Akron Basketball heads to CBSSN Friday to meet Ball State
akron basketball will meet Ball State on Friday on CBSSN, a rematch that follows an 87-77 home victory earlier this season and a 90-73 road win on Feb. 17 that kept the Zips atop their conference stretch. The game pits two familiar MAC opponents against each other with recent results favoring Akron.
Rematch: Akron’s 87-77 win at the JAR on Jan. 13
In the teams' most recent meeting on 1/13/26 at the JAR, Akron beat the Ball State Cardinals 87-77 and recorded its 25th consecutive home victory. Tavari Johnson led Akron with 22 points and seven assists, Amani Lyles posted a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Shammah Scott added 18 points off the bench. Evan Mahaffey contributed 10 points plus five assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block as Akron finished the game with 16 assists against eight turnovers.
Akron Basketball rides a 90-73 road win into Friday
On 2/17/26 at Western Michigan in Kalamazoo, Akron won 90-73, recording its 11th straight MAC victory and sweeping the regular-season series with the Broncos. The bench supplied 32 points in that game while Tavari Johnson had 17 points and six assists. Evan Mahaffey scored 14 points with five rebounds and two assists; Shammah Scott added 14 points and four assists; Amani Lyles finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. The Zips (21-5, 12-1) outrebounded Western Michigan 43-27 and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points, and the team blocked five shots, with Eric Mahaffey leading the way with two rejections.
Series history and recent trends at the JAR
Akron is 1-0 against Ball State this season after the 87-77 win at the JAR. In 2024-25 the Zips went 2-0 against the Cardinals, taking an 81-73 victory at the JAR on February 4 and an 87-82 win at Worthen Arena. In the lone meeting in 2023-24, Akron won 80-76 at Worthen Arena. In one of those JAR games, Akron trailed 35-33 at halftime but used a 47-point second half to pull away for the victory.
The upcoming Friday game on CBSSN gives Akron a chance to reinforce the edge it has built this season in head-to-head matchups and to follow up the road victory at Western Michigan. The Zips will take the court Friday on CBSSN against Ball State.
