No. 1 Akron Opens MAC Tournament Against No. 8 Ohio

Thursday, March 12

Cleveland, Ohio

NOON

University of Akron

No.8 Ohio

Buy Tickets

No. 1 Akron Opens MAC Tournament Against No. 8 Ohio

March 11 | Men's Basketball

No. 1 Akron Zips (24-7, 14-4 MAC) vs No. 8 Ohio (17-15, 8-10 MAC)
Thursday, March 12 • Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse • Cleveland, Ohio • Noon • ESPN+

Ohio Head Coach
Jeff Boals (Ohio '95)
Overall: 72-56 (4th season)
Record at Ohio: 17-15 (1st season)
MAC Record: 8-10 (1st season)

AKRON ZIPS Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 235-172 (12th Season)
Record at Akron: 55-41 (3rd Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 28-26 (3rd Season)
Overall MAC Record: 62-56 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 44-40 - Groce vs.Ohio 4-2 (4-2 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 74, Ohio 67 at James A. Rhodes Arena on March 3 , 2020
First Meeting: Akron 21, Ohio 18 in Akron 1911-12 season
In Akron:26-14, Neutral: 3-1, In Athens: 15-25

Broadcast
TV/Video: ESPN+ – Michael Reghi (PxP), Rhett Boyd (Analyst)
Live Stats: GoZips.com/Schedule - Live Stats
Radio: Akron Sports Network - Steve French (PxP), Joe Dunn (Analyst), WARF 1350 AM (flagship), iHeart Radio, TuneIn.com/Akron Zips

What's Ahead
The Akron Zips returns Mid-American Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed, winning the regular season crown, and are slated to play the eighth seeded Bobcats of Ohio on Thursday, March 12 at noon. The intense quarterfinal battle can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on at SportsRadio1350.com, iHeart Radio, and TuneIn.com/AkronZips. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats.

Akron is 7-3 as the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament and have advanced to the MAC quarterfinals seven straight seasons and 14-of-16 years. In 2012 and 2013, the Zips advanced straight to semifinal round. The Zips run of 13 semifinal appearances and seven finals appearances (10-of-14) are MAC records. The Zips are 2-3 against Ohio in the MAC Tournament. Akron owns a 30-19 overall record in the MAC Tournament and 10-4 in quarterfinal games. The Zips dropped the last two quarterfinal games No. 1 seed and 14th ranked Buffalo (82-46, 2019) and third seeded Eastern Michigan (67-58, 2018). Akron is 24-7 overall with a 14-4 league-best mark.

Scouting the Bobcats
Ohio enters the third game of the series with a 17-15 overall record and 8-10 in MAC play under new head coach Jeff Boals. The Bobcats have posted a 2-0 mark since the last time the two teams met, including an opening round tournament win against Central Michigan (85-65). Ohio is 12-5 (6-3 MAC) at home, 4-8 (2-7 MAC) on the road and 1-2 in neutral site games.

Ohio has three players averaging double figures in points led by Jason Preston with 16.8 points per game. Preston is shooting 51.5 percent from the floor with a 203 made field goals on 394 attempts. From long distance, he has buried 37 triples while shooting at a 40.7 percent clip. Preston adds a team-best 238 assists and 46 steals. He grabs 6.4 rebounds per game (206 rebs).

Ben Vander Plas follows with 15.7 points per game and averages a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game (214 rebs) with 86 assists, 32 steals and 21 blocked shots. Vander Plas has made a second-best 41 long-distance buckets while shooting 49.2 percent from the floor and 29.9 percent from deep. Jordan Dartis rounds out the double-digit scoring with 12.9 points per game and leads the squad from deep, draining 83 triples for a 38.1 shooting percentage. He adds 67 rebounds, 36 assists and 32 steals.

Ohio has four additional players with double-digit 3-point field goals made in Ben Roderick (.367, 36), Lunden McDay (.386, 27), Nate Springs (.400, 16) and Mason McMurray (.282, 11).

Defensively, Ohio limits its opponents to 68.5 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting from the floor and 32.9 percent from 3-point range, allowing 7.5 long distance strikes per night. The Bobcats caused 406 turnovers (12.7 to/g) with 205 steals (6.4 stl/g). Ohio slightly outrebounds the opponent by a +1.7 margin. The opponents snagged 1,079 (33.7) total boards compared to the 1,134 (35.4)total rebounds secured.

The Akron-Ohio Series
Tuesday's game marks the 85th meeting in series history between Akron and Ohio, and seventh meeting for a Groce coached UA squad. Groce owns a 4-2 record against his former team. The Zips are 3-2 against the Bobcats in the MAC Tournament.

