No. 4 Akron Zips Faces No. 1 Toledo in 2022 MAC Tournament Semifinal

No. 4 Akron Zips Faces No. 1 Toledo in 2022 MAC Tournament Semifinal
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Game 32 Notes: No. 4 Akron vs No. 1 Toledo (PDF)

2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament
No. 4 Akron Zips (22-9, 14-6 MAC) vs No. 1 Toledo Rockets (26-6, 17-3 MAC)
Friday, March 11 • Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse • Cleveland, Ohio • 5 PM • CBS Sports Network

Akron Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 274-190 (14th Season)
Record at Akron: 92-58 (5th Season)
MAC Record at Akron: 55-38 (5th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 88-68 (at Ohio and Akron)

Toledo Head Coach
Tod Kowalczyk (Minnesota-Duluth '89)
Overall Record: 367-271 (20th Season)
Record at UT: 231-159 (21th Season)
MAC Record: 127-87 (12th Season)

All-Time Series
Toledo Leads: 38-29 • Groce vs. Toledo 1-6 (6-7 Overall)
Last Meeting: Toledo 84, Akron 76 at Savage Arena on Jan. 28, 2022
First Meeting: Akron 37, Toledo 8 in Akron 1915-16 season
In Akron:17-12, Neutral: 1-1, In Toledo: 10-26

Broadcast
TV: CBSSN - Dave Ryan (PxP), Steve Wolf (Analyst), Jenny Dell (sideline)
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 fourth-seeded Akron Zips advanced to the semifinal round of the 2022 MAC Tournament to play top-seeded Toledo Rockets on Friday, March 11 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Tip-off for the semifinal game is scheduled for approximately 5 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Zips' radio broadcast will air on the Akron 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. Fans can also follow the action on GoZips.com via Live Stats.

The Akron-Toledo Series
Friday's game marks the 68th meeting in series history between Akron and Toledo, and 14th meeting for a Groce coached squad (seventh at Akron). Toledo owns a 38-29 all-time series advantage while Groce is 6-7 all-time and 1-6 at Akron against the Rockets. The Zips have won nine of the last 18 meetings and snapped a four-game losing skid with a 95-94 overtime win on Jan. 16, 2021, at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Rockets bounced back with a 91-76 win last season at Savage Arena on Feb. 2, 2021.

In 2018, the two teams met at Savage Arena (Jan. 5) on CBS Sports Network as Toledo claimed a narrow 67-65 advantage. Almost a month later (Feb. 3), Toledo claimed its second win of the season, 77-56, at Rhodes Arena. Over the last two seasons, Toledo claimed the lone matchups at Savage Arena 63-52 (Feb. 5, 2019) and at James A. Rhodes Arena 99-89 (Jan. 18, 2020).

UA is 17-12 all-time at Rhodes Arena, 10-26 on the road at Savage Arena, and 1-1 in the MAC Tournament with a loss at Quicken Loans Arena.

Scouting the Rockets
The Toledo Rockets are riding a six-game winning streak,finishing with a MAC-best 17-3 mark and a 26-6 overall after defeating Central Michigan (72-71) in the opening round of the MAC Tournament. The Rockets are 13-1 at home, 9-5 on the road and 4-0 in neutral site games this season.

The Rockets average 81.3 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting from the floor and 36.3 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 7.1 triples a game. In addition, Toledo shoots 76.6 percent from the free throw line with 13.6 FT made per game.

UT has four players scoring in double figures led by Ryan Rollins with 19.0 points per game. He shoots 48.0 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from deep with a third-best 45 made 3-point field goals. Rollins owns a team-highs with 126 made free throws and 58 steals to go along with a second-best 119 assists and 195 rebounds (6.1 Reb/g).

JT Shumate follows with 15.6 points per game fueled by a team-high 65 made 3-pointers. He shoots 50.4 percent from deep and owns a team-best 6.1 rebounds per game (194 tot rebs).

Setric Millner, Jr. and Rayj Dennis round out the double-digit scoring with 15.2 and 12.7 points per game. Millner averages 6.0 rebounds per game (186 tot rebs) and Dennis averages 6.0 rebounds per game (186 tot rebs). They also add 26 and 20 3-point field goals, respectively. Dennis owns a team-high 134 assists while Millner adds 65 helpers.

Defensively, Toledo allows its opponents to score 68.4 points per game on 39.8 percent shooting from the floor and30.6 percent from 3-point range, allowing 8.1 long distance strikes per night. The Rockets caused 165 turnovers (11.1 to/g) with 165 steals (5.2 stl/g). UT outrebounds the opponent by a +5.3 margin as the opponent grabbed1,290 total boards 40.3 rebs/g) compared to the 1,120 total rebounds (35.0 rebs/g) secured.

Zips in the MAC Tournament
Akron is 32-20 all-time in the MAC Tournament, 24-9 in its last 33 tournament games. The Zips have won at least one game in the MAC Tournament every year since the 2004-05 season and set an unprecedented 15-of-17 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 26-14 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Akron is 7-6 in opening round games, 1-0 second round, 12-4 in the quarterfinals, 9-4 semifinals, and 3-6 in title games.

Up Next
With a win, Akron Zips would advance to Saturday's 2022 MAC Tournament title game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on ESPN2. Fans can also follow the action on Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (analyst) or live stats on GoZips.com.

The University of Akron Athletics

No. 4 Akron Zips Faces No. 1 Toledo in 2022 MAC Tournament Semifinal

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