Mid-American Conference's divisions.
Ball State (15-9, 6-5 MAC) took a 63-62 lead on a lay-in from Franko House with just 7 seconds to play. But Akron quickly got the ball to Johnson at the rim, where he was fouled. The Zips' big man hit 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game with 2.3 seconds to go.
The Cardinals attempted to throw the ball the length of the floor, but the inbounds pass sailed out of bounds untouched, giving Akron the ball underneath its own basket. The inbounds came to Johnson, who drained a 17-footer to put the Zips up 65-63 with 0.2 seconds left.
Ball State's full-court desperation pass deflected off the basket and then a couple players as time expired and Akron (20-4, 10-1 MAC) escaped.
"I thought our guys played a really good game and did a lot of good things," Ball State coach James Whitford said. "Really unfortunate the way it ended for us."
House led the Cardinals with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Ryan Weber scored 16 on 4-of-7 from 3-point range and Sean Sellers added 11 on 3-of-6 from deep.
Johnson scored a game-high 20 points for Akron, and Jimond Ivey added 10.
Ball State led early in the second half but trailed by as many as nine at 47-38 with 12:00 to play.
It was still a 60-53 deficit with 5:03 left before the Cardinals rattled off 10 of the game's next 12 points to grab the lead. Sellers hit two 3's in that stretch, and Tahjai Teague had a big dunk before House put BSU on top.
"It's another game that shows we can play with just about anyone," Whitford said. "It's being able to play this way consistently that has been our challenge. But we're certainly more than capable of winning a game like this, and we're really disappointed that we weren't able to pull this one out."
The Cardinals will return home to host Ohio for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Friday. The game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
Team Stats
BSU
AKRON
FG%
.431
.426
3FG%
.360
.217
FT%
.769
.667
RB
30
33
TO
13
9
STL
7
5
Game Leaders
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG/F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG/F
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