The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Yale
Akron Faces Yale in Paradise Jam Title Match Monday Night
November 24 | Men's Basketball
AKRON, Ohio - The Akron Zips battle Yale for the fourth time in the all-time series on Monday, November 24 for an 8 p.m. start. Akron and Yale can be viewed on ESPN+ with Brad Wells (PxP) and Kevin Lehman (Analyst) on the call. Fans can listen to the action on the Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (Analyst) on the call. Live stats are also available on GoZips.com/coverage.
Akron (5-1, 0-0 Mid-American) vs Yale (5-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Monday, Nov. 24 – UVI Arena – St. Thomas, USVI
8 pm ET – WHLO 640 AM
HEAD COACHES
Akron: John Groce | Overall Record: 355-221 | At Akron: 173-89
Yale: James Jones | Overall Record: 423-320 | At Yale: Same
ALL-TIME SERIES
Akron Trails 2-1 | Groce vs Yale: 1-1
First Met: Jan. 1, 1907 (Akron 36, Yale 30) At Akron
Last Met: Dec. 20, 2024 (Akron 58, Yale 74) In El Paso, Texas
Current Streak: L1
INSIDE THE SERIES
Akron and Yale meet for just the fourth time in program history. Akron (then Buchtel College) won the first meeting in Jan. 1, 1907, 36-30 before falling to Yale 32-28 on December 23, 1907. The Zips and Bulldogs battled in El Paso, Texas last season in the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invite, with Yale coming away with a 74-58 victory.
LAST TIME OUT (VS EVANSVILLE 11/23/25)
ST.THOMAS, USVI - The Akron men's basketball team scored 30 points off of turnovers on the way to a 97-59 victory against the Evansville Purple Aces at Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center Sunday.
The Zips (5-1) had four players score in double figures, led by Bowen Hardman, who had 19 points. Tavari Johnson added 19 points and four assists and Amani Lyles helped out with 17 points and five assists while Evan Mahaffey tossed in 11 points while supplying seven assists.
Akron out-rebounded Evansville 29-22 in Sunday's game, paced by five boards from Marvin Musiime-Kamali. The Zips also collected 10 offensive rebounds and scored 21 second chance points.
Akron forced 18 Evansville turnovers while committing 12 themselves in Sunday's game. The Zips turned those takeaways into 30 points on the offensive end of the floor. Musiime-Kamali led the way individually with three steals.
After jumping out to a 23-20 advantage, Akron went on an 8-0 run with 8:32 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Johnson, to increase its lead to 31-20. The Zips then lost some of that lead, but still entered halftime with a 44-36 advantage. Akron relied on its three-point shooting in the period, knocking down seven shots to account for 21 of its 44 points.
Following intermission, Akron kept widening that lead, expanding it to 52-43 before going on a 10-0 run to grow the lead to 62-43 with 13:29 to go in the contest. The Zips kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 97-59 win. Akron capitalized on 11 Evansville turnovers in the period, collecting 20 points off those turnovers.
LAST TIME AGAINST YALE (12/20/2024)
EL PASO, Texas - The Akron men's basketball team got a 22-point showing from the bench, but fell 74-58 to the Yale Bulldogs at Don Haskins Center Friday.
The Zips (6-4) had two players score in double figures, led by Tavari Johnson, who had 23 points. Shammah Scott tacked on 10 points from the bench and Nate Johnson added four points, four assists and two steals.
The Akron offense was very productive from deep, pouring in nine threes Tavari Johnson was the most prolific shooter for the Zips, draining four treys in the contest.
After Yale jumped out to an 11-0 run, Akron went on a 13-2 run with 12:33 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Amani Lyles, to tie the game. The Zips would take a four point advantage with 4:28 left in the first frame on a 3-pointer from Scott. Yale would wind up with a two point advantage at the half, up 27-25.
After intermission, Yale managed to gain control and had a 45-35 lead before going on a 10-0 run to grow the lead to 55-35 with 10:41 to go in the contest. Akron shot well from three-point range in the half, hitting five shots from deep to score 15 of its 33 points.
REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENTS
Akron is 75-49 all-time and 54-42 in the Division I era (since 1980) in regular-season tournaments and 14-14 under Groce. Akron is 2-0 in the Paradise Jam after defeating Iona 96-75 and Evansville 97-59.
In 2024, the Zips went 1-1 at the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational in El Paso, Texas after falling to Yale in the opening game 74-58 before rebounding with a 68-50 victory over Jackson State. Shammah Scott was named to the All-Tournament Team. Akron concluded the Akron Basketball Classic with a 3-0 record with wins over Lamar (79-72), Nebraska Omaha (92-84) and Alabama State (97-78). Nate Johnson was named the tournament MVP while Isaiah Gray and Amani Lyles were named to the all-tournament team.
2023-24 saw Akron go 1-2 at the Cayman Islands Classic, posting a win over FIU before falling to Utah State and Drake. Akron posted a 1-2 record at the 2022 Cayman Islands Classic, defeating Western Kentucky and advancing to the semifinals before falling to LSU and finishing fourth overall after falling to Nevada.
The Zips registered a 1-2 record in the 2021 Gulf Coast Showcase, a 3-1 record in the Global Sports Shootout, and a 1-1 mark in the DC Holiday Hoops Fest, In 2018-19, the Zips went 2-2 at the Cayman Island Classic, and in Groce's first season, Akron posted an 0-3 mark at the 2018 Diamond Head Classic.
Akron has posted multiple wins in 17 of the last 21 in-season tournaments, including four championships. The Zips won two tournaments in 2016-17, the Savannah Invitational (4-0) and the Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational (2-0). In 2015-16, Akron went 2-0 at the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic to claim the title. Akron won the Akron Basketball Classic in 2024-25 with a 3-0 record.
