Zips Return to JAR, Battles UT Chattanooga on Tuesday

Tuesday, November 28

Akron, Ohio

7 p.m.

University of Akron

UT Chattanooga

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Zips Return to JAR, Battles UT Chattanooga on Tuesday

November 27 | Men's Basketball

Akron Zips (2-1) Mid-American vs UT Chattanooga (3-3) Southern
Tuesday, Nov. 28 • James A Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio • 7 PM ET • ESPN3

UT Chattanooga Head COACH
Lamont Paris (Wooster '96)
Overall Record: 3-3 (First Season)
Record at UTC: 3-3 (First Season)

AKRON ZIPS Head COACH
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Overall Record: 182-132 (10th Season)
Record at Akron: 2-1 (First Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 0-0 (First Season)
Overall MAC Record: 34-30 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
First Meeting: 0-0
Groce (at Illinois) vs Chattanooga: 0-1
Last Meeting: 11/21/15, Prairie Capital Convention Center - Fighting Illini - 77, Mocs - 81

Broadcast
TV/Video: ESPN3 – Michael Reghi (PxP) and Jacki Windon (Analyst)
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats
Radio: Akron-IMG Sports Network - Steve French (PxP) and Joe Dunn (Analyst) WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips

What's Ahead
The Akron Zips look to continue its winning ways at James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. against UT Chattanooga. The Zips opened the season 2-0 at the JAR, but fell on the road to Dayton last Saturday. The Mocs are making their first appearance at Rhodes Arena and the game is scheduled to air on ESPN3 as Michael Reghi will call the action and Jacki Windon will provide analysis.

Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats or by Zips' radio. The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron-IMG Sports Network SportsRadio 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship) with Steve French calling the action and Joe Dunn providing analysis. The pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to the contest. The free audio stream is available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.

Scouting the Mocs
UT Chattanooga enters its seventh contest of the season with a 3-3 overall record and off the heels of a 95-60 win over Tennessee Wesleyan. UT Chattanooga dropped the first two games of the season to Wyoming, 74-65, and UAB, 89-47, before posting back-to-back wins over Hiwassee, 94-46, and Alabama State, 67-50. The Mocs came up short in overtime against Jacksonville State, 77-75, bounced back with the 35-point win over the Bulldogs. The Mocs are 2-3 against the Mid-American Conference all-time – Ball State 1-0, Buffalo 1-0, and Kent State 0-3.

Chattanooga has five players scoring in double figures led by junior forward Makinde London with 15.2 points per game. London has buried 46.2 percent of his shots from the floor (24-of-52), including a share of a team-best 52.4 percent from downtown with an 11-of-21 effort. In addition, he adds a second-best 6.2 rebounds per night with 31 total boards. Joining London in the scoring column are Joshua Phillips, Rodney Chatman, David Jean-Baptiste, and Nat Dixon. Phillips played in one game, scoring 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and grabbing seven rebounds, while Chatman and Jean-Baptiste average 12.5 and 11.3, respectively. Chatman and Jean-Baptiste have both knocked down nine total 3-pointers each and dished out 18 and 17 assists. Rounding out the scoring list is Dixon. He shares the team-high 11 made 3-point buckets and shoots at the same rate as London. His 10.7 points per night are accompanied with 5.0 rebounds, 1.67 assists, and 1.0 steals per game.

Defensively, Chattanooga limits their opponents to 66.0 points per game on 41.0 percent shooting from the field (136-of-332) and 34.0 percent from downtown (33-of-97) with 5.5 made 3-pt FG per game. The Mocs caused 83 turnovers (13.8 tpg) while collecting24 steals (4.0 stl/g) and 11 blocked shots (1.8 blk/g). On the glass, UTC is at a stalemate with their opponents as each team averages 33.5 rebounds per game (201-201).

The AKRON-CHATTANOOGA Series
Saturday's game marks the first meeting in series history between Akron and UT Chattanooga. However, it is the second time a Groce led hoops squad will line up against the Mocs. UT Chattanooga claimed the first meeting, defeating Illinois 81-77 on Nov. 21, 2015 during the Emerald Coast Classic at the Prairie Capital Convention Center. In addition, The Mocs head coach Lamont Paris spent six seasons as an assistant at Akron from 2005-10.

