Akron to Play the Miami RedHawks on Tuesday

Tuesday, January 30

Oxford, OH

7 p.m.

University of Akron

Miami

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January 29 | Men's Basketball

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Akron Zips (10-10, 3-5 MAC) at Miami (11-10, 4-4 MAC)
Tuesday, Jan. 30 • Millett Hall • Oxford, Ohio • 7 p.m. ET • ESPN3

Miami Head Coach
Jack Owens (Eastern Illinois '00)
Overall: 11-10 (1st season)
Record at Miami: 11-10 (1st season)
MAC Record: 4-4 (1st season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Overall Record: 190-141 (10th Season)
Record at Akron: 10-10 (First Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 3-5 (First Season)
Overall MAC Record: 37-35 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Series Tied: 29-29 - Groce vs. Ball State: 0-0 (6-3 Overall
Last Meeting: Miami 79, Akron 75 at James A. Rhodes Arena on Feb. 28, 2017

Broadcast
TV/Video: ESPN3 –Steve Baker (PxP) and Randy Hollowell (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 men's basketball team looks for its first road win of the season in Oxford, Ohio. on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. ET against the Miami RedHawks. The game is scheduled to air on ESPN3 from Millett Hall with Steve Baker calling the action and Randy Hollowell providing 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.

The Akron-Miami Series
Tuesday's game marks the 59th meeting in series history between Akron and Miami, and 10th meeting for a Groce coached squad. The series is deadlocked at 29 games apiece, while Groce holds a 6-3 advantage over the RedHawks. The Zips have won 13 of the last 17 games. The two team split last season's series with both squads winning on the road.Akron posted a 74-70 win at Millett Hall last season, but the RedHawks bounced back with a 79-75 victory at Rhodes Arena.

The win marked the Zips first win in Oxford since February 9, 2013. In 2015-16, Miami defeated Akron 77-64 at Millett Hall, and the Zips won 2015-16 series opener 75-46 at James A Rhodes Arena. Last season's win over the RedHawks snapped a three-game losing skid. Akron is 17-8 against the RedHawks in Akron, winning 12 of the last 14 games at Rhodes Arena. UA is 10-20 on the road in the series, and the RedHawks won three of the last five games at Millett Hall.

Scouting the RedHawks
Miami enters the contest with an 11-10 overall record and 4-4 in MAC play. The RedHawks opened league play with a 77-72 win over Bowling Green to claim their first MAC road win. They followed with back-to-back home games and split the homestand with a loss to Western Michigan (67-62) and win over Kent State (80-69).The RedHawks dropped a pair, won a pair and fell to Eastern Michigan (58-48) the last time out at Millett Hall. This season, Miami is 6-3 (2-3 MAC) at home, 4-6 (2-1 MAC) on the road, and 1-1 in neutral site games.

Miami has one player scoring in double figures as Nike Sibande average 14.3 points on 42.2 percent shooting from the floor (105-of-249) and 35.8 percent from downtown with a team-high 42 made 3-point FG (48-of-134). Sabande shoots 68.9 percent from the free throw line (42-of-61) while grabbing 3.9 rebounds (81) and dishing out 1.1 assists (23) with 15 steals and five blocked shots.

Three additional players are averaging 9-plus points per night for Miami as Darrian Ringo leads this unit with 9.8 points per game. He shoots 46.7 percent from the floor (70-of-150) and 35.2 percent from deep with 19 made triples (19-of-54). Ringo dishes out a team-best 7.6 assists per contest (161).

Logan McLane and Jalen Adaway contribute 9.3 and 9.1 points per game, respectively. McLane adds 6.1 rebounds, grabbing a team-best 128 boards on the season, and Adaway grabs 5.8 boards on average(117) and leads the team in field goal percentage with a 53.7 rate.

In addition, Miami has 10 players with 10 or more made 3-point field goals and three players with 100-plus rebounds to date. Jake Wright has knocked down a second-best 37 long distance buckets, while Dalonte Brown averages a second-best 5.6 rebounds a night (117). McLane and Brown each have 14 blocked shots.

