Akron vs Kent State Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 3 (Zips Survive Golden Flashes, Stay Perfect at Home)

Akron vs Kent State Prediction, Odds & Best Bet for February 3 (Zips Survive Golden Flashes, Stay Perfect at Home)

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Akron vs Kent State Game Info

  • 2022-23 NCAA Basketball Regular Season Game
  • Akron (16-6, 8-1 MAC) vs. Kent State (18-4, 8-1 MAC)
  • Date: Friday, February 3, 2023
  • Time: 9:00 PM ET
  • Venue: James A. Rhodes Arena -- Akron, Ohio

The MAC's top teams are slated to go head-to-head when the Akron Zips host the Kent State Golden Flashes at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 3.

Akron is one of the nation's hottest programs, winning for the seventh straight game with an 81-64 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday. Kent State has also found some success as of late. The Golden Flashes have won 12 of their last 13 games, most recently defeating Central Michigan earlier this week.

Can Akron extend its streak to eight games? Or will Kent State pull off the upset to take over the MAC's top spot?

Akron vs Kent State Odds & Spread

Akron enters this contest as the slim home favorite on the spread while the moneyline is a pick 'em situation, per FanDuel Sportsbook's odds. This 9 p.m. ET clash also features an over/under of 133.5 points with -110 odds on both sides.

Akron vs Kent State Betting Trends

  • Against the spread, Akron is 9-11-0 this season.
  • As 1.5-point favorites or more, the Zips are 8-5 against the spread.
  • This year, nine of Akron's 20 games have hit the over.
  • Kent State's record against the spread is 13-6-0.
  • The Golden Flashes are unbeaten ATS (3-0) as a 1.5-point underdog or greater this season.
  • There have been five Kent State games (out of 19) that hit the over this year.
Akron Rank Akron AVG Kent State AVG Kent State Rank
169th 72.2 Points Scored 75.5 88th
27th 63 Points Allowed 64 42nd
140th 32.8 Rebounds 32.6 149th
195th 8.6 Off. Rebounds 9 149th
44th 8.8 3pt Made 8.1 100th
171st 13.4 Assists 12.3 260th
60th 10.9 Turnovers 10.8 56th

Akron vs Kent State Prediction & Pick

Though this matchup is as even as can be according to the odds, I'm siding with the home team tonight. The majority of Kent State's success has come at home, where it owns an 11-0 record. The Golden Flashes are 6-4 on the road thus far, where nearly 15 fewer points per game (67.3) than they do at home (82.0).

Akron has also given Kent State some issues over the years, winning four of the last six matchups between the MAC rivals. Furthermore, the Zips are also 7-2 in their last nine home games against the Golden Flashes, outscoring them by an average of 5.6 points in those meetings.

I still expect this to be a back-and-forth affair, but Akron is in a better place to get the victory.

Final Score Prediction: Akron: 72 | Kent State: 70

Akron vs Kent State Best Bet

I'm riding with Akron on the moneyline as the best bet for this game. The Zips have solid odds (-110) due to this being a pick 'em scenario and they've had the Golden Flashes' number more often than not at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Considering how Akron is perfect at home and Kent State has been fairly average on the road, it's clear that siding with the Zips on the moneyline is the best bet.

Bet: Akron ML (-110)

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.