MAC Tournament Preview: No. 3 Zips to Battle No. 6 Buffalo in Quarterfinals

2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament
No. 3 Akron (21-10, 13-5) vs No. 6 Buffalo (15-16, 9-9 MAC)
Thursday, March 9 • Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Cleveland, Ohio • 6:30 PM • ESPN+

What's Ahead
The No. 3 seeded Akron Zips open the 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament against the No. 6 seeded Buffalo Bulls on Thursday, March 9 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio at 6:30 p.m. Michael Reghi (pxp) and Rhett Boyd (analyst) will be on the call for the ESPN+ broadcast. Fans can 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: ESPNU: https://bit.ly/41Ykzkt
Live Stats: http://bit.ly/3tK307J
Live Radio: WHLO 640AM - https://ihr.fm/3fFmzLo

Head Coaches
Buffalo Head Coach
Jim Whitesell (Luther '82)
Overall Record: 457-349 (28th Season)
Record at UB: 70-48 (4th Season)
MAC Record: 45-27 (4th Season)

Akron Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 297-201 (15th Season)
Record at Akron: 115-69 (6th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 101-73 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
Akron Leads: 39-33 • Groce vs. Buffalo: 5-8 (10-12 Overall)
Last Meeting: Akron 86, Buffalo 66 at James A. Rhodes Arena on Feb. 18, 2023
First Meeting: Akron 84, Buffalo 74 in Akron 1954-55 season
MAC Tournament: Buffalo Leads: 5-2

The Akron-Buffalo Series
Thursday's game marks the 73rd meeting in series history between Akron and Buffalo, and 23^rd meeting for a Groce coached squad, 14th at Akron. Akron holds an all-time 39-33 series advantage while Groce is 10-12 overall and 5-8 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 swept the regular season series in 2023, defeating the Bulls at Alumni Arena (81-64) and at The JAR (86-66) Akron won 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 teams 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 (2020-21).

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 15-16 overall and 9-9 in the MAC. The Bulls average 77.5 points per outing on 45.5 percent shooting from the floor and a 32.4 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 7.0 triples a game. The Bulls are 11-4 at home, 3-9 on the road and 1-3 at neutral sites this season.

Buffalo has four players scoring in double figures as Curtis Jones leads the squad in scoring with 15.1 points per game on 41.4 percent shooting from the floor and 36.1 from deep with a team-best 73 made 3-pointers. He is second in steals (40) and third on the glass with 4.9 rebounds per game (147 rebs). Zid Powell follows with 12.6 points per game shooting 40.8 percent shooting from the floor with 15 3-point field goals. He adds a team-high 51 steals and third in assists (74). Isaiah Adams is third in scoring with 11.7 points per game. He is second-best from beyond the arc with 60 made triples , while LaQuill Hardnett follows with 10.8 points per game. He made 22 trifectas and leads the squad on the glass 7.2 rebs per game (217). Armoni Foster leads the team in assists (120) and third in steals (34).

Defensively, Buffalo allows its opponents to score 76.9 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting from the floor and 34.4 percent from 3-point range, allowing only 7.5 long distance strikes per night. The Bulls have caused 435 turnovers (14.0 to/g) with 247 steals (8.0 stl/g). The Bulls outrebounds the opponent by a +2.8 margin, allowing the opponent to grab 1,089 total boards (35.1 rebs/g) compared to the 1,175 total rebounds secured by the Bulls (37.9 rebs/g).

Zips in the MAC Tournament
Akron is 34-20 all-time in the MAC Tournament, 27-9 in its last 36 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 games (7) and semifinal appearances (13) are the longest streaks in MAC history. The Zips are 28-14 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Akron is 7-6 in opening round games, 1-0 second round, 12-4 in the quarterfinals, 10-4 semifinals, and 4-6 in title games. Akron owns a 6-5 record as the No. 3 seed.

The University of Akron Athletics

MAC Tournament Preview: No. 3 Zips to Battle No. 6 Buffalo in Quarterfinals

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