Marshall opened up a one point dog and money immediately favored the Herd with Marshall now a 1.5 or 2 point favorite depending on the book. Akron comes in 3-3. What jumps out at you is their 67-66 loss to Ohio State their first game of the season. Ohio State needed a last possession basket to beat Akron. This is the same Ohio State team that just took out #1 Duke. Early season basketball games are all over the place so I’m not sure how to judge this Akron team, but I have to believe they will be a decent test for Marshall.
Looking at the stats of Akron, the thing that jumps out at me is how many players they play. Akron has 12 players that play from nearly 4 minutes a game up to 28 minutes per game. So they rotate a lot of players into the lineup. No player averages more than 28 minutes, which tells me we will be going against some fairly fresh legs late in the game. That worries me less this year than it might in previous years because Marshall is capable of giving a lot of players minutes as well.
Bigs:
Akron scoring wise is very balanced. They are led by 6’7” 206 lb. forward Enrique Freeman who is averaging 12.5 points and a very stout 11.17 rebounds per game. That’s good for 6th in the country. This is followed by 6’8” 196 lb. forward Ali Ali with 11.17 points and 4.17 rebounds. Also getting 15 minutes per game is 7’ 215 lb. Aziz Badaogo with 5.5 points and 4 rebounds per game.
Guards:
Once again Akron plays a lot of guards. They have five guards that range between 15 to 26 minutes of playing time. They have two more guards getting 3 to 5 minutes of play per game. Balance also stands out here as well statistically. Xavier Castaneda, 6’ 188 lb. averages 10 points and 2.67 rebounds. Bryan Trimble and KJ Walton follow, both averaging 7 points with 2 and 3 rebounds per game respectively.
So what really jumps out at me is that Akron’s bigs aren‘t bruisers that will try to bully us, but they will be active and quick. Freeman will likely be our toughest matchup. You don’t average 11 rebounds per game without being good. I like how OAK matches up against him though in the quickness department. Also we should probably be mindful of their rotation and spell Taylor and Kinsey some, especially in the first half. Both Kinsey and Taylor are averaging around 8-10 minutes more per game than the top two Akron guards.
I like the way we’re playing right now and I think this is one we can win. But this is our second game in a row on the road and playing in Akron is always a tough out.
Looking at the stats of Akron, the thing that jumps out at me is how many players they play. Akron has 12 players that play from nearly 4 minutes a game up to 28 minutes per game. So they rotate a lot of players into the lineup. No player averages more than 28 minutes, which tells me we will be going against some fairly fresh legs late in the game. That worries me less this year than it might in previous years because Marshall is capable of giving a lot of players minutes as well.
Bigs:
Akron scoring wise is very balanced. They are led by 6’7” 206 lb. forward Enrique Freeman who is averaging 12.5 points and a very stout 11.17 rebounds per game. That’s good for 6th in the country. This is followed by 6’8” 196 lb. forward Ali Ali with 11.17 points and 4.17 rebounds. Also getting 15 minutes per game is 7’ 215 lb. Aziz Badaogo with 5.5 points and 4 rebounds per game.
Guards:
Once again Akron plays a lot of guards. They have five guards that range between 15 to 26 minutes of playing time. They have two more guards getting 3 to 5 minutes of play per game. Balance also stands out here as well statistically. Xavier Castaneda, 6’ 188 lb. averages 10 points and 2.67 rebounds. Bryan Trimble and KJ Walton follow, both averaging 7 points with 2 and 3 rebounds per game respectively.
So what really jumps out at me is that Akron’s bigs aren‘t bruisers that will try to bully us, but they will be active and quick. Freeman will likely be our toughest matchup. You don’t average 11 rebounds per game without being good. I like how OAK matches up against him though in the quickness department. Also we should probably be mindful of their rotation and spell Taylor and Kinsey some, especially in the first half. Both Kinsey and Taylor are averaging around 8-10 minutes more per game than the top two Akron guards.
I like the way we’re playing right now and I think this is one we can win. But this is our second game in a row on the road and playing in Akron is always a tough out.
