Creighton and Akron square off in first round of NCAA Tournament
Akron Zips (24-10, 16-5 MAC) vs. Creighton Bluejays (23-9, 14-7 Big East)
Pittsburgh; Thursday, 1:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bluejays -12.5; over/under is 141
BOTTOM LINE: No. 11 Creighton plays Akron in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bluejays' record in Big East play is 14-7, and their record is 9-2 against non-conference opponents. Creighton is ninth in the Big East with 7.1 offensive rebounds per game led by Ryan Kalkbrenner averaging 2.5.
The Zips' record in MAC play is 16-5. Akron is the top team in the MAC allowing just 65.9 points per game while holding opponents to 42.7% shooting.
Creighton makes 48.6% of its shots from the field this season, which is 5.9 percentage points higher than Akron has allowed to its opponents (42.7%). Akron averages 74.0 points per game, 4.3 more than the 69.7 Creighton gives up to opponents.
TOP PERFORMERS: Baylor Scheierman averages 3.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Bluejays, scoring 18.4 points while shooting 37.2% from beyond the arc. Trey Alexander is shooting 47.1% and averaging 18.5 points over the last 10 games.
Ali Ali is averaging 15.6 points for the Zips. Enrique Freeman is averaging 19.0 points over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bluejays: 7-3, averaging 80.5 points, 34.8 rebounds, 18.8 assists, 4.9 steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.1 points per game.
Zips: 6-4, averaging 71.3 points, 36.7 rebounds, 12.3 assists, 4.2 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
