The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Malone University
Akron Basketball Opens Season Against Malone on Tuesday
November 04 | Men's Basketball
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Akron Zips (0-0) vs. Malone Pioneers (0-0)Â
Tuesday, Nov. 5 • James A. Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio • 7 PM
What's Ahead
The Akron Zips men's basketball program opens its 119th season on at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, against the Malone Pioneers at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Zips active roster includes eight letterwinners and six newcomers for the 2019-20 campaign. Akron is 72-46 (.610) in season openers and 58-12 (.829) when opening the season at home.
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The Broadcasts
The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron-Learfield/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/AkronZips. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats. There is no live video stream for this contest.
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Scouting the Pioneers
Malone is a member of the NCAA Division II Great Midwest Athletic Conference. In 2018-19, the Pioneers finished 9-11 in league play and 15-14 overall.
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Malone has six players returning from last season's squad, including four impact players. Daylan Haynie is the squad's returning scoring leader with 8.1 points per game. He added 145 assists, 89 rebounds, 36 steals and three blocked shots. Jaret Majestic and Marcus Ernst follow with 7.7 points per outing. Majestic was second in 3pt field goals made, draining 58 shots from deep at a 34.9-percent rate. He added 76 rebounds, 36 assists and 24 steals, while Ernst scored 7.7 points per night in the paint. Ernst led the team on the glass, grabbing 234 total rebounds or 8.1 rebs/g and blocking a team-best 23 shots. Rounding out the returners is Sehill Mouliom with 4.2 points per game and 66 total rebounds.
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Defensively, Malone allowed opponents to score 70.4 points a night on 45.3 percent shooting from the floor and 34.4 percent from 3-point range, allowing 7.1 long distance strikes per night. The Pioneers caused 342 turnovers (11.8 to/g) with 154 steals (5.3 stl/g). Malone was slightly outrebounded the opponent by a -0.2 margin as the opponent to grabbed 1,032 (35.6) total boards compared to their 1,027 (35.4) total rebounds.
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The Akron-Malone Series
Tuesday's game marks the sixth meeting in series history between Akron and Malone, and the first meeting for a Groce coached squad. Akron holds an all-time 5-0 series advantage while Groce is seeing the Pioneers for the first time.
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The series started in the 70's as the two teams met four times from 1971 to 1978 all in Akron. Akron won the first meeting 81-69 on December 1, 1971. Over the next two seasons, Akron picked-up a pair of victories 104-74 and 81-65 and the final win of the 70's came on December 30, 1977 as Akron defeated Malone 92-78.
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Tuesday's game marks the second regular season meeting in Akron's Division I era. The Zips hosted the Pioneers during the 2009-10 season on December 12. The Zips posted a 62-30 victory. Additionally, Akron and Malone met in an exhibition contest before the 2015-16 season as the Zips posted a 113-69 win on November 5, 2015.
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Home Sweet Home
The Zips own a 405-128 (.760) all-time record at Rhodes Arena. In the last 15 seasons, Akron has posted a 201-32 (.860) record at the JAR. Under coach Groce Akron is 26-7 (.788) at home.
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Akron went 12-4 at Rhodes Arena in Groce's first year as head coach and followed with a 14-3 effort. He became the third Akron coach since 1940 to win his first six home games in the first season as head coach. The Zips rattled off seven straight wins at the JAR before falling in the MAC home opener to Buffalo.
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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.
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Starting the Season Off Right
The Zips are 72-46 (.610) all-time in season openers with a 58-12 (.829) home record and 14-34 (.292) on the road. Since the 2004-05, UA is 10-5 (.667) when opening the season, standing 7-1 (.875) at home, 3-4 (.429) on the road and 2-0 (1.000) under head coach John Groce. In addition, Akron owns a 97-21 (.822) home-opening record and 32-4 (.888) at Rhodes Arena. The Zips have been winners in the last 17-of-18 home opening games. Akron is 18-8 in MAC openers, 10-1 at home since joining the league in 1992. Over the last 15 seasons, the Zips are 11-4 in MAC openers and 7-1 at home. Akron has won the last 7-of-8 MAC openers.
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Best Start to a Season
The 2015-16 Akron Zips started the season with a 3-0 winning streak. The three consecutive wins to open the season marks the best start in the Division I era of Akron men's basketball history. In addition, the 13-2 start was the best opening to a season in Akron basketball's Division I era, while the Zips win over the Arkansas Razorbacks marked the fifth consecutive season the Zips posted a win over a Power Five Conference opponent.
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Up Next
Akron continues the 2019-20 campaign on the road, traveling to Morgantown, W.Va. to play Big 12 conference member West Virginia. On Friday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m., the Zips are scheduled to play the Mountaineers at the WVU Coliseum. Former Zips' head coach Bob Huggins led his squad to the CBI postseason tournament last season. In addition, the Akron men's soccer team squares-off against the Mountaineers in Morgantown on Thursday night, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.
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