Defensively, Miami limits their opponents to 69.2 points a night on 43.2 percent shooting from the field and 33.0 percent from downtown with 7.1 made 3-pt FG per game (149-of-451). The RedHawks caused 262 turnovers (12.0\5 tpg) while collecting 149 steals (7.1 stl/g) and 54 blocked shots (2.6 blk/g). On the glass, Miami slightly outrebounds its opponents 798-7324 for a 3.5 margin.

Last Time Out Against RedHawks
The Akron Zips suffered a 79-75 setback against the Miami RedHawks at James A. Rhodes Arena on Senior Night.

Akron held a 15-point advantage with 12 minutes to go in the game, but the RedHawks chipped away to grab the lead with at the 2-minute mark. the two teams battled back and forth in the final minutes, and the RedHawks came away with the win.

Antino Jackson scored 12 points for the Zips, while Kwan Cheatham, Jr. followed with 11 points. Noah Robotham added 10 points, three assists and three steals.
Michael Weathers led the way for the Miami with 22 points and seven assists. Jake Wright added 17 points and Marcus Weathers rounded out the scoring with 14 points and pulled down six rebounds.

For the game, the Zips connected on 51.9 percent (28-of-54) of their attempts from the field, while forcing 17 Miami turnovers. The RedHawks shot 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the field and connected on 89.5 percent (17-of-19) of their free throw attempts.

Zips in the MAC
The Zips have posted a 47-24 mark (.662) in the last 71 games against the MAC East dating back to the start of the 2012 league schedule. Akron is 5-2 against the MAC East at the conference tournament during that stretch. Akron is 99-45 in the regular season against the West Division (.688), including winners of 42 of the last 53 regular-season games since divisional play began during the 1997-98 season.

Akron is 51-10 at home in league play since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule (.836). UA has seen a ton of success in league play since the start of the 2004-05 season, and is 158-70 overall (.693), including a 96-17 mark in MAC play at home (.850). The Zips' 158 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 77 of their last 109 MAC games (.706).

Akron is 27-10 in the MAC Tournament in the last 12 seasons, going 21-6 in its last 27 tournament games. The Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year and have made nine MAC Tournament title game appearances in the last 11 seasons with an unprecedented 12-straight semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of the consecutive title game and semifinal appearances are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 24-10 at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Zips won 12 consecutive regular season MAC games, dating back to the 2015-16 season. However, the 2012-13 Zips won 19-straight games and rattled-off 13 consecutive league games during that run. Kent State owns the MAC regular season consecutive win record (21), and single-season record (17-1).

In 2016-17, the Akron Zips finished 14-4 in league play. Akron averaged 76.8 points per game in the MAC while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 36.7 from long distance with 10.0 made 3-pointers a game. The Zips averaged 14.8 assists (266), 10.7 turnovers per game (193), 5.8 steals (104), and 3.1 blocked shots (56), but were slightly outrebounded 604-615 in league play.

IVEY Breaks Single-Game Scoring Record
Ivey became the all-time single-game scoring leader with a 48-point performance against Ball State (1/27), breaking the old mark by Joe Jakubick set on Feb. 5, 1983 against Murray State.

Ivey broke several records in the 111-106 double-overtime loss to Ball State at Worthen Arena. Ivey scored 48 points to set Akron's all-time single-game scoring record which stood for 35 years. He also broke Worthen Arena's all-time scoring mark of 41 points previously held by Bonzi Wells (Ball State, 1996) and Earl Boykins (Eastern Michigan, 1998). Ivey's nine 3-pointers set an arena record and he tied the arena record for made field goals (15) set in 1992 by Xavier's Brian Grant.

Ivey was magnificent on both ends of the floor against the Cardinals, shooting 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the field that included a 75 percent effort (9-of-12) from downtown. Ivey scored 34 points in regulation and registered seven points in each of the 5-minute overtime periods. He was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe and added eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot in 49 minutes of work.