In 2014-15, Akron posted a 2-1 record in the Gildan Charleston Classic following the previous tournament runs at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off (2012, 2-1), 2K Sports Classic (2011, 2-2), the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic (2010, 3-1), the Glenn Wilkes Classic (2009, 2-2), the Legends Classic (2008, 2-2), the Top of the World Classic (2007, 2-1) and the San Juan Shootout (2005, 2-1).
ZIPS AT A GLANCE
The Zips continue action in the Paradise Jam with a battle against the Yale Bulldogs on Monday, November 24, in the Championship Game.
Akron and Yale are set to meet for the fourth time in the all-time series.
The Zips recently took down Evansville, 97-59, to win their second straight game in the Virgin Islands.
The Akron men's basketball team scored 30 points off turnovers on the way to a 97-59 victory against the Evansville Purple Aces at Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center on Sunday.
The Zips (5-1) had four players score in double figures, led by Bowen Hardman, who had 19 points. Tavari Johnson added 19 points and four assists and Amani Lyles helped out with 17 points and five assists, while Evan Mahaffey tossed in 11 points while supplying seven assists.
Akron is scoring 95.0 points per game while outscoring its opponents by 24.7 points per game. The Zips shoot .489 from the field while shooting .364 from beyond the arc and averaged 11.8 3-pointers per game. The Blue and Gold hold a .740 ft percentage while averaging 41.2 rebounds, 21.2 assists, 9.9 turnovers, 9.2 steals and 3.3 blocks per game.
Akron ranks 4th in the NCAA in assist-turnover ratio (+2.15), 6th in assists per game (21.1), 79th in bench points per game (31.83), 48th in effective fg pct (.574), 29th in fastbreak points (19.5), 70th in fg pct (.489), 88th in fg pct defense (.399), 55th for fewest fouls per game (15.8), 70th in off rebounds (13.67), 72nd in rebounds per game (41.17), 24th in scoring margin (+24.7), 15th in scoring offense (95.0), 63rd in steals per game (9.2), 16th in 3pters attempted per game (32.5), 15th in made 3pters per game (11.8), 12th in turnover margin (+7.2), 24th in forced turnovers per game (17.0) and 42nd in fewest turnovers per game (9.8).
Individually, Shammah Scott ranks 5th in the NCAA in assist-turnover ratio (+8.0). Tavari Johnson ranks 75th in assist-turnover ratio (+3.43) and 62nd in ft pct (.913). Evan Mahaffey ranks 84th in assist-turnover ratio (+3.25). Bowen Hardman ranks 89th in total made 3pters (16).
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
The Yale Bulldogs enter Monday with a 5-1 overall record after defeating Charleston 74-63 in the second round of the Paradise Jam on November 23.
Nick Townsend had a career day as the Yale men's basketball team continued its winning ways at the Paradise Jam Tournament, taking down the College of Charleston, 74–63, in Sunday evening's semifinal to advance to Monday's championship game.
Townsend was unconscious, pouring in a career-high 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and added four assists, with 20 of his points coming in the second half.
Townsend leads Yale in points (19.5), assists (7.7) and rebounds (4.3) per game. Isaac Celiscar leads the way in steals (1.2) while Samson Aletan has recorded 16 blocks on the season.
As a team, Yale scores 84.0 points per game and outscores its opponents by 13.5 points. The Bulldogs are shooting .509 from the field and .458 from beyond the arc with 9.0 3pters falling per game. Yale shoots .791 from the free-throw line while averaging 33.0 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 10.5 turnovers, 6.0 steals and 4.0 2.7 blocks per game.
FOUR OR MORE
The Zips have had four or more players score in double-figure scoring in five games this season. The most recent game with four or more Zips scoring in double figures happened on Nov. 23 when four Zips scored 10 or more points against Evansville
Akron had four or more players record double-figure scoring in 21 games in the 2024-25 season. The season high was seven players scoring 10 or more points against SUNY Brockport (Dec. 7) and Eastern Michigan (Jan. 11).
HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE
The Zips are 5-0 this season when scoring 85 or more points. The most recent game this season to feature 85 or more points was 97 against Evansville on Nov. 23. Akron scored 85 or more points in 19 games in 2024-25 and were 19-0 when hitting that mark.
Under John Groce, Akron is 56-3 (.949) all-time when scoring 85 or more points.
DISHING OUT DIMES
Ranking in the top-10 in assists per game in the NCAA (6th - 21.2), the Zips aren't afraid to share the rock. Akron has recorded 20 or more assists in 3 games with a season high 32 coming against PSU Shenango (Nov. 12). The most recent game with 20+ assists was against Iona (20) on Nov. 21.
A WISE MAN SAID, IT TAKES A VILLAGE.
The Zips have seen scoring come from multiple avenues with seven players averaging eight or more points per game, while six Zips average 10 or more points. The Blue and Gold have also seen 5 different Zips lead the squad in scoring this season.
A HALF DOESN'T MAKE A GAME, BUT...
The Zips are 4-0 when leading at the half, compared to a 1-1 record when trailing at the half
THE SMALL THINGS ADD UP
The Zips are 5-0 when shooting better than their opponent from the field, 5-0 when shooting 50% or above from the field, 3-0 when shooting 40% or better from 3-point range, 5-0 when out rebounding their opponents, 5-0 when attempting more FT, 5-0 when holding opponents below 80 points and 5-0 when scoring 85 points or more.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Akron returns to the JAR when it hosts Milwaukee on Saturday, November 29 at 7 p.m.
