No. 8 Seeded Akron Hosts No. 9 Seeded Miami for Opening Round of MAC Tournament

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No. 8 Akron Zips (16-15, 8-10) vs. No. 9 Miami (15-16, 7-11)
Monday, March 11 • James A. Rhodes Arena • Akron, Ohio • 8 PM • ESPN+

Miami Head Coach
Jack Owens (Eastern Illinois '00)
Overall: 21-34 (2nd season)
Record at Miami: 21-34 (2nd season)
MAC Record: 15-21 (2nd season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 210-164 (11th Season)
Record at Akron: 30-33 (2nd Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 14-22 (2nd Season)
Overall MAC Record: 48-52 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Miami Leads: 32-30 - Groce vs. Miami 1-3 (7-6 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 70, RedHawks 58 at James A. Rhodes Arena on Feb. 23, 2019
First Meeting: Miami 45, Akron 14 in Oxford on Feb. 20, 1915
In Akron:18-9, Neutral: 2-1, In Oxford: 10-22

Broadcast
TV/Video: ESPN+ – Michael Reghi (PxP), Jacki Windon (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 15th consecutive season with at least one win in the MAC Tournament
• Akron is 6-6 in opening round games, winning 79-78 at No. 6 Western Michigan last season
•The Zips are No. 28 in defense efficiency, and No. 110 overall team in Ken Pomeroy Rankings
• Akron Ranks in the NCAA Top 100 teams in 12 Categories
• The Zips are ranked 22nd in the NCAA for scoring defense only allowing 63.7 points per game
• Akron is ranked 13th in 3-point FG% Defense (29.7), 15th 3-point FGs attempted (874), 20th FG% Defense (39.9), 56th 3-point FGs made (276), 60th TO/game (11.7), 62nd 3pt/game (8.9), 64th DREB/g (26.74), 80th Fewest TO (362), 82nd Total Rebounds (1,135), 85th Scoring Margin (+5.5) and 87th TO margin (1.6).

What's Ahead
The Akron men's basketball program makes its 22^nd appearance in the Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament as the Zips host No. 9 seeded Miami RedHawks on Monday, March 11 at 8 p.m. at James A. Rhodes Arena. Akron will host the opening round for the eighth time and is 3-4 in opening round games at Rhodes Arena and 6-6 all-time in opening round action. Akron earned the No. 8 seed. The men's game is the second game of a MAC Tournament opening round doubleheader as the eighth seeded women's team hosts ninth seeded Eastern Michigan at 5 p.m.

Scouting the RedHawks
Miami enters the contest with an 15-16 overall record and 7-11 in MAC play. Akron and the RedHawks split the season series, both protecting home court. The RedHawks dropped the last three contests and went 1-4 in the last five games with a big win over Bowling Green (82-69). Miami is 10-5 (4-5 MAC) at home, 4-9 (3-6 MAC) on the road and 1-2 in neutral site games.

Miami has six players that average over 6.5 points per game and seven with 10 or more made 3-point field goals. The three players scoring in double figures are Nike Sibande, Dalonte Brown and Bam Bowman.

Sibande leads the way with 15.8 points per game. He is shooting 39.8 percent from the floor with 160 made field goals on 402 attempts. More than half of Sibande's attempts are from long distance (220) as he buried a team-high 72 made 3-pointers while shooting at a 32.7 percent clip. Sabande adds 36 assists and a second-best 26 steals and 13 blocked shots.

Brown follows with 11.7 points per game and averages 5.1 rebounds per game (152 rebs). Brown has made 52 long-distance buckets while shooting 42.5 percent from the floor and 33.8 percent from deep.

Bowman rounds out the double-digit scorers with a 10.0 average and 30 made 3-pointers on 47.1 percent shooting from the floor and 37.5 percent from deep. He owns a team-best 5.5 rebounds per game (166 rebs).

Jalen Adaway and Darrian Ringo contribute 7.5 and 7.2 points, respectively. Adaway has 15 made triples with a team-best 50.5 shooting percentage from the field while Ringo leads Miami with 151 assists and 67 steals with 16 made shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

Mekhi Lairy adds 6.5 points per game. Lairy buried 24 3-point field goals with 43 assists. Abdoulaye Harouna has made 23 long-distance shots, averaging 5.1 points per game.

Defensively, Miami limits its opponents to 69.5 points per game on 43.0 percent shooting from the floor and 32.4 percent from 3-point range, allowing 7.5 long distance strikes per night. The RedHawks caused 371 turnovers (12.0 to/g) with 184 steals (5.9 stl/g). Miami holds the edge on the glass, outrebounding the opponent by a +2.7 margin and limiting the opponent to grab 1,066 (34.4) total boards compared to the 1,151 (37.1) total rebounds secured.

The Akron-Miami Series
Monday's game marks the 63rd meeting in series history between Akron and Miami, and 14th meeting for a Groce coached squad, fifth at Akron. Miami owns a 32-30 series advantage after winning the last 4-of-5 games of the series, starting with a 79-75 with at James A. Rhodes Arena (2016-17) and followed by a sweep in 2017-18, 79-64 win at Millett Hall and a 64-62 win at James A. Rhodes Arena.

Akron and Miami have met four times in the MAC Tournament with the series tied at 2-2. The Zips are 2-1 in Cleveland against the RedHawks and dropped a first-round game in Oxford (69-56, 2001).

Earlier this season, the RedHawks extended the streak with a 68-61 triumph at Millett Hall, but Akron snapped the run when they visited the JAR (70-85; 2/23). Groce is 7-6 all-time against the RedHawks, but is 1-3 as a Zip. The RedHawks have won the last 4-of-5 meetings, while the Zips have won 14 of the last 23 games. The RedHawks won five of the last seven games at Millett Hall.

In 2016-17, the two teams split the season series with both squads winning on the road. Akron posted a 74-70 win in Oxford and, the RedHawks bounced back with a 79-75 victory at Rhodes Arena. The Zips' win marked the 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 in Akron.

Akron is 18-9 against the RedHawks in Akron, 10-22 on the road in the series, and 2-1 in neutral site competition.

Akron and the MAC Tournament
Akron is 29-18 all-time in the MAC Tournament, going 22-7 in its last 29 tournament games. The Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year since the 2004-05 season and has advanced to the MAC Tournament title game in the last 11-of-12 seasons with an unprecedented 12-of-13 semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of the consecutive title game (11) and semifinal appearances (12) are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 24-12 at Quicken Loans Arena. Akron is 6-6 in opening round games, 1-0 second round, 10-3 in the quarterfinals, 9-3 semifinals, and 3-6 in title games.

Zips in the MAC
The Zips have posted a 53-33 mark (.616) in the last 86 games against the MAC East dating back to the start of the 2012 league schedule. Akron is 5-3 against the MAC East at the conference tournament during that stretch. Akron is 106-52 in the regular season against the West Division (.671), including winners of 49 of the last 65 regular-season games since divisional play began during the 1997-98 season.

Akron is 61-15 (.803) at home in league play since the start of the 2011 MAC schedule. UA has seen a ton of success in league play since the start of the 2004-05 season, and is 169-85 overall (.665), including a 106-22 mark in MAC play at home (.828). The Zips' 169 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 89 of their last 131 MAC games (.679).

The Broadcasts
The Zips' game is scheduled to air on ESPN+ 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-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
The Akron men's basketball team looks to advance to the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. If the Zips are to advance, they will play No. 1 seeded and No. 19/20 ranked Buffalo on Thursday, March 14 at Noon.

The University of Akron Athletics

No. 8 Seeded Akron Hosts No. 9 Seeded Miami for Opening Round of MAC Tournament

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