MAC Men's Basketball Daily -- Friday, December 4
Kent State (5-2, 0-0 MAC) at Xavier (4-2, 0-0 Atlantic 10)
7:30 p.m. • FSN Ohio • Xavier leads series 11-4
•Kent State travels to Xavier for a Fox Sports Ohio broadcast contest on Friday night as the top two Division I programs in the state of Ohio the past 12 years square off for the second time in three seasons. The Golden Flashes matched a program record with five wins in the month of November, following Sunday's 63-57 win over Morehead State. Senior forward Anthony Simpson has continued to provide Kent State a lift since making the move to come off the bench. Since the switch, Simpson has put together the best four-game stretch of his KSU career averaging 11.8 points and 7.5 rebounds a contest, including a team and career high 17 points with eight rebounds in Sunday's victory...Xavier is coming off a 69-64 loss to Baylor on Sunday at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. The Musketeers went 1-2 on the trip with an 80-67 win over Creighton and a 71-61 loss to Marquette on Thanksgiving Day. Jordan Crawford leads Xavier with 18.5 points per game while 6-9 senior forward Jason Love averages 11.0 rebounds and 11.2 points per game.
Akron (4-2, 0-0 MAC) at No. 19/22 Texas A&M (6-1, 0-0 Big 12)
8 p.m. • FSN Southwest • Akron leads series 1-0
• After starting the season 0-2, Akron rides a four-game win streak into Friday's meeting with Texas A&M. UA overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to top visiting Niagara 80-68 on Sunday (scored 57 second-half points). Senior guard Darryl Roberts led five Zips in double-figures, with a season-high 15 points. Senior forward Jimmy Conyers scored a season-high 12 points and grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds to tally his first career double-double. Akron is ranked No. 11 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. The Zips were listed eighth in the poll's preseason edition, before being ranked 16th and 18th over the last two weeks, respectively...Texas A&M has won two straight games, including an 84-59 victory against Prairie View A&M at home Wednesday. On Sunday, the Aggies beat No. 16 Minnesota (66-65) to finish third at the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif. The Aggies also beat No. 19 Clemson (69-60) and lost to No. 8 West Virginia (73-66) in the tournament. Donald Sloan leads the Aggies with 15.3 ppg.