Ivey Earns Player of the Week
Junior guard Jimond Ivey earned MAC East Division Player of the Week accolades after leading the Akron men's basketball team with two great performances, including a historic 48-point effort. Over the two-game span, Ivey averaged 32.5 points while shooting 55.3 percent from the field (21-of-38) and 61.1 percent from long distance (11-of-18). In 79 minutes of action, he went 12-of-14 from the free throw line while adding 7.0 rebounds (14), 3.0 assists (6), 1.5 steals (3) per game.

Home Sweet Home
Akron is 10-1 at Rhodes Arena under first-year head coach John Groce, who became the third
Akron coach since 1940 to win his first six home games in his first season as head coach. The Zips rattled off seven straight wins at the JAR before falling in the MAC home opener to Buffalo.

The Zips set the all-time longest home winning streak record at Rhodes Arena with 30 consecutive wins during the 2015-17 seasons, replacing the 26-game run the Zips made during the 1985-87 seasons under head coach Bob Huggins. The streak ranked No. 2 in the NCAA. In 34 seasons at the JAR, the Zips own a 391-121 (.764) all-time record, and in the last 13 seasons, Akron has posted a 184-26 (.879) record at the JAR.

Chasing 1,000 Points
Malcolm Duvivier is currently 85 points shy of reaching the 1,000 career points milestone. During his three-year career at Oregon State, Duvivier scored 623 points for the Beavers. Currently, Duvivier has posted 292 points for Akron, bringing his career total to 915 points.

Zips Starting Lineup
With the losses of Emmanuel Olojakpoke (surgery) and Jaden Sayles (injury), the Zips have shuffled the lineup depending on the opponent's personnel. In fact, of the 10-player roster, eight Zips have been thrust into a starting role over the last few weeks. Duvivier, Ivey, and Utomi have started all 20 games to date, and they have been joined by Eric Parrish (15), Torrey Patton (5), Virshon Cotton (2), Mark Kostelac (2), and Lucas Smith (1).

In 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 (then) 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 is the only Zip to score double digits in 17 games with five 20-plus point performances.

Utomi currently leads the team's scoring efforts with 15.2 points per game, shooting 41.7 percent from the floor (100-of-240) and 37.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc with a second-best 57 made triples (57-of-152). Currently, Utomi ranks 58th in the NCAA in 3-pointers per game (2.85), 106th in 3-point FG percentage (.375), 83rd in 3-point FG made (57), and 67th in 3-point attempts (152).

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 88 career games for the blue and gold, starting 49 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 second in scoring for Akron with 14.9 points per night and the top rebounder with 6.2 per game (123). Ivey Leads in assists with 3.9 per outing (78). He set the all-time single-game scoring record with a career-high 48 points. He posted two double-doubles, most recently against Northern Illinois (1/20) with 15 points and 10 rebounds and App State (12/9) with 15 points and 10 assists. Ivey scored 25 points against Davidson and followed with 24 points against Concord.

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 14.6 points with 3.6 assists per game (71 assists). Duvivier scored a career-high 24 points against App State and Concord. He has scored in double figures in 15 games with four 20-plus performances, 21 points against Davidson and Western Michigan. Against Concord, Duvivier hit a career-best seven triples and has made at least five 3-pointers in five games, including 6-5-7 three-straight game stretch. Duvivier leads the squad with 62 made 3-pointers.

Currently, Duvivier ranks 29th in the NCAA in 3-pointers per game (3.10), 47th in 3-point FG made (62), 54th in 3-point FG percentage (.419), and 83rd in 3-point attempts (148).

Duvivier Selected as Mid-Major Madness Top Canadian
Duvivier is a graduate transfer from Oregon State, where he helped lead the Beavers to their first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1990 in 2015-16. He has a wealth of experience having played against several future NBA stars in the Pac-12, and has brought that leadership with him to Akron. Duvivier is big, strong and explosive and has made a major impact this year. He's averaging 14.1 points, along with 3.7 assists and 2.2 rebounds per game. Expect to see Duvivier receive all-conference accolades, and be in the running for MAC POY.

