NCAA - Zips Benefit From Another Kent State Title Game Gaffe, Advancing To NCAA Field

For more than 350 Division I basketball schools, one does not look a gift horse in the mouth when granted one of the 68 spots in the NCAA Tournament. While St. John’s, Pittsburgh, and Seton Hall all thumbed their nose at bids to the NIT after being snubbed on Sunday, those the committee selected are boarding flights or buses to their destinations for later this week.

Many of these players will be stepping on a court for the final time of their collegiate career, despite dreams of making it through to the weekend. For the University of Akron Zips, their first round matchup against Creighton in Pittsburgh on Thursday is still too surreal to comprehend.

The Zips, who finished a game behind Toledo in the Mid American Conference (MAC) regular season, were matched up for the second time in three years against rival Kent State. If you remember in 2022, the Golden Flashes knocked off Ohio University in the semifinals, then several players posted a profanity-laced video directed towards Akron. This resulted in four players being suspended for at least the first half of the championship game, where Akron rolled 75-55. The Flashes exacted a measure of revenge last season, knocking Akron out in the semifinals, and taking down Toledo in the finals, only to ultimately fall to Indiana in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“Those who forget their history are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana, 1905, The Life Of Reason

Leading 60-59 with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, Kent State’s Cli’Ron Hornbeck put back a miss from Jalen Sullinger, giving the Golden Flashes a one-point lead. Julian Rollins forgot the score, and fouled Akron’s Greg Tribble in the backcourt. Tribble hit both free throws, and Sullinger missed at the buzzer, giving the Zips the MAC Tournament Championship.

Akron will be looking for their first win in the NCAA Tournament in school history, with a record of 0-5 to this point. Under head coach John Groce, the 2020 MAC Coach Of the Year, the Zips have put together six straight winning seasons, with the last three having 20+ wins.

Groce took over for Keith Dambrot, who took the head coaching job at Duquesne in 2017. Dambrot, who was LeBron James’ high school coach at St. Vincent St. Mary’s high school in Akron, leads the Dukes into the tournament for the first time since 1977. Their first round matchup against BYU may be Dambrot’s final game, as the legendary coach announced he will retire at the end of the Dukes’ run.

The Zips will be led against the Bluejays on Thursday by MAC Player of the Year Enrique Freeman. The 6’7” senior forward from Cleveland is Akron’s all-time leader in rebounds, ranks second in school history in blocked shots, and third in career scoring. Freeman averaged 21.5 points, 13.3 rebounds, and three blocks during the Zips’ four MAC Tournament games.

As far as Kent State goes, head coach Rob Senderoff could not believe Rollins fouled Tribble, but backed his player after the game. Senderoff admitted he should have called Kent State’s final timeout after Hornbeck’s basket, despite cameras showing him yelling from the sideline for his players not to foul. Senderoff instead used the final Golden Flash timeout after Tribble’s first free throw went in to tie the game.

You could make all the “Kent read, Kent write, Kent State” jokes you wanted, but the gaffe will live with Hornbeck the rest of his life. Chris Webber is still teased for calling a timeout that did not exist to cost Michigan the 1993 National Championship Game against North Carolina.

As for Akron, they open as a 12.5-point underdog to the third-seeded Bluejays. ESPN has Creighton as a 91% favorite, while CBS Sports is at 92%. After coming off the most improbable win in MAC history, one in which the players may still be in denial that actually happened, the Zips may only be able to celebrate the win giving them an afternoon bus trip to Pittsburgh.

-JC24