Starting the Season Off Right
The Zips are 70-46 (.603) all-time in season openers with a 56-12 (.824) home record and 14-34 (.292) on the road. Since the 2004-05 season, UA is 8-5 (.615) when opening the season, standing 5-1 (.833) at home and 3-4 (.429) on the road.

In addition, the Zips own a 95-21 (.819) home-opening record at Rhodes Arena and have been winners in the last 15-of-16 home opening games. Akron is 18-7 in MAC openers, 10-1 at home since joining the league in 1992. Over the last 13 seasons, the Zips are 11-2 in MAC openers and 7-0 at home. Akron has won the last eight straight MAC openers.

Stepping into the Spotlight
Sophomore guard/wing Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) opened the 2017-18 season as a starter and used the opportunity to lead the Zips to a season-opening win over Cleveland State with a career-high 20 points. He topped that performance in the second game of the season, dropping 32 points and knocking down a career-best eight 3-pointers to lead Akron to a 76-59 win over UT Martin. Utomi notched 10 first-half points in both contests, while scoring a combined 32 second-half points. He netted 10 second-half points versus CSU and an astounding 22 against UT Martin. In the Zips' third game against Dayton, Utomi led the way again by recording a team-high 19 points with five rebounds and three assists. Utomi currently leads the team's scoring efforts with 23.7 points per game, shooting 54.8 percent from the floor (23-of-42) and 55.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc with a team-best 16 made triples (16-of-29).

UTOMI Earns MAC EAST Player of the Week
Daniel Utomi earned Mid-American East Division Player of the Week honors on November 20 for his career-high performance against UT Martin. Utomi led Akron to its second straight victory of the season on Saturday with a 76-59 win over UT Martin and shattered his career-high scoring record in the process. Utomi recorded a personal best 32 points against the Skyhawks, connecting with a career-high eight 3-pointers. He buried 68.8 percent of his shots from the floor (11-of-16), including a 72.7 percent effort from downtown (8-of-11). Utomi added a 2-of-3 performance from the free throw line along with five rebounds and three assists.

Leading a Young Crew
The Akron Zips look to veteran leaders junior guard Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) and graduate transfer Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ontario) to navigate through the 2017-18 campaign. Ivey, the only returning starter from last year's squad, has played 71 career games for the blue and gold, starting 32 of those contests. He earned a starting role last season and has averaged 10 points per game for two consecutive seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17). In 2017-18, Ivey ranks third in scoring with 9.3 points per night and second in rebounds 5.3 and assists 2.67 per outing.

The other seasoned vet on the squad is a transfer from Oregon State. Duvivier played three seasons with the Beavers, accounting for 95 games played with 62 starting appearances. Over that three-year span, he averaged 23.85 minutes per game against some of the best competition in college basketball with 6.56 points, 2.03 assists, and 2.0 rebounds per night. As a sophomore, He scored 10.7 points per game. Only two additional Zips have appeared in more than 30 games for their collegiate careers. In 2017-18, Duvivier averages a second-best 9.7 points with a team-leading 5.3 assists per game (16 assists).

Groce Debuts with a WIN
Zips' head coach John Groce has spent over two decades on the sidelines of a basketball court as a coach and enters his 10th season as the lead man, but first at Akron. On April 6, 2017, Groce was named the 22nd head coach in Akron Basketball history. For the last six and a half months, Groce has been preparing a young team for the new season. On Nov. 11, Groce and the Zips accomplished something that has only been done 10 times in Akron's history, debuting a coaching career with a win. Akron defeated Cleveland State 67-57 in Groce's Akron coaching debut to become the first coach since the 1984-85 season to win their initial game.

In fact, the last coach to start his Akron career with a win was Bob Huggins during the 1984-85 season against Western Illinois, 64-57. Prior to Huggins, six coaches were unsuccessful in accomplishing that feat since Thomas Dowler did so in 1939-40 against Franklin, 34-25.

Akron Falls to Dayton
The Akron Zips first road contest of the season was a tale of two halves as Akron fell 73-60 against the Dayton Flyers at UD Arena.

Akron (2-1) held a 37-32 halftime advantage but was outscored 41-23 in the second half. Akron knocked down 50 percent of its shots (14-of-28) in the first half that included a 41.7 percent effort from downtown (5-12). Akron supported its 14 field goals with 13 assists while committing only four turnovers.

