Akron Travels to No. 21 Buffalo

Tuesday, February 26

Buffalo, NY

7:00 pm

University of Akron

Buffalo

Tickets

February 25 | Men's Basketball

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Game Notes (PDF) | ESPN+ | Live Stats | Akron-IMG Sports Network | Season Tickets | Akron Basketball Schedule

Akron Zips (15-12, 7-7) vs. No. 21 Buffalo (24-3, 12-2)
Tuesday, Feb. 26 • Alumni Arena • Buffalo, Ohio • 7 PM • ESPN+

Buffalo Head Coach
Nate Oats (Maranatha Baptist '98)
Overall Record: 88-42 (4th Season)
Record at UB: 88-42 (4th Season)
MAC Record: 48-20 (4th Season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 209-161 (11th Season)
Record at Akron: 29-30 (2nd Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 13-19 (2nd Season)
Overall MAC Record: 47-49 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 34-28 - Groce vs. Buffalo: 0-3 (5-7 Overall)
Last Meeting: Buffalo 76, Akron 70 at James A. Rhodes Arena on Feb. 12, 2019
First Meeting: Akron 84, Buffalo 74 in Akron 1954-55 season

Broadcast
TV/Video: ESPN+ – Paul Peck (PxP), Amy Audibert (Analyst)
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats
Radio: Akron-Learfield/IMG Sports Network - Steve French (PxP), Joe Dunn (Analyst) WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips

Quick Hits
• A win would give Akron its first win over a Top 25 opponent
•The Zips are No. 21 in defense efficiency, and No. 95 overall team in Ken Pomeroy Rankings
• Akron Ranks in the NCAA Top 100 teams in 12 Categories
• The Zips are ranked 15th in the NCAA for scoring defense only allowing 62.6 points per game
• Akron is ranked 11th in 3-point FG% Defense (29.5), 20th FG% Defense (39.9), 27th 3-point FGs attempted (766), 46th TO/game (11.5), 46th Fewest TO (311), 57th TO margin (2.4), 65th 3pt/game (8.9), 67th DREB/g (26.67), 68th Scoring Margin (+6.9), 82nd 3-point FGs made (241) and 97th Fewest Fouls (465).

What's Ahead
The Akron Zips travel to No. 21 ranked Buffalo as the Mid-American Conference's top offense (Buffalo) and top defense (Akron) are set to clash on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., at Alumni Arena. Akron is 0-31 all-time against Top 25 opponents. The game is scheduled to be aired on ESPN+ and Akron-IMG Sports Radio Network 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship). The free audio stream is available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.

Scouting the Bulls
Buffalo enters the contest after remaining in the Top 25 for 16-straight weeks which is the longest stretch in the history of the MAC. The Bulls are 24-3 overall and 12-2 in the MAC with an unblemished 12-0 record at home. On the road, Buffalo is 10-3, dropping games to Marquette (103-85), Northern Illinois (77-75) and Bowling Green (92-88). The Bulls are 2-0 in neutral site competition this season.

Three players are currently averaging double figures for the Bulls, led by C.J. Massinburg with 18.5 points per outing. He is shooting 49.7 percent from the floor (156-of-314), and 42.9 percent from long range with 72 made 3-point field goals (72-of-168). Massinburg also leads the squad at the free throw line (97-of-122, .795). He is second in steals (36) and third on the glass (158 rebs, 6.1 rebs/g) and fourth in assists (76).

Nick Perkins follows with 14.2 points per game. He makes 45.8 percent of his shots (131-of-286) with 26 made 3-pointers (33-of-90, .367). He is the top rebounder (203), pulling down 7.5 per game and leads the squad with 25 blocked shots.

Jeremy Harris rounds out the double-digit scoring with 13.4 points per game. Harris is second on the squad from deep, draining 48 triples at a 27.4 rate (175 attempts). He shoots 39.9 percent from the floor (138-of-346). He is second in rebounding (170 rebs, 6.3 rebs/g) and assists (78) and fourth in steals (27).

The Bulls also have two players that nearly average 10 points per a game, in Dontay Caruthers (9.5 ppg) and Jayvon Graves (9.4 ppg). Caruthers drains 59.2 percent of his shots (87-of-147) while Graves connects 44.6 percent (91-of-204). Graves buried 40 triples at a 36.7 percent rate and Caruthers hit 13 3-pointers at a 43.3 percentage. Caruthers is third in assists (77) and steals (30), while Graves 47 helpers and 27 steals.

Defensively, Buffalo allows opponents to score 70.9 points a night on 42.0 percent shooting from the floor and 31.3 percent from 3-point range, allowing 6.9 long distance strikes per night. The Bulls caused 438 turnovers (16.2 to/g) with 199 steals (7.4 stl/g). Buffalo outrebounds the opponent by a +3.7 margin as the opponent to grabbed 999 (37.0) total boards compared to the 1,099 (40.7) total rebounds.

The Akron-Buffalo Series
Tuesday's game marks the 63rd meeting in series history between Akron and Buffalo, and 13th meeting for a Groce coached squad, fourth at Akron. Akron holds an all-time 34-28 series advantage while Groce is 5-7 overall and 0-3 at Akron.

The No. 24/25 ranked Bulls defeated Akron at James A. Rhodes Arena 76-70 on Feb. 12, and swept last season's series with an 87-65 win in Akron and an 80-68 win in Buffalo. The Zips swept the regular season series in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and have won four of the last eight meetings.

In 2016-17, Akron defeated Buffalo 89-83 at Alumni Arena and 91-90 at James A. Rhodes Arena. During the 2015-16 season, the Zips claimed a 75-71 (Jan. 5) win on the road and 80-70 (Feb. 16) win at home. However, Akron fell 64-61 to the Bulls in the 2016 MAC Championship game at Quicken Loans Arena.

Since the 2014-15 season, Akron and Buffalo are at a 5-5 stalemate as the Bulls won 2-of-3 meetings that season, including a 68-59 win on March 19 in the semifinal game of the MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena. The Zips are 1-2 against the Bulls in the MAC Tournament all-time.

Pass the Cheese Tre
Junior Tyler Cheese set a new career-high the last time out against Miami at Rhodes Arena, leading the Akron Zips to a 70-58 win with a career-high 27 points. He shot 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 showing from beyond the 3-point arc. He added a 4-of-6 effort from the free throw line, grabbed five rebounds, secured three steals, dished out two assists, and blocked a shot. His previous best was against Central Michigan with 20 points and 12 rebounds. It was also his first career double-double. Cheese has scored in double figures in 13 games, including the last 4-of-5. Miami (27), CMU (20), Alabama State and Toledo (19), @Miami (17), Buffalo and @CMU (16), Kent State (15), Marshall (14), vs.Youngstown State (13), vs.Clemson (13), Carnegie Mellon (12) and Ball State (10). Cheese currently ranks fourth in team scoring (11.1 ppg) with 68 assists and 32 steals.

The Broadcasts
The Zips' game is scheduled to air on ESPN+ as Paul Peck will call the action and Amy Audibert 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-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/Akron Zips.

UP NEXT
Akron will wrap-up the regular season at home with back-to-back games. The Zips are scheduled to host Ohio on Saturday, March 2 at 2 p.m. and Bowling Green on Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. for Senior Day. Fans can also follow the action on ESPN3/+, Akron-Learfield/IMG Sports Radio Network 1350 AM (WARF) in Akron (flagship). The free audio stream is available at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips.