AKRON, Ohio - The Akron Zips registered their 22nd consecutive victory at James A. Rhodes Arena on Wednesday night, with an 87-63 victory over Coppin State. The win marked career win number 285 for Zips' head coach Keith Dambrot, leaving him just four wins away from becoming the winningest coach in program history.
Junior guard Jimond Ivey led the way for the Zips (7-2), scoring a career high 20 points, adding five rebounds and four assists.
Four other Zips . . .
For the contest, the Zips shot 57 percent (29-of-51) from the floor and connected on 46 percent (12-of-26) from beyond the three-point line. Akron shot 68 percent (17-of-25) at the charity stripe. Defensively, the Zips registered a season-high 10 blocks.
The Eagles shot 39 percent (25-of-6) from the field and hit 47 percent (8-of-17) of their outside shots. Coppin State converted 50 percent (5-of-10) of its free throws.
The Zips continued their impressive shooting from outside, with Williams and Jackson connecting from beyond the arc early in the first half to put the Zips up 8-3 with 16 minutes remaining. Williams found the bottom of the net again from three to force a Coppin State timeout, with Akron ahead, 11-3.
Williams hit his fourth three of the first half with 11:34 remaining, putting the Zips ahead by a score of 21-11. Jackson scored four straight points, then Ivey followed with a corner three to push the Akron advantage to 33-19 with just under six minutes in the first half.
Dunn-Martin got in on the action with a three-pointer of his own, followed by a breakaway dunk by Ivey that gave the Zips a 42-25 lead with two minutes left to play in the opening half. Akron entered the halftime break maintaining a 44-29 lead over the Eagles.
Isaiah Johnson scored eight of the first 14 points in the second half for the Zips and freshman Michael Hughes II continued the dominance in the paint, putting the Zips ahead 64-42 at the 12-minute media timeout.
Antino Jackson connected on another triple and freshman Emmanuel Olojakpoke protected the paint with rejections on three consecutive Coppin State possessions to set a new career-high of four blocks in a game. The Zips used a flurry of free throws to sustain their lead and held a 78-53 advantage with five minutes remaining in the contest.
Dunn-Martin and junior Craig Eubanks hit consecutive triples to increase the Akron lead to 87-57 with just over a minute remaining to secure the UA victory.
Akron will travel to Spokane, Wash., for a showdown with West Coast Conference member and the No. 8/8 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m. ET
(Courtesy of UA Athletics)