Canada has become a hot bed for top college and NBA players, with well over 100 Canadians currently playing Div. I basketball. There are currently 77 Canadian-born players on mid-major rosters, which includes a four-way tie for the most Canadians; Harvard, Vermont, Sienna and Canisius all have three Canadians on the roster.

E-MAN Season Cut Short
On Wednesday morning (1/10), sophomore frontcourt player Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) received difficult news. Due to a medical condition that required surgery, Olojakpoke will miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season. Full details will be disclosed at a later date.

Statement from Akron Basketball head coach John Groce on Emmanuel Olojakpoke:
"Yesterday (1/10), Emmanuel Olojakpoke had successful open-heart surgery. He is resting and expecting a full recovery. We fully anticipate this recovery will require him to miss the remainder of the 2017-18 season. The Zips basketball family is committed to assisting E-Man in his return to full health. We ask to keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Please allow E-Man and the entire Olojakpoke family the privacy they deserve at this time." #EManStrong

Building on a Career Week
During the week of Jan. 9, freshman guard Virshon Cotton led the Zips men's basketball team through a 1-1 week en route to lifting Akron to its first Mid-American Conference win by draining a game-winning 3-pointer against Bowling Green. Cotton led Akron's scoring effort in both games, scoring a career-high 23 points twice last week. For the week, Cotton scored 46 points (23 pts/g) on 11-of-19 (.579) shooting from the field and 6-of-11 (.545) from deep. He buried 18-of-22 (.818) free throws to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Against Bowling Green, Cotton buried the game-winner from long distance with 3.7 seconds remaining in regulation. He led Akron to an 80-78 victory with a career-high 23 points on 6-of-9 (.667) shooting from the floor which included a 5-of-7 (.714) performance from downtown. Cotton added a 6-of-7 (.857) effort from the free throw line to go along with three rebounds and three assists.

The Zips opened the week with an 87-65 loss to Buffalo as Cotton posted a team-high 23 points on 5-of-10 (.500) shooting from the field. Cotton made a career-best 15 trips to the free throw line and connected with a career-high 12 bonus buckets for an 80.0 percent showing from the charity stripe. He added two steals, two rebounds, and an assist.

E-MAN SHATTERS CAREER MARK
Sophomore frontcourt player Emmanuel Olojakpoke (Houston, Texas) shattered his career-scoring record against Fort Wayne, pouring in 24 points in 25 minutes of work. E-Man erased his previous game-high scoring effort (11 points) by halftime, tossing in 14 points before the break. He continued to elevate his personal stat sheet by doubling his career field goals made and attempted. He knocked down 10 field goals, six more than his previous high, on 13 shot attempts, seven more than before, for a 77.0 shooting percentage. E-Man also made two more trips to the free throw line, burying career-best four freebies on six attempts. In addition, Olojakpoke tied his career-high blocked shot performance with four denials.

Akron vs. Ball State Recap
Junior guard Jimond Ivey (Cleveland, Ohio) forced double overtime with a 3-pointer from the wing and scored 48 points in Akron's 111-106 double-overtime loss to Ball State at Worthen Arena. Ivey's 48 points broke Akron's all-time single-game scoring record of 47 points set by Joe Jakubick on Feb. 05, 1983 against Murray State. Ivey was magnificent on both ends of the floor, shooting 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the field that included a 75 percent effort (9-of-12) from downtown. Ivey scored 34 points in regulation and registered seven points in each of the 5-minute overtime periods. He was 9-of-10 from the charity stripe and added eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.

Ivey's career-high performance broke the Worthen Arena's all-time scoring mark of 41 points previously held by Bonzi Wells (Ball State, 1996) and Earl Boykins (Eastern Michigan, 1998). Ivey's nine 3-pointers set an arena record and he tied the arena record for made field goals (15) set in 1992 by Xavier's Brian Grant. In addition, the 217 combined points are the most in Worthen Arena history, while Akron's 106 points are the most ever by a visiting team and the most ever by the losing team in that arena.

