AKRON, Ohio – Akron used a 35-7 advantage in free-throw attempts to outlast the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team, 81-76, on Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 16) at Rhodes Arena. NIU led by four at the break and the Zips made just seven second half field goals but used 24 free throws after the intermission to claim the victory. 

Junior Zool Kueth (Gallatin, Tenn./Pratt CC) scored a team-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-8 from three, while sophomore Tyler Cochran (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) scored a career-best 20 points, grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds and dished out a career-high seven assists for his third career double-double. 

NIU (2-12, 1-8 MAC) raced out to a 9-3 lead as a pair of baskets from junior Trendon Hankerson (Novi, Mich./Novi), a triple from senior Nathan Scott (Naperville, Ill./Olney Central College) and a basket from Cochran gave the Huskies the early lead. Akron had trimmed the NIU advantage back to three, 14-11, until back-to-back trifectas from Kueth put the Huskies in front 20-11 with 14 minutes left in the opening half.

After Akron cut the Huskie lead back to four, 20-16, NIU used a 9-2 burst to push its advantage to 29-18 just before the midway point of the opening stanza. Cochran and junior Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich./Middle Tennessee) each had a bucket to open the spurt, junior Chinedu Kingsley Okanu (Gary, Ind./Vincennes University) added a layup and Kueth knocked in his third triple of the half from the corner to give the Huskies the 11-point lead. 

Akron (13-4, 11-3 MAC) responded with a 7-2 run to cut the NIU lead to six before a basket from Okanu and a triple by Crump helped the Huskie advantage grow back to 36-25 with 5:13 left before the break. 

The Zips pulled within three until six-straight from the Huskies on buckets from Okanu and junior Adong Makuoi (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/Daytona State College), along with a pair of free throws from Cochran, extended the NIU lead to 42-33. 

Okanu finished with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. 

Akron ended the half on an 8-3 burst as NIU led 45-41 at the break. Kueth had 12 points, on 4-of-4 shooting from three, to pace the Huskies, Cochran scored 11 points with nine rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. Bryan Trimble Jr. scored 17 points for Akron in the first half. 

Akron moved in front, 50-49, early in the second half until Cochran and Crump each converted as the rim to give the lead back to NIU. 

The Huskies were in front 56-53 with 14:30 remaining before Akron went on an 11-0 run, nine of the 11 came from the free-throw line as the Zips led 64-56 just past the midway point of the half. 

Cochran stopped the run with a basket and Kueth knocked in his fifth trifecta of the game to bring NIU back within three, 64-61. 

Akron increased its advantage to 76-67 until buckets from Cochran and sophomore Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill./Iowa Western CC) brought NIU within five with just under two minutes to play, but that was as close as the Huskies would get as Akron continued to go to the free-throw line. 

The Zips shot 29 second half free throws to just five attempts by the Huskies. 

Trimble led Akron with 22 points, Loren Cristian Jackson added 19 points, Ali Ali chipped in 11 and Michael Wynn scored 10 points for the Zips. 

The Huskies will return home on Saturday, February 20, when they host Miami at 5 p.m. on ESPN3. Saturday's contest will be the second half of a doubleheader with the NIU women's basketball team hosting Kent State at 1 p.m.