On the Road Again, Zips Battle Buffalo Tuesday

Akron (15-6, 7-1) at Buffalo (10-11, 4-4)
Tuesday, Jan 28 • Alumni Arena
Buffalo, N.Y. • 7 PM • ESPN+

What's Ahead
Akron is taking a six-game winning streak on the road to Alumni Arena to play MAC-foe Buffalo on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. The Zips have won three-straight road games and fans can follow the action on ESPN+ with Paul Peck and Matt Mattia on the call or listen to Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (analyst). Live stats are also available on GoZips.com.

Game Coverage
TV: ESPN+ - https://bit.ly/3HFzBDQ
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/31e5E6L
Live Radio: WHLO 640AM - https://ihr.fm/3fFmzLo

Head Coaches
Buffalo Head Coach
Jim Whitesell (Luther '82)
Overall Record: 452-344 (28th Season)
Record at UB: 65-43 (4th Season)
MAC Record: 40-22 (4th Season)

Akron Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 291-197 (15th Season)
Record at Akron: 109-65 (6th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 45-69 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 37-33 • Groce vs. Buffalo: 3-8 (8-12 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 70, Buffalo 68 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on March 10, 2022 First Meeting: Akron 84, Buffalo 74 in Akron 1954-55 season
MAC Tournament: Buffalo Leads: 5-2

The Akron-Buffalo Series
Tuesday's game marks the 71st meeting in series history between Akron and Buffalo, and 21st meeting for a Groce coached squad, 12th at Akron. Akron holds an all-time 37-33 series advantage while Groce is 8-12 overall and 3-8 at Akron. In three of those five setbacks, the Zips led at halftime and took a one possession game to the final minutes. The Zips and the Bulls have met seven times in postseason play with Buffalo holding a 5-2 edge.

Akron claimed the lone regular season meeting in 2021-22 on New Year's Day after trailing by as many as 14 points and won by 12 points (88-76). The two team also met in the MAC Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as No. 4 Akron claimed a 70-68 over No. 5 Buffalo to advance to the semifinals against No. 1 Toledo. Buffalo claimed the previous meeting at the MAC Tournament 81-74 in overtime to advance to the MAC Tournament finals.

The Zips dropped the only regular season meeting in 2021 as Buffalo led by as many as 22 points and the Zips battled back to a one possession game with Buffalo winning 80-78 at Alumni Arena. In 2019-20, Akron and UB split the series last season as Akron won at Alumni Arena, 86-73, and the Bulls posted a 77-74 win at the JAR on a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining in the game. The Bulls won three games against the Zips -n 2018-19, including an 82-46 win in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. The No. 21/22 ranked Bulls defeated the Zips at Alumni Arena (77-64) and started the series sweep when the No. 24/25 ranked Bulls defeated Akron at James A. Rhodes Arena 76-70 on Feb. 12. The Bulls swept the 2016-17 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 five of the last 13 meetings.

Scouting The Bulls
Buffalo enters the game at 10-11 overall and 4-4 in the MAC. The Bulls average 79.7 points per outing on 46.2 percent shooting from the floor and a 33.0 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 7.2 triples a game. The Bulls are 8-2 at home, 1-6 on the road and 1-3 at neutral sites this season.

Buffalo has three players scoring in double figures and one player just under double-digits as Curtis Jones leads the squad in scoring with 15.3 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting from the floor and 37.1 from deep with a team-best 53 made 3-pointers. He is second on the glass with 5.0 rebounds per game.

Zid Powell follows with 13.7 points per game shooting 42.9 percent shooting from the floor with 11 3-point field goals. He adds a team-high 38 steals and third in assists (52). Isaiah Adamsis third in scoring with 11.3 points per game. He is second-best from beyond the arc with 39 made triples , while
Armoni Foster follows with 9.8 points per games. He made 12 trifectas and leads the team in assists (79) and third in steals (23). LaQuill Hardnett paces the squad on the glass, grabbing 150 total boards and 7.5 per game while contributing 9.1 points per game.

Defensively, Buffalo allows its opponents to score 76.8 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting from the floor and 32.7 percent from 3-point range, allowing only 7.2 long distance strikes per night. The Bulls have caused 314 turnovers (15.0 to/g) with 177 steals (8.4 stl/g). The Bulls outrebounds the opponent by a +2.5 margin, allowing the opponent to grab 760 total boards (36.2 rebs/g) compared to the 812 total rebounds secured by the Bulls (38.7 rebs/g).

On the Road
Akron is 3-3 in true road games this season, snapping a three-game setback streak at Bowling Green (74-70) and following with wins at Central Michigan (69-51) and Western Michigan (63-55). Akron Fell to Ball State (70-63), Marshall (68-57) and Bradley (74-55). The Zips are 1-3 in neutral site games this season. Akron finished 8-4 on the road in 2021-22, dropping the season opening game to Ohio State (67-66) as time expired and defeating Wright State by a decisive 18 points (66-48). The Zips second road setback came against Kent State (67-55) in the first installment of the 2021-22 Wagon Wheel series. Zips bounced back with 91-66 win over Bowling Green and a 60-56 win over Central Michigan. The Zips fell at Toledo (84-76). Zips defeated Miami (71-59) and NIU (70-64) in back-to-back road contests but fell to WMU (61-57). Akron defeated Eastern Michigan 67-48, Ohio (91-83) and Ball State (79-60) to end the season.

Akron in the MAC
Akron is 47-17 over the last three seasons in MAC play, owning the highest winning percentage (.714) in the league. The Zips are 33-13 in the MAC under the new conference format without divisions (new in 2020-21). Akron is 85-23 (.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 216-99 overall (.681), including a 130-30 mark in MAC play at home (.822). The Zips' 216 wins are the most in the league during that stretch. The Zips have won 131 of their last 187 MAC games (.694).

The University of Akron Athletics

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