Williams and the Northern Illinois Huskies take on conference foe Akron

Northern Illinois Huskies (7-16, 4-9 MAC) at Akron Zips (16-8, 9-5 MAC)

Akron, Ohio; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST

LINE: Akron -12.5; over/under is 125.5

BOTTOM LINE: Akron takes on Northern Illinois in a matchup of MAC teams.

The Zips are 10-2 in home games. Akron ranks third in the MAC with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Enrique Freeman averaging 3.4.

The Huskies are 4-9 in conference play. Northern Illinois is ninth in the MAC shooting 33.3% from deep. Zion Russell leads the Huskies shooting 38.5% from 3-point range.

The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. The Zips won 70-64 in the last matchup on Feb. 9. Freeman led the Zips with 21 points, and Keshawn Williams led the Huskies with 19 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bryan Trimble Jr. is shooting 34.3% from beyond the arc with 2.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Zips, while averaging 10.2 points. Freeman is shooting 65.3% and averaging 11.8 points over the past 10 games for Akron.

Trendon Hankerson averages 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Huskies, scoring 11.4 points while shooting 38.1% from beyond the arc. Williams is averaging 18.3 points over the past 10 games for Northern Illinois.

LAST 10 GAMES: Zips: 7-3, averaging 67.5 points, 31.3 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 4.9 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.8 points per game.

Huskies: 2-8, averaging 69.7 points, 29.3 rebounds, 11.6 assists, 6.2 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.5 points.

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