Without the services of starting point guard Alex Abreu following his arrest on drug trafficking charges the Zips had a tough hill to climb beating neighborhood rival Kent State in the regular-season closing Wagon Wheel game. Despite a hard rally in the second half, the University of Akron squad fell short in sending a message they were whole and ready to go heading into next week's MAC Tournament rounds.

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(University of Akron athletics) Despite a late second-half rally, The University of Akron men's basketball team lost 68-64 to neighborhood rival Kent State on Friday at James A. Rhodes Arena in the latest edition of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge.

The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the Zips (24-6, 14-2 Mid-American) against the Flashes (19-12, 9-7 MAC) and ended a 15-game home win streak.

Three Akron players scored in double-figure points, led by Zeke Marshall's 14, Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell's 13 and Reggie McAdams' 12. Treadwell also grabbed 13 rebounds to tally his seventh double-double of the year. Marshall had eight boards for the Zips who out-rebounded the Flashes 44-39 overall and 24-12 on the offensive glass.

With his five blocked shots, Marshall also set the MAC's single-season blocked shots record with 109.

Kent State was led by Darren Goodson's 19 points and team-high eight rebounds.

Treadwell and Marshall got the Akron faithful on their feet to start the second half, scoring six points in the lane to spark the offense. The 6-2 run forced Kent State to call timeout with its lead reduced to 42-31.

The Golden Flashes responded and went into the under-12 media timeout leading 46-32.

Akron once again trimmed the lead down to 11 (50-39) with 8:50 left, in which the lead would hover there for the next few minutes. A 9-3 run would put the Zips back in the game, capped off by a Chauncey Gilliam floater, cutting the deficit to 57-51 heading into the final three minutes of the game.

With KSU up nine, the Jake Kretzer and McAdams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 64-61 with 28 seconds remaining. Akron would then start fouling to conserve clock. However, the Zips would not be able to overcome the deficit and would fall 68-64.

The Zips scored the first two buckets of the game, both by Marshall with the assist from Carmelo Betancourt, but made just two of their next 10 shots to fall behind 14-9 by the 11:31 media timeout.

Akron kept the margin close until back-to-back buckets gave the Golden Flashes a 26-15 lead with 7:50 left in the opening half. Three minutes later, the Akron deficit was 34-18, forcing the Zips to call timeout with 4:46 left in the half.

The Kent State lead would remain in double figures as Akron went to the locker room down 40-25.

The Zips finished the first 20 minutes shooting 34.4 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from behind the arc. Kent State shot 46.7 percent in the opening half and forced eight UA turnovers, while the rebounding battle was knotted at 19-all.

Treadwell led the Zips with six points and four boards in the half. Betancourt, McAdams and Marshall finished with five points each. Betancourt finished with three assists, one steal and one turnover.

The Zips will open the MAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will play in the semifinals on Friday, March 15, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. ET and the contest will air live on SportsTime Ohio.

Zips Notebook: The Zips honored seniors Chauncey Gilliam, Zeke Marshall and Brian Walsh before the game ... Carmelo Betancourt made his second-collegiate start, his first since starting the season opener at Coastal Carolina on Nov. 9 ... Akron leads the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge 5.5-3.5 following tonight's outcome ... Marshall passed Ohio's Patrick Flomo (105) for the MAC's single-season blocked shots mark with his second swat of the night ... tonight's 24 offensive rebounds marked the fourth time this year the Zips had 20-plus boards on the offensive glass.

Kent State head coach Darrell Hazell is a bit concerned about his offense heading into this Saturday's game on the road against Kansas State.

The Kent State offense managed only one touchdown and one field goal in their 20-12 loss to the University of Louisiana - Lafayette last Saturday night at Dix Stadium.

Hazell says the offense, may be 'checking down' their plays a bit too much, which slows down their tempo. He says they will have to change some things this week in practice so they can get into a groove running the football which will open up the play-action pass for the offense.

Hazell says those changed will allow the quarterback Spencer Keith to play behind the center instead of being in the shotgun formation on every down.

The first year head coach says while he likes his offensive line, they haven't done a 'great job' up front this season.

Hazell says he was most impressed with the play of his special teams this week and the defense. Hazell says they spent 30 minutes before practice talking about special teams.

As for the defense, Hazell says they created three turnovers in the Lafayette game, but were unable to take advantage of the miscues.

Pressured by a funding drop in the recently-passed state budget, Kent State University is increasing tuition 3.5 percent.

In the last year, Kent State University recorded its highest enrollment in its 100-year history, resulting in Kent State now ranking as the second largest public university in the state of Ohio. The university was recognized by Times Higher Education of London as one of the top 200 universities in the world in its World University Rankings and by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best national universities. With the state facing serious financial challenges, Kent State has been proactive in anticipating how to respond to lower state funding during a time of increasing need for more college-educated Ohioans.

The university has been restructuring its financial position, guided by four principles, including preserve the high value of the education and services provided to our students, protect and enhance enrollment growth, increase efficiencies, and maintain responsibility-centered management.

To enable the university to continue its multi-faceted efforts to provide high-quality academic programs to an increasing number of students, Kent State University officials have approved a 3.5 percent tuition increase for undergraduate and graduate students on the university's eight campuses effective fall semester 2011.

The action comes following the passage of the state of Ohio's biennial budget. Based on the new state budget, Kent State is projected to receive about $16 million less from the state in 2011-12, across its eight campuses. On June 2, the Board of Trustees authorized the Board Chair, Chair of the Board's Finance and Administration Committee, and the President to set tuition and related fees for fall semester 2011 within guidelines set forth in the final state budget bill.

The approved increase is in keeping with a state-mandated limit on undergraduate tuition increases for the 2011-2012 academic year, and it is expected to leave Kent State's tuition ranked in the middle of Ohio's public universities. Effective fall semester 2011, undergraduate tuition for students at the Kent Campus will increase $158 per semester (from $4,515 to $4,673). Graduate tuition will increase $168 per semester (from $4,803 to $4,971). There was no increase in the surcharge for non-Ohio residents.

"Students and their parents recognize the great educational experience and value that Kent State provides," said Kent State President Lester A. Lefton. "We meet the expectations of our students by offering world-class programs taught by first-rate faculty in a diverse, inclusive and vibrant community. Kent State is dedicated to ensuring student success and continues to be one of Ohio's most affordable public universities."

Jacqueline F. Woods, chair of the Kent State Board of Trustees, expressed appreciation to state officials for their support of higher education, even as they must deal with a very challenging economic climate for Ohio.

"We appreciate that Governor Kasich, the General Assembly, and Chancellor Petro continue to value higher education and wish to place Ohio among the best higher education systems in the country in terms of quality, access, value and impact," she said. "Kent State is working diligently to deliver high value to our students, to the state and to the communities we serve."