Akron holds an all-time 44-40 series advantage. The Zips have won 13 of the last 19 meetings, and Akron is 26-13 against the Bobcats in Akron, winning 15 of the last 18 meetings at Rhodes Arena, including a 74-67 win on March 3, 2020. Ohio's last win in the series was at the JAR last year 73-49 (3/2/19).

The Zips are 15-25 against OU in Athens, winning five of the last eight meetings at the Convocation Center, including an 88-86 win earlier this season. The Zips dropped two meetings in 2017-18 by scores of 99-75 (2/6/18) Rhodes Arena and 85-70 (2/4/17) at the Convocation Center.

Zips in the MAC Tournament
Akron is 30-19 all-time in the MAC Tournament, 23-8 in its last 31 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 nine consecutive seasons with an unprecedented 12-of-13 semifinal appearances. The Zips' runs of the consecutive title game (7) and semifinal appearances (13) are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 24-13 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Akron is 7-6 in opening round games, 1-0 second round, 10-4 in the quarterfinals, 9-3 semifinals, and 3-6 in title games.

MAC Regular Season Champions... Again
The 2020 Akron Zips claimed the MAC regular season title after defeating Ohio 74-67 and Kent State 79-76 during the final week of the season. The Zips have won the regular season title five times since the 2012 season, including three of the last five seasons. In addition, the 2020 championship marks the first time head coach John Groce has won a league title in his tenure.

Akron in the MAC
The Zips have posted a 59-36 mark (.617) in the last 95 games against the MAC East dating back to the start of the 2012 league schedule. Akron is 6-3 against the MAC East at the conference tournament during that stretch. Akron is 112-53 in the regular season against the West Division (.679), including winners of 55 of the last 72 regular-season games since divisional play began during the 1997-98 season. Akron is 67-17 (.795) 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 183-90 overall (.669), including a 112-24 mark in MAC play at home (.822). The Zips' 183 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 101 of their last 147 MAC games (.685).

Long Distance Attacks
Akron is shooting 36.1 percent as a team from beyond the 3-point arc (287-of-795), ranking 27th NCAA and 2nd MAC. The 287 made 3-pointers ranks 27th NCAA and 1st MAC while attempts (795) ranks 47th NCAA and 2nd MAC. Akron averages 9.3 triples per game, standing 27th NCAA and 1st MAC. The long distances attacks are spearheaded by Loren Cristian Jackson with 92 while Channel Banks and Xeyrius Williams follow with 76 and 66, respectively. Jackson ranks 20th in the NCAA, while Banks and Williams rank 92nd and 166th, respectively. Cheese has 44 made 3-pointers.

Strong Defensive Stance and Sacrifice
The Akron Zips have limited opponents to scoring 60 points or less in 12 games, including six games of 50 points or under. The Zips allow only 66.5 points per game, ranking No. 98 in the NCAA for scoring defense and 4th MAC. Akron limits opponents to 40.0 shooting from the floor (38th NCAA, 1st MAC) and 30.3 from long distance (42nd NCAA, 1st MAC). Akron has caused 410 turnovers (13.2 t/g) with 158 steals (5.1 stl/g). In addition, players are sacrificing their bodies by taking charges as Banks leads with 23 followed by Cheese (21) and Jackson (18).

2020 Vision
Four different players have at least 20 points 26 times this season. Loren Cristian Jackson leads with 12 20-plus point performances that includes five 30-plus performances, registering a career-high 35 points three times in addition to a 33-, 31-, a trio of 28-, a pair of 26- and a pair of 20-point efforts. Tyler Cheese owns eight of those performances, scoring 20 points three times coupled with 25-, a pair of 23-, and a pair of 21-point efforts. Xeyrius Williams and Channel Banks round out the 20-point performers list as Williams posted a career-best 25-point, 23-point, 22-point and two 20-point games. Banks is also a career-high with 21 points. In addition, the Zips have six 19-point efforts by Williams (NC Central, Miami), Cheese (YSU, Toledo) and Jackson (YSU, Kent State).

The Broadcasts
The Zips game will be televised on ESPN+ with Michael Reghi calling the action and Rhett Boyd providing analysis. The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron 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.

UP NEXT
It's MAC Tournament time and the Zips trying to advance to the semifinal round of the MAC Tournament at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. If Akron were to advance, they would line-up against No. 4 Northern Illinois or No. 12 Miami at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. Due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the tournament will be played with no spectators.