Davis becomes just the second player in WMU history to shoot 100 percent from the floor with a minimum of 10 attempts.
He is also just the . . .
It’s the second straight game in which Davis has scored at least 25 points. He tallied a career-high 27 points on Saturday against Chicago State. In the past two contests, Davis has amassed 53 points on 82 percent (18-of-22) shooting from the field.
Western Michigan improved its overall record to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in MAC play. The Broncos begin 1-0 in MAC play for the first time since 2013 and secured their first victory over Akron since 2014. Dating back to last season, the Broncos have now won nine straight MAC regular season games.
Senior guard Thomas Wilder had a stellar night against the Zips, nearing a triple-double with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Fellow senior Drake LaMont also contributed to the Bronco offense with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
Junior Bryce Moore had his seventh double-digit scoring performance of the season with 13 points. Off the bench, sophomore Reggie Jones recorded his first double digit performance since Dec. 6 with 12 points along with five rebounds and three assists.
Overall it was the first time since the season-opener against Siena Heights that WMU has had five players score in double figures.
Senior guard Malcolm Duvivier led Akron with 21 points, while junior Jimond Ivey (18) and Daniel Utomi (11) also reached double figures.
Western Michigan outrebounded Akron, 37-27 and was outrebounding the Zips, 22-7 at halftime.
It was yet another lights out shooting performance for the Broncos, shooting 55.4 percent from the field and holding Akron to just 44.3 percent.
It was a back and forth affair to start the game as neither team led by more than three through the first 10 minutes of action. The Bronco offense came to life after the eight-minute media timeout, connecting on seven of WMU’s next nine field goal attempts to take a 28-23 lead with three minutes remaining.
During the final three minutes of play in the first half, WMU extended its lead to double digits as the brown and gold made five of its last six shots, including a three-pointer at the buzzer by Wilder to take a 47-31 lead into halftime.
In the first half, WMU shot 62.1 percent from the field compared to Akron’s 41.4 percent and excelled from the three-point line, shooting 66.7 percent.
Akron quieted the raucous crowd of 2,110 inside University Arena to begin the second half, embarking on a 6-0 run to close the Bronco lead to 10. Both teams traded baskets midway through the second half before Akron went on a 7-0 run to cut the game to single digits.
The turning point of the game came when Bryce Moore knocked down a corner three and was fouled on the play to convert the four-point play with just over three minutes remaining. In the final moments, WMU went 7-of-11 from the free-throw line to seize 87-75 victory over the Zips.