Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Hosts Zips, Bonnies on Tuesday

Tuesday, December 15

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse | Cleveland, OH

2 PM

University of Akron

St. Bonaventure

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Hosts Zips, Bonnies on Tuesday

December 14 | Men's Basketball

Follow Akron Basketball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram | Follow Coach Groce on Twitter

Game Notes PDF | Live Stats| TuneIn - Akron-IMG Sports Network | Akron Basketball Schedule

Akron Zips (1-0) Mid-American vs. St. Bonaventure (0-0) A10
Tuesday, Dec. 15 • Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse • Cleveland, Ohio • 2 PM ET

St. Bonaventure Head Coach
Mark Schmidt
Career Record: 311-270 (20th season)
Record at St. Bonaventure: 229-180 (14th season)
A10 Record: 118-102 (14th season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 236-172 (13th Season)
Record at Akron: 56-41 (4th Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 28-26 (4th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 62-56 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 2-0 Groce vs. St. Bonaventure 1-0 (1-1 Overall)
Last Meeting: Zips 61, Bonnies 49 at Cayman Islands Classic on Nov. 21, 2018
First Meeting: Zips 39, Bonnies 36 at St. Bonaventure, 1942-43

Broadcast
TV/Video: ESPN3: Dave Bacon (PxP), Jacki Windon (Analyst)
Radio: Akron Sports Network - Dave Skoczen (PxP), Joe Dunn (Analyst) WHLO 640 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats

What's Ahead
The University of Akron men's basketball team continues its 120th season of collegiate basketball on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as the Zips share the court with St. Bonaventure. The showdown with the Bonnies is set for 2 p.m.

The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron-IMG Sports Network WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen and Joe Dunn calling the action. The pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to the contest. The free audio stream is available at iHeart Radio and TuneIn.com/Akron Zips. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats.

The Akron-St. Bonaventure Series
Tuesday's game marks the third time the Zips and the Bonnies will battle on the hardwood, but second time in Akron's Division I era. Two seasons ago (2018-19), the Akron Zips defeated the Bonnies 61-49 in the final game of the Cayman Islands Classic. Previously, the two teams met during the 1942-43 season. The Zips won the initial meeting 39-36 at St. Bonaventure. In addition, Groce faced the A10 squad when coaching at Ohio, falling 112-107 in four overtime periods in 2010-11.

Scouting the Bonnies
This is the first game of the 2020-21 season for St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies return three A10 All-Conference players in juniors Kyle Lofton, Osun Osunniyi and Jaren Holmes. Lofton led the St. Bonaventure in scoring a year ago, averaging 14.1 points per game while leading the Bonnies to a 19-12 overall mark and 11-7 in A10 play. Lofton also led the squad in assists, dishing out 186 helpers.

The Bonnies have three others that averaged double-digits in scoring last season. Holmes follows Lofton with 11.9 points per game and Dominick Welch tossed in 11.8. Osunniyi added 10.8 points while the fifth potential starter, Justin Winston, chipped in 8.7 points per night. Osunniyi leads the team in rebounds with 8.4 per game while Welch follows with 6.9 boards.

Zips Defeat Cedarville in Season Opener
Akron posted a 97-49 win over Cedarville to open the 2020-21 campaign. The Zips had six players make their debute in the blue and gold: Maishe Dailey (9 pts, 6 rebs, 3 ast), Bryan Trimble, Jr. (8 pts, 3 rebs, 2 ast, 2 stl), Jermaine Marshall (12 pts, 5 rebs.. was perfect from floor 4-of-4 and 2-of-2 from 3 pt stripe and FT line), Tre Edwards, Garvin Clarke and Taylor Currie. Returning for the blue and gold were Loren Cristian Jackson, who led the Zips with 19 points, nine assists and four rebounds. Mikal Dawson added 11 points with three rebounds and two steals, Enrique Freeman had a career-game, scoring 8 points with six rebounds, Ali Ali added a career-best 12 points while Greg Tribble and Camron Reece chipped in six points each. Reece led the squad on the glass with eight rebounds.

Starting the Season Off Right
The Zips are 74-46 (.610) all-time in season openers with a 60-12 (.829) home record and 14-34 (.292) on the road. Since the 2004-05, UA is 12-5 (.667) when opening the season, standing 9-1 (.875) at home, 3-4 (.429) on the road and 4-0 (1.000) under head coach John Groce.

In addition, Akron owns a 98-21 (.822) home-opening record and 33-4 (.888) at Rhodes Arena. The Zips have been winners in the last 18-of-19 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.

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.

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 has five different uniforms. Akron will continue to sport the grey set of uniforms modeled after the Team USA uniforms, which were new for 2017-18. 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.

In 2018-19, the Zips will showcased new home and away, whites and blues, with combinations that brought back the Akron gold. Both sets feature the script Akron across the chest in gold with the white set accented by blue outlines and piping, while the blues are outlined in white.The pants feature the Z-Logo on one leg and script Akron on the opposite side. Also, the Roo-Head debuts on the waistband.

Speaking of Gold, Akron's "Gold Standard" uniforms are back. Yes, Akron will be rockin gold uniforms once again. The Team USA inspired uniforms feature the script Akron in blue across the chest with the Roo-Head on the sides of the shorts. The waistband features the Z-Logo. The final uniform is a Fear The Roo uniform that is anthracite (dark grey) as the base color. The front of the jersey features the blue and gold Roo Head Logo with a blue number outlined in gold. The shorts features Zips in gold script on the waistband with a Roo Head on the left leg and script Akron logo on the right leg in gold.

UP NEXT
On Saturday, Dec. 19 the Zips will travel 15 minutes East to battle their rival Kent State. The Crystal Clinic Orthopaedic Wagon Wheel showdown is set for a 2 p.m. tipoff at the M.A.C Center in Kent. Fans can follow the action on ESPN+, 640 WHLO AM or GoZips.com.