In the second half, the tables turned as Dayton (3-2) shot 56.0 percent from the field (14-of-25) with half of the shots coming from behind the 3-point arc. The Flyers posted a 53.8 percent performance from deep (7-of-13) and won the battle of the boards in both halves, finishing with a 36-24 advantage on the glass.

Akron finished the game shooting 44.0 percent from the field (22-of-50), including a 30.0 percent performance from deep (6-of-20), while Dayton shot 51.9 percent from the floor (27-of-52) and 42.9 percent from long distance (9-of-21). For the third straight game, sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) led the Zips' scoring. He scored 19 points, connecting at 55.6 percent rate from the field (5-of-9) including a 57.1 percent showing from 3-point land. Utomi grabbed a second-best five rebounds and dished out three assists.

Also scoring in double figures was freshman Jaden Sayles (Cincinnati, Ohio). Sayles posted a career-best 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the floor and a 4-of-7 effort from the charity stripe. Junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) added nine points and a team-high seven rebounds, while sophomore Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) used a perfect 4-of-4 shooting performance to collect eight points.

UP NEXT
For the second time this season, the Zips will be on the road, traveling to Huntington, W.Va. to play Marshall on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m. in the Henderson Center.

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(Other Notes)

Zips Ink LePear Toles
LePear Toles, a 6'6" guard from Canton, Ohio, started his prep career at Timken High School and finished at Canton McKinley High School following the merger of the two schools. While at Timken, Toles garnered three consecutive All-Presidents Athletic League honors, including the All-PAC 7 Player of the Year award as a junior. In addition, he was named to the All-Ohio Special Mention squad. As a senior at McKinley, Toles averaged 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. He was a Third-Team All-Ohio selection and First-Team All-Federal League. In addition, the three-time First-Team Repository All-Stark County selection scored 1,331 points during his high school career to finish 25th on Stark County's all-time scoring list.

After graduating high school as an academic qualifier, Toles decided to attend postgraduate school at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. During his postgrad season, Toles averaged 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He is currently at State Fair Community College.

UT Martin Recap
Sophomore wing Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) dropped a career-high 32 points en route to the Zips second win of the season over UT Martin, 76-59, at James A. Rhodes Arena. Utomi buried a career-high eight 3-pointers as he connected with 68.8 percent of his shots (11-of-16) from the floor and 72.7 percent from deep (8-of-11). He added a 2-of-3 effort from the free throw line along with five rebounds and three assists. Behind Utomi's stellar performance, the Zips moved to 2-0 on the young season, while UT Martin fell to 1-3 overall.

Also scoring in double digits for the Zips was graduate transfer Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ontario). Duvivier scored 17 points while dishing out four assists and pulling down a rebound. The Oregon State transfer shot 60.0 percent from the field (6-of-10), including a 71.4 percent effort from downtown (5-of-7). Utomi and Duvivier combined for 13 of the Zips' 15 triples and only missed the mark five times total, shooting at a combined 72.2 percent from deep 13-of-18). Junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) added nine points, five rebounds, and a team-high five assists.

Cleveland State Recap
A new era of Akron Basketball began on Saturday evening as the Zips defeated Cleveland State, 67-57, in the season opener at James A. Rhodes Arena in the first of two games of the Northeast Ohio Coaches vs Cancer Doubleheader.

Akron outscored Cleveland State 45-27 in the second half to give first-year head coach John Groce his first win at Akron, becoming the Zips' first coach to debut with a win since Bob Huggins in 1985. In addition, it was head coach John Groce's first-career win against the Vikings as Akron increased the series record to 37-32, including the last four-straight games.

Akron had three players score in double figures as sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) led the scoring efforts with a career-high 20 points. Utomi shot 41.1 percent (7-of-17) from the floor, connecting on four 3-pointers while pulling down four rebounds. Freshman Eric Parrish (Cypress, Texas) ended the game with a career-best 17 points, six rebounds, and a steal, while junior Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) finished with 10 points and four rebounds. Cleveland State's Tyree Appleby led the Vikings' offensive efforts with 13 points, shooting 5-of-12 from the floor, followed by Kenny Carpenter with 11 points and 12 rebounds.