The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Miami (Ohio)
Men's Basketball Overcomes Slow Start to Defeat Miami (Ohio) 54-50
February 09 | Men's Basketball
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OXFORD, Ohio – For the 17th time in the series, an Akron Zips game against Miami (Ohio) saw the victor score 55 points or less as the Zips downed the RedHawks 54-50 on Saturday afternoon in a Mid-American Conference East Division matchup at Millett Hall.
The Zips extended their winning streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the nation. Akron's 10-0 start in league play is the first in the MAC since Miami won 10-straight to open the 1983-84 league schedule.
Akron (19-4, 10-0 MAC) closed the game shooting 39.6 percent from the floor (19-of-48) and 31.3 percent from long range (5-of-16). The Zips had 14 turnovers to just eight assists, but forced Miami (8-14, 3-7 MAC) into 18 turnovers.
Brian Walsh and Demetrius "Tree" Treadwell led all scorers with 13 points each. Treadwell added six boards. Zeke Marshall finished with nine points, five boards and four blocked shots.
Allen Roberts led Miami with 11 points.
Akron opened the second half on a 6-0 run to force Miami into a timeout as the RedHawk's lead dwindled to 25-22 with 16:53 remaining. MU would push its advantage back to eight points by the under-12 media timeout (34-26).
The Zips continued to chip away at the RedHawk advantage until Alex Abreu's steal and layup gave Akron a 35-34 lead with 7:53 remaining. It was Akron's first lead since a 9-8 lead with 11:12 left in the first half.
UA opened up a six-point advantage 41-35 with 6:18 left thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Reggie McAdams and Jake Kretzer. Defense also played a big part as the Zips held the RedHawks without a field goal for nearly seven minutes.
The RedHawks would answer, grabbing a brief 43-42 advantage but a Walsh 3-pointer put the Zips back on top 45-43.
With Akron leading by two, Quinten Rollins had a chance to tie the game at 48-48, but missed the layup. Akron would capitalize on the other end on a Marshall lay-up for a four-point lead and 1:09 remaining. That would be the closest the RedHawks would get.
Both teams started the game off a little sluggish, combining to go 2-of-12 from the field with five turnovers heading into the first media timeout. However, the Zips would lead 4-0.
By the under-eight media timeout, Miami had opened a 15-10 advantage, holding Akron to just 26.7 percent shooting from the floor (4-of-15). Seven of Akron's 10 points came courtesy of Walsh's 3-of-4 shooting to open the half.
Akron would go 10:20 without a field goal before Treadwell ended the drought with back-to-back buckets to cut the Miami lead to 17-15 with 2:53 remaining. Those two buckets would be the last for the Zips in the half as the RedHawks took a 25-16 advantage into the locker room.
UA closed the half shooting 24.0 percent from the floor (6-of-24) and 50.0 percent from 3-point range (3-of-6). MU connected on 46.2 percent from the floor (12-of-26) and connected on just one 3-point attempt (1s-of-4).
The Zips will close out this short two-game road swing on Wednesday, Feb. 13, when they travel to Ypsilanti, Mich., to face Eastern Michigan. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.
Zips Notebook: Akron has now won 11-straight MAC games dating back to last season ... Akron's 15-game winning streak is the longest in program history since the Zips won a school-record 21-straight during the 1958-59 season ... UA has won 23 of their last 26 league games.