After battling to an 81-81 stalemate by the end of regulation, Ball State looked to be in the driver's seat in the first overtime session as Kyle Mallers buried two free throws to put the Cardinals ahead by three points with 3.4 seconds remaining in the game. Ivey collected the inbounds pass and flew up the court to launch a 3-pointer from the deep right wing position. He got the shot off as time expired, and after the buzzer sounded the game was tied, 95-95. Ivey scored half of the Zips' 14 points in the first extra frame and continued to find the bottom of the net in the second overtime.

In the final frame, Ball State claimed their second-largest lead of the game, 107-101, with 1:16 left to play as Tahjai Teague sent the crowd into a frenzy with a dunk. Ivey immediately cut the lead in half with one of his nine triples and followed with a layup to put Akron within one point with 26 seconds remaining, 107-106. The Cardinals responded with a layin, 109-106, and with four seconds left to play, Trey Moses deflected the inbounds pass off Ivey to give the ball back to the Cardinals. Moses collected the final bucket of the game to finish with 22 points.

In a game that featured 17 tied scores and 12 lead changes, Akron shot 46.8 percent (36-of-77) from the field and 34.1 percent (15-of-44) from deep as graduate senior Malcolm Duvivier (Toronto, Ontario) added 22 points. Duvivier was whistled for his fifth foul with 10 seconds remaining in regulation after connecting with 8-of-18 shots from the floor, 3-of-9 from long distance, and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. He added five assists, two rebounds, and two steals. Freshman Virshon Cotton (Milwaukee, Wisc.) and sophomore Daniel Utomi (Houston, Texas) rounded out the double-digit scoring with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Teague and Tayler Persons led Ball State with 26 points apiece, while Mallers and Sean Sellers collected 18 and 10 points respectively.

The Cardinals shot 50 percent (34-of-68) from the floor and 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from deep with a 78.6 percent (33-of-42) effort from the free throw line. The Cardinals double Akron's free throw attempts as the Zips cashed in with 90.5 percent (19-of-21). Ball State held a slight 42-40 edge on the glass, and the turnover battle was deadlocked at 18 apiece.

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.

The LeBron James Shoe Deal and Nike Apparel
Since June 2008, the Akron men's basketball program has been partnered with Nike under which the Zips' shoes, game uniforms, warm ups and accessories are licensed under the Nike and LeBron James Trademarks.

The Zips are just one of three college programs in the country that are partnered with the LBJ line of Nike equipment, the others are Ohio State and Duquesne. Akron rocks six pairs of LBJ kicks in three different styles all customized to Akron Basketball.

The Akron Zips men's basketball team have four different uniforms. The white (home) and blue (away) uniforms represent a reinvigorated pride in our University, our City, and Zips Athletics. The designs for both home and away were inspired by the "Pride of the City". The goal is to strengthen the pride for the University of Akron within the community.

The home uniforms are white with dark blue trim and accents, while the away are dark blue with white trim and accents. The "Pride of the UniverCity" uniforms display the name Akron in a prestigious oldstyle script font on the chest with the number(s) below. The script font and numbers are the same color as the jersey top (white/white or blue/blue) and outlined with the opposite color. The inspiration for the script writing and to use Akron on the chest stemmed from tradition and an overwhelming amount of pride for the city of Akron and its University. The game shorts have three distinguishing marks. The right side of the shorts depicts the Zips' mascot Zippy, and her Fear the Roo head logo, while the left side dons the University's official seal. The final mark on the shorts is the notorious Z-logo, which appears on the front waistband.

New for 2017-18, Akron has a grey set of uniforms modeled after the Team USA uniforms. The Grey uniforms feature the script Akron on the chest in blue outlined in the university gold. The numbers are depicted the same way which matches the blue piping that outlines the uniform. The shorts feature the Z-logo on both sides of the leg and are piped with the blue.Akron also has a purple set of uniforms that are worn as a tribute to former coach and director of operations Dan Peters.

UP NEXT
The Akron Zips will be back at James A. Rhodes Arena to start the second half of the MAC season. The Zips will host Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Noon ET as CBS Sports Network will televise the game. Fans can also follow the action on 1350-AM or GoZips.com.